The Muppet Studios The Land That Never Was

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If you’ve been to Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the last 25 years, there’s a chance you’ve gotten to enjoy Muppet*Vision 3D, the 15 minute show in the back the park. Did you know that the attraction was meant to be part of an entire Muppet themed land? • New here? Be sure to subscribe! • 🔷https://goo.gl/x17zTL • My Disney Podcast! • 🎧http://ttapodcast.com • Follow me on Twitter! • 📱 / robplays • 🔷New video every week! • That’s right. In 1990 Michael Eisner and Disney had plans to purchase The Jim Henson Company, which would have included the Muppets. Part of that acquisition plan included an entire section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney MGM Studios) dedicated to them, which would called “The Muppet Studios” • The area was to include multiple attractions and restaurants. There were plans for a stage show, a parade, a 3D film, and a ride- called “The Great Muppet Movie Ride”. It was essentially going to be a parody of the Great Movie Ride. • Guests would enter a Hollywood set made to look like a monster’s castle. On the ride they would be taken through famous scenes throughout cinema history, similar to the Great Movie Ride. However this time each scene would be populated by Muppets and, as expected, things wouldn’t be going too well. Each scene would also feature Statler and Waldorf off to the side to provide the colorful commentary they’re known for. • For dining experiences, there were plans for a restaurant called The Great Gonzo’s Pizza Pandemonium Parlor, which was going to be run by Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat. Having the two at the helm meant that often times diners would find things going wrong, including an occasional gag in which there would be an explosion from the kitchen complete with smoke and chicken feathers. On top of that, meals were going to be delivered to guests by rat animatronics on a track. • Elsewhere, Swedish Chef’s cooking school would be another restaurant where guests would be able to witness the Swedish Chef as he struggles to cook while they were dining. • So what happened? • Well before the deal was even finished, Disney and The Jim Henson company began to work on some of the planned concepts. Jim Henson personally directed the 3D movie, which would become Muppet Vision 3D. • Sadly in 1990, while still in negotiations for the acquisition as well as development for the land, Jim Henson unexpectedly passed away. The world was shocked at the loss of a creative genius. Disney continued to negotiate for the acquisition of the company, however Henson’s children put a stop to the deal. • They originally planned to call it off completely, which would have left MGM Studios without any Muppet attractions, but at the request of Frank Oz, who argued that the world just see the last project Henson worked on, Jim’s children allowed the continuation of Muppet Vision 3D. Instead of purchasing and owning the Muppets though, Disney would now license the IP from the Jim Henson Company. • With the plans for a full Muppet themed land shuttered, The Great Gonzo’s Pizza Pandemonium Parlor would be re-themed to what we know today as Mama Melrose, and Swedish Chef’s cooking school would eventually become a Studio Showcase featuring film props, until eventually becoming Pizza Planet a few years later. • The Muppets also did get a stage show, called Here Come the Muppets. It features full sized walking versions of the Muppets and ran for about a year, before being replaced by another show called Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses. That show would only run for three years before closing. • And so ultimately, long-term, it would appear that the Muppets would only see representation through Muppet Vision 3D, which is still open today for guests to enjoy. • Disney would once again make an attempt at purchasing the Muppets in 2003, this time from it’s new German owners EM.TV, who had purchased the company back in 2000. However at the last second the media company would instead sell the Muppets back to the Henson family for just under a hundred million dollars. • A year later though, in an unexpected twist, the Hensons would sell the Muppets to Disney for an undisclosed sum, and so in 2004, after nearly 15 years of trying by Eisner, Disney finally owned the Muppets. • Today, besides Muppet Vision 3D which is still open, we’ve got The Muppets Present Great Moments in American History over in Liberty Square in the Magic Kingdom as well as the Muppet Mobile Lab over in Future World in Epcot. Over in Hollywood Studios Pizza Planet eventually closed to be re-themed to PizzaRizzos, an idea borrowing from the original Great Gonzo’s Pizza Pandemonium idea. • While it’s likely we won’t ever see the original Muppet Studios concept come to fruition, especially now that Hollywood Studios is getting two new lands, we’re at least getting to enjoy an increased presence of the Muppets in the parks; just a taste of what could have been.

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