Interview: Bret McKenzie from The Muppets and Middle Earth

Bret McKenzie at the Muppets premiere in 2011Oscar's music branch has been known to throw an unpleasant curveball over the years  in the Original Song category (no Cher performance last year? Ouch! No Springsteen in 2008?! It still stings.) but if they don't deliver us a performance by the resurgent Muppets on the February broadcast, felt fur will surely fly. We get so few original musicals these days so The Muppets was the go to musical comedy last year.

Bret McKenzie has given Oscar ample reason to include the beloved characers on the big night. The actor/musician, most famous as one half of the Flight of the Conchords duo and soon to be seen as an Elf in Middle Earth (however briefly) in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey wrote two songs that have landed on Oscar's Best Original Song eligibility list: "Life's a Happy Song" and "Man or Muppet". (The third eligible song from the movie "Pictures in My Head" has different composers).

I spoke to him recently on his awards buzz, his cult hit show and (very briefly) Middle Earth. He calls the response to his Muppets songs "Pretty incredible. I did not expect to get awards for this movie."

Nevertheless, the honors have been coming. Both of his Oscar eligible songs are up for the Critics Choice Award this Thursday (imagine competing with Elton John!) and who knows? An Oscar nomination (or even two!) could follow. 

Nathaniel R: Did you feel crazy pressure about taking on this job. The Muppets have "The Rainbow Connection" which is an all time classic. The music is very connected to their whole mythology. 

BRET MCKENZIE: It was a very intimidating job, taking on Paul williams shoes. Luckily I wrote one song at a time for it. Initially I wasn't writing three or four so I didn't feel so much pressure. But one of my friends was like 'Oh man, you're never going to write another 'Rainbow Connection' [Laughs] I was like 'Yeah, you're right!'

But, you know, we just did our thing really. Luckily James  [James Bobin director of The Muppets who also had a hand in Flight of the Conchords] and I had just spent the last five years doing Conchords. We had done a lot of comedy musical numbers so we were pretty comfortable with the genre. The challenge was just to make sure that the songs felt like Muppet songs.

Nathaniel: Was this a situation where they knew exactly where they wanted a song. "It goes here and it's about this!"? 

Bret: That's exactly it. When I came on they'd already done the script. I went in to James' office and he had the film mapped out on script cards on the wall, white cards. A blue card was a song. There were songs scattered throughout the movie. That's how we did Conchords as well, so you didn't have songs back to back. They had these sort of loose ideas for what the songs should be. They'd actually -- by the time I came on -- already had dozens of demos submitted. They got lots of people to write songs and they went through and chose their favorites. It was surprising how difficult it was for people to write songs that fit into the musical format.

So you knew which characters your songs would be for ahead of time.

Yes. I was writing for Gary and Walter who didn't exist. I knew who Jason Segel was. I had seen Forgetting Sarah Marshall so I knew him.  I knew he could sing a bit which is always good. Then I got the job of writing the rap for Chris Cooper which was one of the highlights of the film, teaching him how to rap. He's a very serious actor, an Academy Award wining actor. He was quite method! [Laughs] We're quite different people. I'm quite bubbly and he's very serious. 

Even about rapping?

He took it very seriously. He wanted to make sure it was a solid rap performance. I taught him over Skype how to rap! 

Did you test the Muppet music on your kids to see how they responded?

Musical Comedy Divas & Muppet-like Middle Earth Directors ...after the jump!

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Muppet Cupcakes ... nom nom nom

nom-nom-nom

via Cupcake Occasions

In the order in which I feel compelled to devour them (different than a favorites order!) 

1. Animal
2. Sam the Eagle
3. Waldorf and Statler (simultaneously!)
4. Kermit
5. Beeker
6. Gonzo
7. Miss Piggy
8. Rowlf the Dog
9. Fozzy
10. Scooter
11. Dr Bunsen Honeydew

I wish I was a pastry chef!

"even the orchestra is beautiful..."

♪ Leave your troubles outside.
So life is disappointing? forget it. 

In here life is beautiful...

The girls are beautiful...

EVEN THE ORCHESTRA IS BEAUTIFUL...

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Music, Mistletoe and Michael Caine: 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'

Kurt here. If you love Christmas, odds are there's an incarnation of A Christmas Carol of which you take ownership. For me, it's a stage production performed annually at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ. For you, it might be the 1938 Joseph L. Mankiewicz classic with Reginald Owen. And for a special few, it's The Muppet Christmas Carol, a film that proves how effectively one beloved property can be used to refresh another. The worlds of Jim Henson and Charles Dickens intertwine rather beautifully in this 1992 musical dramedy, whose Muppet stars pull the Yuletide tale out of mothballs, but don't crank up the contemporary jabber so far as to brand it with a born-on date. The comedy is all about that distinct Muppet attitude, which, as the new Muppets film seems determined to emphasize, is as timeless as "Bah Humbug."

