When I heard the Muppets were doing a Haunted Mansion special, I was excited yet skeptical. It’s been a while since the Jim Hensen team has hit a home run in the movie/special departments. I even became more skeptical when learning that my personal all-time favorite Gonzo sidekick, Rizzo the Rat, was being replaced by Pepe the King Prawn. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this special.
THE MUPPETS HAUNTED MANSION
Starring our beloved Gonzo and Pepe the King Prawn, after ditching a Halloween party being thrown by their friends Kermit and Miss Piggy, the duo sets out to find the perfect Halloween Party while also learning lessons about themselves. However, no Muppet Movie would be complete without a human star-studded cameo cast. Joining the Muppet fun is John Stamos (Big Shot), Darrin Criss (Glee), Will Arnet (Bojack Horseman), Taraji P. Hensen (Empire), Yvette Nicole Brown (Community), Danny Trejo (Machete), Chrissy Metz (This is Us), and MORE – if you can believe it!
As we all know, The Great Gonzo has done it all and seen it all, but on this particular Halloween night he takes on the greatest challenge of all – spending the night in the scariest place on earth, The Haunted Mansion! While inside, we are met by new and old muppets alike and are entertained by 3 new original songs, “Rest in Peace”, “Life Hereafter”, and “Tie the Knot Tango”. All while fans of the parks and the ride(s) will be pleasantly surprised by all the insider jokes and easter eggs.
THE MUPPETS HAUNTED MANSION SETUP
The Muppets Haunted Mansion is set up in a way that each scene takes place as if you were walking through the original Haunted Mansion ride at the Disneyland Resort, and I absolutely loved it. Not only did the Mansion serve as a great story background, but it was also a blast getting to see some of my favorite Muppet characters playing the iconic characters such as Miss Piggy as Madame Leota, and all the characters in the iconic ballroom/dinner scene of the ride.
There are so many fantastic moments and jokes in this film that you’ll want to watch it over and over again to make sure you didn’t miss them because you were laughing so loud the first time. Seriously, I don’t want to spoil it, but there’s a moment in the stretching elevator that made me laugh so hard I cried, and couldn’t stop laughing for a good 5 minutes.
IN CONCLUSION
I especially enjoyed the use of Halloween when teaching Gonzo a huge life lesson. Christmas is typically used in Holiday films to teach lessons of friendship, family, and love, and I found this film to be a refreshing take on how to teach each other the value of friendship and our loved ones while also telling a spooky story.
The film comes in at around 50 minutes, so if you’re looking for a short, hilarious, family-friendly Halloween Movie make sure to check out The Muppets Haunted Mansion now streaming on Disney+!
