Muppet Haunted Mansion premieres Oct. 8 on Disney+.
Shocking as it may be, The Muppets, as a performing troupe, have never had their own Halloween special. Yes, it’s an entertainment tragedy, but one that is thankfully finally remedied with the Disney+ original, Muppets Haunted Mansion.
The one-hour special includes all the familiar faces, from Kermit to Miss Piggy and everyone in between, but the narrative belongs to Gonzo the Great (Dave Goelz), with Pepe the King Prawn (Bill Barretta) handling side-crustacean duties. That dynamic is truly the perfect alignment of weirdo to holiday, giving the fearless daredevil a tailor-made opportunity to show off his nerves of steel and reinforce some core Muppet tenets about the importance of family, be it found or biological.
Set on Halloween night, Gonzo and Pepe skip out on Kermit (Matt Vogel) and Miss Piggy’s (Eric Jacobson) big party to accept the challenge of staying overnight in the creepy mansion of famed magician The Great MacGuffin on the 100th anniversary of his disappearance. Since Gonzo has proven over and over again that he has no fear, he figures the night will be a lark. Pepe, not so much.
The mansion itself is modeled on the much-loved theme park ride, The Haunted Mansion, with The Muppets slipping into the iconic characters found inside and outside of the ride. The swaps are pretty inspired, from Fozzie as the Hatbox bear (including teeth!) to Piggy as the disembodied crystal ball head of Madame Pigota. Writers Kirk Thatcher, Kelly Younger, and long-time Muppet performer Bill Barretta have crafted a framing device, and sequences within, that make the mash-up feel delightfully natural and never forced. The Muppet wit is particularly funny and ranges from the extremely clever to the familiar, like Waldorf and Statler as heckling ghosts inside the ride carts, down to the incredibly silly; wait for the goat.
There are also three new original songs that lend themselves nicely to the Mansion theme, with some gifted pun usage. They may not be instant classics on par with recent efforts for the last two Muppet films, but they are a lot of fun and utilize the depth and breadth of the Muppet bench to bring them to life, which is always a plus. A great Muppet special is one that honors all eras of the felt performers, and this special does that by including some deep cut appearances like the ghosts in the mansion (going back to The Muppet Show days) to newbies like Walter and Joe the Weasel.
As for the humans, Will Arnett is so perfectly attuned to performing with the Muppets, I’m kinda mad that he hasn’t been a fixture in these projects for years. Taraji P. Henson is also having a great time as resident black widow ghost, Constance Hatchaway. Her side story goes on a little too long in parts but her storyline will appeal to the hardcore Haunted Mansion fans. The rogue’s gallery of other human talent are basically relegated to very small cameos but that means the focus can remain on Gonzo and the other Muppets, as it should.
The Muppets have had some bumpy years under their Disney ownership with the company trying to reinvent them, or modernize them for contemporary audiences. What they keep forgetting is that The Muppets at their best are timeless, and this special captures much of that spirit because of the performance and writing mix of Goelz and Baretta. The old-timers of the current Muppet crew, they convey the right blend of Henson heart and silliness that makes this offering one worthy of a yearly watch.