New Muppet Movie to Attack Big Oil?

News has leaked out from the folks at Muppet central (The Jim Henson Company) that the next Muppet feature film will sport a story line that attacks oil companies. According to CHUD.com, the story will center around all our favorite Muppets producing a show to raise money to save their old theater. They need the money, of course, because an "evil character" is trying to buy the building so that he might tear it down to "get at the oil underneath."

Why is it we have to turn everything into an anti-capitalism, anti-oil hatefest?

Even more alarming is the fact that it seems that the writer/director team pegged to head the project will be Jason Segel and Nick Stoller, the team that recently gave us the very R rated "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." One wonders if the Muppets will go from kid friendly to edgie and R rated? (I must admit that I would doubt the owners of the Muppet property would do that to their long standing kid friendly product, though.)

Here is how CHUD reported the story line:

Apparently their Muppet film is going to be incredibly old fashioned, with the familiar Muppet characters putting on a show to save an old theater (the theater from The Muppet Show?). The danger? An evil character wants to tear the place down to get at the oil underneath. It's sort of current!

Yes, the oil industry is again being presented as an "evil character" who has no interest in culture or kids and wants to destroy everything in pursuit of the evil black gold to make even more evil oil profits. And, here we go again, another Hollyweird film that has to take beloved children's characters and make of them anti-capitalist shills for the extreme left.

Nice going Henson co.! Way to ruin another bunch of our favorite kid's characters.

Should you wish to contact our friends at The Jim Henson Company, you can send them an email at fanmail@henson.com . Or write them at the following addresses:

The Jim Henson Company 1416 North LaBrea Ave. Hollywood, CA 90028 Phone: 323.802.1500 Fax: 323.802.1825

New York office 627 Broadway, 9th floor New York, NY 10012 Phone: 212.794.2400 Fax: 212.439.7452

Maybe a few well placed emails or letters will disabuse them of this anti-capitalist, anti-oil story line? Remember to be nice, though. You don't want Miss Piggie to come give you a karate choppin'.

(Photo credit: from The New York Times archives - Jim Henson Company, the Muppets Studio and Sesame Workshop)