And now we come to the second muppet movie for this blog. I have no memory of when I first watched this adaptation, both because I saw it so young and because, as a child, I had a tape that told the story of the movie and the song “Sailing for Adventure.” I now know that song by heart.

“Muppet Treasure Island (1996) is a musical adventure comedy retelling Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic, featuring young Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop), Gonzo, and Rizzo searching for buried treasure. Guided by a map from Billy Bones, they sail on the Hispaniola with Kermit as Captain Smollett and Tim Curry as villainous cook Long John Silver, fighting pirates and uncovering romance.”

If you are looking for a great Muppets movie, then this is the one to watch. But if you are looking for a perfect adaptation, this will not be the one for you.

For this movie, I have four thoughts.

Firstly, I would like to talk about Tim Curry as Long John Silver. My thoughts come in two parts. Firstly, I would like to say that Tim Curry is a lot of fun in any movie. It is said many times, and sorry for saying it again, that when it came to Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, Michael Caine acted like the Muppets were his co-stars, and Tim Curry acted like he was a muppet. Secondly, the way that Long John Silver is portrayed is a little bit flat. In the book, Long John Silver is shown to be both a pirate and a good man. But this version of Long John Silver is just a villain, and an interesting change is that this is the first version where Long John Silver does not get any of the treasure. This may be because, as a kids’ movie, we need to see the villain punished.

Secondly, Jim Hawkins is an orphan who has a dream of adventure. So, in these adaptations, the movie has moved from not showing either of Jim’s parents in the 1950 movie to this one, where Jim is now an orphan with Gonzo and Rizzo as his only family. This means that after the inn gets attacked Jim has no reason to come back. The main reason I am talking about this is that in the book, Jim’s father was just running the Inn, but in this movie, Jim’s father was a sailor who died at sea. This causes Jim to long for a life like his father’s. Also, Captain Smolettt knew Jim’s father. This leads to a completely different ending, as the ship continues on another adventure

Thirdly, I would like to talk about some of the songs. Of course, it’s the Muppets, so most of the songs are amazing, Shiver My Timbers is a great way to give exposition, and Sailing for Adventure is peak muppet humour. But then we get to Love Led Us Here, which while it is a lovely song, it could go in any Muppet movie with no connection with the movie.

Fourthly, I would like to talk about the Muppet casting. Firstly, Fozzie as Trelawney with a man in his finger. Now I am not saying that Fozzie is a bad Trelawney, as he is definitely silly enough to play that character, but why did they have to have a man in his finger? It’s just too crazy. Miss Piggy, OK, this is where things go off the tracks. What I mean is they take a character that has suffered and survived only to turn her into a native princess trope that is riding the line of going off the rails if you think to long about it. Honestly, it feels like they were just trying to fit Miss Piggy in somewhere.

Thank you for joining me. This movie has been near and dear to me, and until next week.

Happy reading to all and to all a good night.