Muppets Haunted Mansion is more funny than spooky with nice touches of the classic ride! The special is airing on Disney Plus is directed and co-written by Kirk R. Thatcher who also directed episodes of Muppets Now. The opening has a jaunty piano with the eerie music behind it as we move to the full to the misty ground and Dr. Teeth and The Electric mayhew singing King Harvest’s “Dancing in the Moonlight”! There is the looming headlights of a car. At the roof, Gonzo, in a suit, is celebrating Halloween. He drops down to see Pepé the King Prawn. This is one Muppet who makes me laugh just seeing him. Gonzo can’t believe they got a free limo to a mansion party. He gets a chat with Kermit who has a Miss Piggy costume! Of course, Miss Piggy has a Kermit costume. They are at a party, but Gonzo is going to the party for the Great McGuffin. A McGuffin is a plot device in film that keeps the story going like the Lost Ark. There is a challenge to spend the night at the mansion where McGuffin disappeared. He wants to prove himself as the Great Gonzo with this “stunt.” Scooter, his voice seems a little bit off, in Elvis costume notes that Swedish Chef is carving pumpkins… with a chainsaw! The call ends.
The limo stops and the window rolls down, it’s the Driver played by Yvette Nicole Brown, she is funny in everything she appears in! Pepé tries to ask her to party, her comment is hilarous! Gonzo and Pepé have reached the gate of the mansion, foggy, and the gate suddenly opens! They walk towards the mansion when Gonzo hears a sound, the duo walks over to a man chiseling a headstone. The Caretaker, complete with hat, scarf, and dog, it looks like the dog from The Storyteller series. He wants the duo to be quiet so they don’t awaken the spirits; Fred (AlfonsoRibeiro), Claude (Ed Asner), plus Haunting Harriet (Chrissy Metz), the opera ghost. Next there is the prisoner Huet (Danny Trejo), Mary (Sasheer Zamata), and Maude (Jeannie Mai) who blows fire like her fate. Criss sings the first song, “Rest in Peace”, which is spooky and fun. Ed Mitchell and Steve Morrell wrote the original songs. Then, we get the Singing Busts with “Grim, Grinning Ghosts.” Pepé tires of the “pre-show”, funny, and they head over to the mansion. The doors open to reveal The Host (Will Arnett), complete with green coat and candelabra. He greets them with “Welcome, foolish Muppets”, funny! Arnett is hilarious!
The Host lays out the rules with mansion organ playing, Pepé adds, “He’s rhyming”, love the laughs. A Muppet mummy and skeleton make a surprise finish to the rules. The ride references dropped in are perfect! The Host takes them to the room with the portraits made up of Muppet characters. It stretches and at the end there is a great surprise! They pass the hall with lightning revealing their ghostly images. Then, reach a portrait of the Great McGuffin “and his red herring, Pee Wee”! Pepé is still looking for the celebrities like Bard Pitts. Gonzo and Pepé pass a knight with an axe who brings it down, kinda spooky. Pepé starts running, terrifed, but finds a door labeled, “Famous Peoples Room”, and enters. He finds one who has a monster face! Pepé runs out scared of the “animaltronics.” He keeps running into the door and ending up in the same place in the hall. Then, Gonzo hears a knocking sound and enters the room, he has to literally peel Pepé from the door! The room has the seance of Madame Pigota (Miss Piggy in her cameo!) who summons the ghostly musicans of the Dr. Teeth band.
She agrees to find a way out for the duo. When they head out, Madame Pigota calls for a touch up to her crystal ball, it is the Haunted Mansion Maid played by Kim Irvine! She has such a legacy with the attraction as an Imagineer, plus her mother, Leota Toombs, was Madame Leota. Pepé and Gonzo are in a hallway when they hear a train!, it is Sweetums pushing a hotel food cart with a light on his cap. They end up on the cart and Gonzo enjoys the ride. Next, we have the Grand Hall with Muppet ghosts dancing with Rolf playing the organ. Sweetums crashes the party and onstage is the Ghost Kermit and Ghost Fozzie (a fun nod to the Hatbox Ghost) who is trying to entertain the party guests. Waldorf and Statler mock him in a Doom Buggy! The next song, “Life Hereafter”, with The Host is not as fun as the first one, about the funeral of Gonzo. Pepé just wants to leave until he sees a woman at the balcony, The Bride (Taraji P. Henson), Constance Hatchaway, with the pulsing, red heart! His mouth is gaping at her. I like their later song, funny. Gonzo is fearless, but has to face Room 999 with Pepé trapped! It is really a movie for kids that adults might enjoy. Muppets Haunted Mansion has some fun, a bit long, with a nice adventure through the Haunted Mansion!
Four Candelabras out of Five!
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