Charles Dickens is in fact a character in the film. He's played by Gonzo, who, along with Rizzo the Rat, narrates the story of Ebeneezer Scrooge (a game, sincere Michael Caine) and the spectral Christmas Eve that rids him of his jerkdom. You might think excessive hand-holding would result from having a pair of narrators guide you through a film that already sees its lead and his visitors guide you through second-act flashbacks, but that's never the case here, as Gonzo proves an entertainingly knowing voice and a funny teacher to Rizzo, who's ever-eager to listen and learn ("Why are you whispering?" Rizzo asks. "It's for dramatic emphasis," Gonzo tells him). It's a gentle form of un-dusty, all-ages comedy, and it's a far better rejuvenator than, say, a 3D shrunken-man rollercoaster. 

The narrating duo also add to a team element that seems to unfailingly manifest when it comes to the Muppets. Of course, the characters are their own traveling troupe (a factor that undoubtedly helps attract flesh-and-blood actors to work with them), but there are subsets of teams that appear within projects, and help to give the comedy that ultra-important communal feel. Jacob Marley, for instance, is given a brother, Robert (wink-wink), so the pair can be portrayed by the hysterical hecklers Statler and Waldorf, who may just offer the most enjoyable books-and-chains preliminary haunt the story has ever seen ("There's more of gravy than of grave about you," Scrooge says to the pair in his blame-it-on-the-food speech. "More of gravy than of grave?" they reply. "What a terrible pun! Where do you get these jokes?"). There's also Bob Cratchit's (Kermit the Frog) shivering team of bookkeeping colleagues, who famously initiate an impromptu Hawaiian dance when their request for more furnace coal is met with the threat of unemployment.  

Watching the film again, I was struck by just how many musical sequences it includes, and they're fine ones at that. The movie begins with the familiar marketplace bustle, through which Scrooge hurries home amid a whole town of scared and scorned onlookers. "There goes Mr. Humbug," they chant, "there goes Mr. Grim. If they gave a prize for being mean, the winner would be him." Even the Muppet-ized vegetables join in on the chorus, shaming the village grump. Later, the central cast members unite for "Thankful Heart," an ending tune that, like the others, was penned by Paul Williams (the score is credited to Miles Goodman). Off hand, I can't recall another Christmas Carol that presents itself as a musical, apart from the usual festivities at the house of Fezziwig (who, here, naturally, goes by "Fozziwig"). The story works great with the songs sprinkled in, and the music has an effect similar to the Muppet comedy: updated, but un-dated.  

What probably nets the biggest laughs is the recurring tendency of Gonzo and Rizzo to get physically involved with the story they're telling, be it by falling off an in-flashback shelf they describe as "old and decayed," or receiving a self-reflexive Christmas greeting from Scrooge himself. Gonzo, in particular, has fun with the different levels of fiction, playing an imaginary version of an author poking around in his own creation. "Great story, Mr. Dickens," Rizzo says at film's end. "You should read the book," says Gonzo.  

Top Ten: My Favorite Muppets... And Yours?

Camilla's favorite muppet is Gonzo. Duh!I'm going to let Kurt close out our Muppet week tomorrow with a holiday-specific post but before we stop oohing and aahing about our favorite felt friends, I just had to share this weird revelation. Over Thanksgiving break, while drinking with my closest friends I asked everyone "What's your favorite muppet?". Somehow I didn't know the answer to this question at all and I was shocked to discover that everyone's favorite Muppet described something very very real about them, though people weren't really giving explanations. For example, one of my friends, who fears nothing more than publicly humiliating himself and is wildly accident prone said "Tie: Fozzy and Beaker", another who is frustratingly cynical and hard to please said "Statler and Waldorf" instantly, and another who is just about the most efficient organized stage manager type you'll ever met said "Scooter". I didn't know that Scooter was anyone's favorite Muppet let alone one of my closest friends! It went on like that around the table, the answers were always telling.

I highly suggest trying this the next time you're partying with your close friends and report back. I feel safe in guessing that you'll be shocked at how well their favorite reflects them... which makes me appreciate this video about the adult personas of the Muppets much more.

For what it's worth I thought I'd list my ten favorites muppets off the top of my head. I'm sure I've forgotten someone I love but such are off the top of your head lists.

Nathaniel's Favorite Muppets

order varies and sometimes someone else will steal a spot away from them.
10 ROBIN THE FROG
09 SWEETUMS
08 ROWLF
07 JANICE
06 STATLER & WALDORF 

and the total favorites. always the favorites.
05 BEAKER
04 KERMIT THE FROG
03 ANIMAL
02 GONZO
01 MISS PIGGY 

Beaker and Animal make me laugh harder than any other muppets. Kermit and Gonzo really hit me emotionally on occassion. Though The Muppet Movie (1979) is clearly the best Muppet Movie, my actual favorite is The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) because it's the one that Miss Piggy just thoroughly owns. I lived for her appearances as a little boy. And what that says about me I can guess but would prefer not to!

YOUR TURN. Please to share yours in the comments. What did you think of the new movie and are you hoping that "Life's a Happy Song" or one of the other numbers from The Muppets (2011) gets nominated at the Oscars?