Jason Segel Says He's Bringing Lots Of Muppets Out From The Archives

Muppets-mania is sweeping the nation! The latest release from the franchise isn't due out until Thanksgiving, but Jason Segel & Co. have the marketing machine all revved up. He recently talked to /Film, and if you don't have time to read three internet pages about the movie right now, here's what we learned:

There will be new Muppets! Particularly a new one named Walter, who Segel describes as "naïve and sweet" and having "tones of a young Kermit."

There will be old Muppets! Segel says they're "bringing out a lot of Muppets from the archives. A lot of the guys from the old Muppet Show, some of the kind of obscure performances make appearances, which I’m really excited about. Marvin Suggs and the Muppaphones appear."

There will be inspiration from the classics: Not every Muppet movie has been good (hello, Kermit's Swamp Years), but fueled by his own nostalgia, Segel seems to be a purest. He says, "We’re trying to hearken back to the original three Muppet movies—The Muppet Movie, Muppets Take Manhattan, and The Great Muppet Caper. I think that one of the things the original Muppet movies did amazingly well, and it’s what Pixar does really well now, is that they don’t condescend to children by feeling like they have to dumb things down to the lowest common denominator. And when you don’t do that, you get a family film in its truest sense. And entire family can sit and watch and enjoy it. The worst equivalent is Barney the dinosaur, where parents are having to sit there while their kids watch this, and the parents want to blow their brains out."

You can get glimpses of all this in the official trailer. And maybe it's time you finally made a Muppet of your very own at the workshop!