Part III: A Great Movie
Ten years ago, spirits were high at the Muppet boarding house. There had been a lot of worry about Muppets' Wizard of Oz—whether doing another made-for-t.v. movie was the right thing to do, whether the film would be a success, and whether it was the right project for the Muppets' endless unique talents. The film had turned out to be a mixed bag. It got some good and some bad reviews, and in monetary terms, it did respectably but not fantastically well.
But it had done well enough that Hollywood was still willing to fund Muppet projects. And right this moment, the Muppets were gathered around the kitchen table, passing around a script for their next movie. The script was so good, nobody could contain their excitement. Not that anybody was surprised it was good. This time, leaving nothing to chance, Kermit had written the script himself.
"Oh, wow, this is some great stuff, Kermit."
"Fer sure. Finally me and the band get some actual lines in a movie!"
"Kermit, do I really get a song? And get to play the piano too? Hot dog!"
"I do not think there are nearly enough lines for moi. But the lines there are, they are funny. So perhaps I can make do with what I've been given."
Kermit grinned. He was so happy that everyone liked the script. This was going to be a great movie. There was going to be more jokes, more songs, more dancing, more Muppets, more everything.
Later that night, when everyone was in bed dreaming, Kermit was still awake and thinking about the upcoming movie. He sat at his desk, looking out the window at all the beautiful stars. He smiled when it occurred to him that he, too, was a different kind of star. But they weren't too different, were they? The stars and him? People looked up at the stars and smiled. People watched the Muppets and smiled. That was what being a star was or, at least, what it was to Kermit.
His thoughts turned to projects past. Not everyone had liked some of the Muppets' latest movies. Certainly not the studio heads, with their emphasis on the bottom line. But Kermit didn't really care about them; he cared about the fans. Some of the fans, however, hadn't been happy either. And not all of the Muppets themselves had been totally happy. Kermit had to admit that in some of the most recent movies, some of his wonderful friends had not had much screen time or much space to be their wonderful selves.
But this movie was going to make everyone happy. Well, maybe not everyone, thought the eternally optimistic frog, trying to be just a little realistic. But it sure seemed like it was going to make the Muppets happy, and when the Muppets were happy, the movie couldn't help but be good. Yes indeed, this was going to be a great movie.