Here Come The Muppets

           The live stage show "Here Come The Muppets" debuted at the MGM Studios in the Animation Courtyard Theater on May 25th 1990, and ran until September 2nd 1991.  The interesting thing about this show was that all the Muppet characters that appeared were life size.  So no puppeteer, but an actual walk around character in a suit.  Another interesting thing about this stage show was the inclusion of many not so well known Muppet characters.  The show was meant to be a temporary fill until Muppetvision 3D opened.  The stage show ran alongside Muppetvision 3D for 4 months as Muppetvision opened on May 16th, 1991.  When the stage show finally closed it was replaced by the ever popular "Voyage of The Little Mermaid", which opened just two weeks after Muppets closed and has occupied that theater ever since.  

               The Muppets' presence in the studios was planned to be much more extensive than it ever was, or is today. The whole area around the Muppetvision 3D attraction was to be a Muppets themed land.  The "Muppet Studios" portion of the MGM Studios was to have featured a parody of the park's headline attraction, The Great Movie Ride, called "The Great Muppet Movie Ride".  As well as an eating establishment named  The Great Gonzo's Pandemonium Pizza Parlor.  The demise of this project, and the acquisition of the Muppets franchise by Disney fell through when the owner of the Muppets, Jim Henson, passed away on May 16th, 1991.  Disney did finally acquire the Muppets franchise in February of 2004, but the grand plans for the MGM Studios have not been rekindled as of yet.  

              Hopefully with the renewed interest in the Muppets franchise with the release of the new Muppets Movie and a sequel announced for the future, hopefully the Muppets presence in the Studios will be expanded beyond what space it occupies today.   And WDI revisits some of the ideas that were on the table around the inception of the park.