Fandom is an interesting thing isn’t it? We’re all here because we are fans of something. In many ways the 2011 Muppets reboot movie is a love letter to the franchise written by the fans and built for the longtime fans. They are personified in Walter, certified number on Muppets fan.
Watching this movie, I couldn’t help but think of Disney’s treatment about the Muppets or rather mistreatment. I love Disney dearly but it is evident that they do not see value in The Muppets. Intentional or not, this movie feels like a meta commentary on how Disney has botched their handling of the Muppets. Consider it’s been over a decade since this movie was released and new Muppet content has been sparse or Disney doesn’t give it a chance. We’ve seen four Muppets series since this movie came out and the only one to get more than one season was a reboot of Muppet Babies for Disney Junior.
That feels criminal and Muppets were never meant for just children. They are meant to entertain people of all ages. When MuppetVision 3D closed, the reason I started this series, fans gathered outside and sang Rainbow Connection.
Why am I going on so much about fandom? Well for as bad as fandom can be, it can also bring joy and much good. It’s dangerous to only focus on the neck beards and incels in fandoms, you also need to find the people who are truly passionate.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a huge Disney fan and as bad as some Disney Adults are, I’ve made so many wonderful friends through that fandom and found a connection and a sense of joy. The same is true of Walter, he finds joy and happiness in The Muppets. Much like how Doc Hopper was a parallel to Kermit in the original movie, I believe Tex Richman is a parallel to Walter and how he cannot find joy.
This is something I’ll touch upon when I look at his song but I wish they hadn’t cut out his backstory s it delves deeper into why he can’t find joy.
First Appearance
This is something that I’ll keep bringing up throughout this review but this movie was for the fans. Consider how it starts at Muppet Studios which based on the actual Jim Henson Studios (I had the pleasure of touring there before it was sold off).
We see Walter in Kermit’s office hiding as Statler and Waldorf show Richman the standard rich and famous contract from the original movie. Richman has lied saying he loves The Muppets and plans to turn it into a museum elaborating their history. (Can we actually get that for Jim?) No, he plans to demolish he plans studios and drill for oil. It’s a simple motive but it is how he goes about that makes him so evil.
Personality/Song
I’m combining these for two reasons as his song in the movie is almost too short and while I normally wouldn’t look at material excised from movies, I think it’s important to make an exception here.
The reason I am looking at the extended edition of the song as it gives us insight into backstory and why he hates The Muppets. And why he says maniacal laugh. He has inability to laugh and blames from when they performed at his tenth birthday party. He says that his inability to laugh led to his friends to laugh at him. Personally, this sounds like a young boy being self conscious about the fact that he couldn’t laugh.
This is parallel to how Gary’s friends look on annoyed and view Walter as a loser when he is in a Kermit Halloween costume.
Now, is this element needed? No, not really as Richman is a good villain without this backstory but it gives him a uniqueness that sets him apart from just being an evil businessman.
Even without that, he is an active villain who is willing to get his hands dirty in order to get what he wants.
Grand Desire
Again on the surface, it’s easy to assume that his desire boils down to just wanting the oil. That is true but he also is driven by anger. He can’t handle seeing The Muppets succeed as he thought this would be an easy win. I wish we could use the revenge angle but alas his backstory was cut out. I wish it wasn’t though as it adds another interesting layer to Richman.
Lackeys
Uncle Deadly and Bobo
Honestly, Bobo added nothing as a hench-muppet here. He’s fine but works best in small doses imo. However, Uncle Deadly was great. At first, it seemed he was just another henchmen but the movie knew we would think as at the end of the movie despite his look and name, Deadly declares he is a Muppet and stops Richman by knocking him off the tower of the studio.
The Moopets
Everything you need to know about The Moopets can be summed up by listening to their cover of Rainbow Connection.
They took a song with so much heart to it and turned it into an ad for the hotel and chapel. It’s a bastardization of a heartfelt and meaningful song that means so much to people and instead are just using the memories of the song and in turn the memories of The Muppets in a way that besmirches them. I do not believe I am over exaggerating when I say this and it again is hard not see how the Muppets are being used in a similar manner as the only recent thing they’ve appeared in was an ad for Boooking.com.
Maybe it’s a stretch as Muppets and selling things are part of history. The Wilkins coffee ads of course as most Muppets fan know but there’s a difference.
That was early into Jim’s career whereas this year is the 70th anniversary of The Muppets and what did Disney who owns them plan for their 70th?
Yeah, nothing big really. They’re doing Instagram posts but in the year this franchise turns seventy, you close an attraction which was the last thing Jim ever worked on and a decent-ish Pizza restaurant themed to the Muppets. Surely, there was some Muppets merch fans could pick up to remember them right? Nope.
I’m sorry but The Muppets are an institute of Hollywood and they deserve better. Kermit has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for goodness sake
I am legitimately close to tears writing this out. I’ve always liked The Muppets but I never realized how much I truly cared about these weirdos until delving into looking at their villains.
Most Evil Deed
IMO there is a lot I could choose from for this category because as I mentioned but i almost kinda have to go with the tenacity he has into finding various ways to shut down the theater. He just never gives up and he successfully shuts off the power.
Demise
He technically wins as The Muppets are one dollar short of their ten million dollar goal. But here’s the thing, he may have won in that regard but he lost in that The Muppets were able to rebuild their spirit and left holding their heads up high.
Oh and also Gonzo knocked him out when the bowling ball attached to his hand let loose and caused him to get amnesia and forgot everything and gave Muppets Studio back.
Is Tex Richman a Good Villain?
Yes, he’s a true threat. I honestly don’t know what else I could say as I’ve exhausted all my thoughts here. This entry went a bit deeper than I thought would but I guess this is the movie that brought the most passion out of me. I admittedly used it to vent my frustrations but I believe that is understandable. Join me next time as I close this out by looking at
Constantine
About Author
The Muppets (2011) is a heartfelt celebration of the Muppets and everything we love about them. It has a good mix of comedy and serious emotional moments, much like the best Muppet projects. I think Jim Henson probably would have loved it.
I agree that Tex Richman’s backstory shouldn’t have been cut, as it adds a lot to his character. Also, the epilogue where Gonzo’s stunt causes his change of heart makes a lot more sense with the added context of spelling out his inability to laugh. We see him start genuinely laughing for the first time, as if the blow had somehow fixed his inability to laugh. (We do gets hints at this at a few points in the movie. His saying the phrase “maniacal laughter” instead of actually having a maniacal laugh, and then when Uncle Deadly turns on him, Uncle Deadly lets him know what a maniacal laugh is supposed to sound like).
This movie and Muppets Haunted Mansion are probably my favorite Muppets projects of the past decade and a half. Muppets Most Wanted has a lot of fun moments, but it loses some points for a plot that relies on most of the Muppets not realizing Kermit’s been replaced by an imposter until the third act. But The Muppets television series (2015) was kind of a slog until it got better in the later episodes (which felt like a sort of course correction that came too late to save the series), and I haven’t seen Muppets Now! or the Electric Mayhem series.
Anyway, I recently rewatched The Muppets (2011) and it still holds up very well. I’m also glad that they eventually did the regular version of Rainbow Connection late in the film, this time with Kermit joined by Miss Piggy and the rest of the Muppets. It was a moving, beautiful moment that effectively contrasted with the Moopets’ earlier advertising parody.