Bret McKenzie<\/strong>: They went on holiday.<\/p>\n ShockYa<\/strong>: Have you done any kind of a post mortem on why they disappeared for so long?<\/p>\n Nicholas Stoller<\/strong>: Well, I think it\u2019s less about them having gone away and more about when, and I will just speak for myself. When I was a child back then they were all pervasive. They had a television show. There were movies. They were all over the place. And they didn\u2019t necessarily go away as much as they kind of scaled back on how much product they put out. I think that\u2019s probably more accurate. <\/p>\n David Hoberman<\/strong>: I think it also had to do with the sale of the company and the sort of false starts with that and being taken over. It takes time to figure out a game plan for what you want to do with a franchise once you get it.<\/p>\n ShockYa<\/strong>: My question is for Bret. Is there a lot of similarity between writing songs for The Muppets and the Flight of the Conchords? <\/p>\n Bret McKenzie<\/strong>: Yeah, at least six jokes but yeah very similar.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: Bret actually is a Muppet.<\/p>\n Bret McKenzie<\/strong>: Yes, I guess Jermaine was killed and I lost Miss Piggy. (Laughs) Yes, I mean the film had very specific song placement. So I had to write them to fit new characters and everything, but it\u2019s not that dissimilar to writing for the Conchord set up.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: Yeah, for me going from Conchords to Muppets felt very, I think the same job basically. Conchords was basically a world whereby everyone was slightly, had sort of a weird world view and they were all a bit scared.<\/p>\n Bret McKenzie<\/strong>: They were stupid. Basically, they were stupid.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: A group of fools maybe and the Muppets in a similar sense. They are all very optimistic but they are all kind of inherent failures. They aren\u2019t good at what they do, and I love that about because you instantly feel for the underdog. And I thought that was a very similar thing with Conchords and Muppets. They had a very similar tone in that sense, but also obviously the music and the sort of innocent charm of the comedy. I felt that the comedy was a very similar thing. And they had different writing for the Muppets than they did for Conchords so the job had a very natural progression.<\/p>\n Bret McKenzie<\/strong>: The jokes are weaker? <\/p>\n ShockYa<\/strong>: Miss Piggy isn\u2019t a failure.<\/p>\n Bret McKenzie<\/strong>: Well, I think she is because she considers herself to be a great singer, and she\u2019s not a great singer for example. And she considers herself to be a great actress and she\u2019s not a great actress.<\/p>\n Nicholas Stoller<\/strong>: And a great beauty.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: And a great beauty. I mean, I guess maybe she is.<\/p>\n Nicholas Stoller<\/strong>: She\u2019s beautiful. What are you talking about. <\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: Oh, all right, all right, she\u2019s beautiful. Obviously, she\u2019s beautiful. Yeah, I think it\u2019s your idea of what you are to yourself and then what you are to other people. It\u2019s that kind of idea I guess.<\/p>\n ShockYa<\/strong>: So with The Fundraiser, it\u2019s kind of set up more or less like the Muppet Show. Was the reason for that just because kids of this generation \u2026 <\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: Yes, please do The Muppet Show.<\/p>\n ShockYa<\/strong>: Yes.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: Yes!<\/p>\n ShockYa<\/strong>: Well, that and I was going to ask you if that was because children of this generation aren\u2019t familiar with The Muppet Show? Was that another reason? And is there any possibility we\u2019ll get The Muppet Show again, and Miss Piggy is a beaut.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: What a question.<\/p>\n Nicholas Stoller<\/strong>: Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: The telephone was always in the script from the very beginning the idea they would do something. I think one of the great joys of the movie is the simplicity of the story of putting on a show again. And so, I think that was always going to be in it. It grew because we liked making it, and we love songs. And I wanted to remind people. And I couldn\u2019t do them really well, but I just said the Muppets were great. I had to show them being great. This is really important to me. And so, obviously one of the best ways of doing that is to do The Muppet Show, Muppet Show style sketches. And they were really fun to write and they were really fun to shoot and it was just something that we informed people of where the Muppets were from, what they did and why they were great.<\/p>\n Todd Lieberman<\/strong>: And there were discussions during the course of the development of the script of do we spend too much time in that theater at the end? And what we came to realize is that as James is saying, the fun, the excitement, the sketches, the vibe, the feel of it makes it feel bigger than just a theater.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: And also for the people who know the show, it\u2019s really fun to see behind the scenes of the show. Again, when Kermit goes out to say, \u201cHello, welcome to Telethon.\u201d It\u2019s that shot of him beforehand being nervous a bit like this is the final go, and I love that idea. And also, I used to always wonder. In the Muppet Show you see Kermit behind his desk, and I always used to wonder, \u201cWhat does Kermit see when he see the other way?\u201d So I asked David to build a theater where you would see what Kermit used to see.<\/p>\n David Hoberman<\/strong>: It was also important to you to be meticulous about that, opening about the theater and to make sure that you gave everybody the Muppet experience exactly as it was when they saw the show.<\/p>\n James Bobin<\/strong>: Yeah. Well, the idea was that they would do the opening to the best of their current ability. You know what I mean? I knew we were going to get that eventually, but this is their moment again. And it\u2019s why there were some empty holes in the top row because some of those guys weren\u2019t around, or they forgot where they were supposed to go. You know what I mean? They were kind of making it with the best effort they can. But at the same time reminding people of what that show once was.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i1084.photobucket.com\/albums\/j407\/Meli_Molina\/Muppets2011Trailer01-1920_11.jpg\")
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