Muppet. Film. Noir. Chew on that for a second.
Now, if I said that the Henson Co. is moving toward adulthood, that’s meant as no slight to the original Jim Henson run on The Muppet Show, which was as seamless a blend of childish and adult comedy as television is likely to see. But this is something different. More specifically, The Happytime Murders, which the company is pushing forward on, will be part of the company’s Henson Alternative label, which is material meant for adult audiences. The film will be a ‘puppet comedy in the film noir genre’, which is something we haven’t seen Muppets, or Henson puppets, take part in before.
Brian Henson will direct Todd Berger’s script, with humans and puppets in a style that, while geared towards noir, will likely be the same mix of comedy, parody and satire that we’ve seen from Henson productions in the past. The story features a detective investigating murders linked to the cast of a children’s show called The Happytime Gang.
But really, Muppet film noir, even created under the auspices of the Muppet Tresure Island team, is something I’m psyched to see.