Muppet Treasure Island

Now when The Great Muppet Caper came to Netflix, it took a whole 2 hours before I pressed play and had that playing. With Muppet Treasure Island, it maybe took ten minutes. I'm pretty sure the VHS this movie was on was broken by the time I was done with Muppet Treasure Island. It was a movie my parents saw as a good movie for me to watch and it was about swashbuckling pirates. Why wouldn't I, as a young adventure loving child not love the adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic.

After a musical number showing the fate of the infamous Captain Flint's crew after they buried his treasure, the movie opens up on young Jim Hawkins (played by Kevin Bishop) and his friends, Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat.

In the tavern they work in, they house a sailor by the name of Billy Bones (played by Billy Connolly) He tells the story of Captain Flint and the secret treasure. He also has the treasure map and is being hunted by pirates of Flint's former crew.

After Billy Bones dies of a heart attack or something, (I thought this was suppose to be a kids movie!) Jim takes the map and goes off to seek adventure and find the treasure.

Before I move on, I'll get this out of the way. Kevin Bishop... dear god.

I'll give the guy credit I give most actors. He's done more with his acting career than I have.

But dear lord, this kid was annoying. His voice is probably the highest pitched voice in the world. When he sings, its a male soprano voice. Its so high and you can't hear what he sings when he's singing.

Its difficult because Bishop finds himself in a position where he's the main focus of the film. In the Great Muppet Caper, or the Muppet Movie, the Muppets are the focus and the humans just live in the same world. But in movies like this one and Muppet Christmas Carol (another one of my favorites) the humans are the main focus. The difference is, the Muppet Christmas Carol had Michael freaking Caine in the main role, this one has a kid that nobody has heard from since.

As a kid, there wasn't a huge problem with his voice because my voice was that high as well. But today, he just seems like a horrible actor who can't really hold the movie on his shoulders. But there's more to the movie so I'll continue for now.

Jim finds someone willing to finance the voyage and hire a crew. Its actually Fozzie Bear playing Squire Trelawney. He's actually described as "the half-wit son"of the real Squire Trelawney and this is one of the jokes I never got as a kid. That Fozzie in this movie is just kind of an idiot. He doesn't know what the ocean is, he has a man living in his finger, he's giving a boat to a kid with a map. This is an example of the jokes that kids usually won't get but makes the movie fun for parents.

So they get a ship, they get a crew, all first mated by Sam the Eagle playing Samuel Arrow, and led by the Captain Abraham Smollett, played by Kermit the Frog.

Its a really great set up, by itself and thats not including the last big name of the movie. Again, its a story where the Muppets provide a background for the human characters. I think it makes perfect sense for the film, especially with the last big name of the film that I've been alluding to this entire time.

The infamous Long John Silver is played by none other than Tim Curry.

I know that Tim Curry is in more than this movie but for the longest time, this was the only thing I knew Curry from. And it was a great role.

Dear god, Curry just steals this entire show. He plays up the villain role like no one I've ever seen and yes he's charming. There's a friendship that grows between him and Jim that plays very well for the entire movie.

Its unfortunate because Kevin Bishop is just not that great of an actor. But I think if they needed to find anybody to overshadow that acting flaw, its Tim freaking Curry.

I found a picture online that really explains this movies circumstances.

Isn't that the truth.

And speaking of singing. The people they get for these Muppet movies to do the music are just incredible. Like The Great Muppet Caper, these aren't songs that will blow your mind but they work for the film. They're a mixture of genres, styles. One minute there's tribal music, then its a caylpso dance music, then there's a power ballad.

And I swear, this song.

While not my favorite song from any muppet movie, is one catchy song. And that's another thing that needs to be added about the uniqueness and brilliance of Jim Henson, his son, and everyone that has worked with the Muppets.

There's always a few songs in Muppet movies that, regardless of how great of a song, they are not complete without the Muppets singing it. Its the case for Love Led Us Here, and its true for a lot of other songs.

The best example I can think of is One More Sleep Till Christmas from The Muppet Christmas Carol.

There's something about Kermit singing that song that gives it so much heart. And thats not just the case for the Muppets. So many movie musicals make these songs that come out in the movie, Let it Go, etc. And the problem I see with these songs is that they try and recreate the song with pop artists. Demi Moore did it with Frozen, and someone did it with Love Led Us Here. Its just not as good and it bums me out.

Its not a huge deal but the movie versions are always the better versions.

An interesting thing about Muppet Treasure Island is actually how dark it is.

Let me be clear. I don't think movies need to have darker edges to them. In a lot of cases, it doesn't work. I think I kind of made it seem like darker and edgier would make a movie like That Thing You Do better. I don't think thats true.

The fun part about Muppet Treasure Island is that they're facing a subject that is actually kind of dark. Pirates, in reality, are not great people. They pillage and are just down right criminals. Muppet Treasure Island rides that line very well of making it glamorous and dark at the same time.

Look at the design for a lot of the new muppets. They're not like anything you would see in The Great Muppet Caper or the Muppet Movie. I don't even think we've seen Muppets this creep since. The Muppets (2011) had a couple of redesigned muppets to give them a more evil look, but I still think the Muppet from Treasure Island are scarier. Also, people flat out die in this movie. I'm not saying a lot and even at one part when you think someone is dead, it turns out they were never alive to begin with.

And I think that's what makes this movie very very good. You take a little bit darker of an approach, lighten the mood with the regular muppet humor and top it all off with the weirdo of all weirdos, Tim Curry. How can you go wrong?

So putting them together, Muppet Treasure Island and The Great Muppet Caper are two incredibly fun films. They have that charm and fun aspects o them that only come from movies with the Muppets. I love them both. I may say that Muppet Treasure, because of the subject matter is really as fun but they're still incredibly inventive and funny movies.

Again, you really can't go wrong with The Muppets. I haven't seen a bad movie from the Muppets. I don't know if there is one but I've never seen one. The Muppets are just an icon worth celebrating.

If you haven't seen Muppet Treasure Island, its a fun flick regardless of your age. Obviously its aimed at kids but its still something anybody can enjoy.

Those are my thoughts on Muppet Treasure Island. What do you think of the film? Let me know and discuss in the comments below.

I'll leave you with this. Here's the Muppet Singing Oh Danny Boy... nuff said. Enjoy!