Actor/comedian/musician Bret McKenzie recently earned his first Oscar nomination for writing the song "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets, which was nominated for Best Original Song at this year's Academy Awards. This marks the first time that a Muppet film has been nominated for Best Original Song since '1981s The Great Muppet Caper. This year also marks the first time that the Academy has decided to only nominate two songs in this category, which usually includes three to five nominations. McKenzie's sole competition comes from musical legend Sergio Mendes who wrote "Real in Rio" from the movie Rio.

Before being hired as the music supervisor for The Muppets, McKenzie was best known as one half of the Grammy Award winning musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords along with his partner Jemaine Clement, who incidentally also wrote music for Rio. The two New Zealand natives eventually went on to make a name for themselves in the United States with their extremely popular HBO series, aptly titled Flight of the Conchords. The multi-talented performer will next be seen as the elf Lindir in fellow New Zealander Peter Jackson's highly anticipated Lord of the Rings prequels The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and The Hobbit: There And Back Again. 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Bret McKenzie on the Disney lot in Los Angeles to discuss his work on The Muppets and his Oscar nomination for "Man or Muppet." The talented musician discussed working on the film, composing its music, what it feels like to suddenly be an Oscar nominee, why he thinks it was nominated over other songs from the film, his inspiration for the Oscar nominated song, why he's glad there are only two nominees in his category this year, what his Oscar performance would have been like had the Academy not decided to cancel the musical performances from the television broadcast, his favorite Muppet and why, who is the most difficult Muppet to work with, and adapting his Flight of the Conchords style of music for The Muppets.

The Muppets is like a wonderful drug that has no detrimental effects, just a delicious happy high that puts a skip in your step and makes you want to kiss strangers on the cheeks.  Now, we know precisely when this rock of cinematic crack can be figuratively smoked in the comfort of our living rooms, as Disney has announced that the theatrical resurrection of Jim Henson's soulful creations will arrive on Blu-ray and DVD on March 20th.

In a now ancient but in no way diminished episode of The Simpsons, Lisa asks Homer, "Dad, what's a Muppet?"  To which her father replies, "Well, it's not quite a mop, and not quite a puppet, but man," and laughs with a satisfied chuckle before adding, "To answer your question: I don't know."  Aside from being a typically quotable moment of vintage Simpsons, this exchange actually gets to the essence of The Muppets.  Intellectually, we know that Jim Henson's creations are simply felt puppets, yet they're imbued with such character and life that we wholly believe them as living organisms with heart and soul.

The last decade has been perhaps the most fallow period for The Muppets since before they first scored their regular television series in 1976 with The Muppet Show.  They've made appearances here and there in TV specials and whatnot, but Kermit, Miss Piggy, and the rest of the ensemble have been absent from movie screens since 1999's Muppets from Space, which was itself a far cry from their cinematic streak that consisted of The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan from 1979-1984. 

This Wednesday, however, The Muppets triumphantly return to a theater near you in the appropriately-titled The Muppets.  Over the last several months, with the full power of Disney behind them, The Muppets have returned to their previous place of pop-cultural ubiquity, and anticipation for the film is huge amongst seemingly every demographic, thanks to their nigh-universal appeal.  At the Los Angeles press day for The Muppets director James Bobin, co-writers Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller (who also stars) were present and accounted for, along with Amy Adams and, of course, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Walter, the newest addition to The Muppet cadre.  IAR Managing Editor Jami Philbrick was on hand to record their thoughts on the film, their history, and the challenges of bringing back The Muppets.

Since becoming managing editor of IAR in March, I have had the immense pleasure of interviewing legendary film directors like Francis Ford Coppola, Oscar winning actors like Nicolas Cage, iconic public figures like Bobby Kennedy Jr., and even classic fictional characters like Tigger and Winnie the Pooh. But nothing can compare to the absolute childlike excitement I had when I got to interview Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy about their new film The Muppets, which will be in theaters on November 23^rd.

In The Muppets, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Scooter, Rowlf, Beaker, the Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, and the whole gang make their triumphant return to the silver screen for the first time in over twelve years. In the film, Gary (Jason Segel) and his brother, a Muppet named Walter travel to California with Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) and discover a plot by an evil oil tycoon (Chris Cooper) to destroy the Muppet Theater and dig for oil buried underneath. Gary, Mary and Walter locate Kermit to tell him the devastating news about the theater and that in order to save it, they must come up with $10 million dollars. Kermit realizes that the only way to save the theater is to put on “The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever” and with the help of his new friends, sets out to reunite the Muppets, who've all gone their separate ways over the years.

I recently had a childhood dream come true when I was given the opportunity to sit down with Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy to discuss their new film, The Muppets. We were joined by the latest addition to the Muppet family, Walter, as well as a few other members of the press. While I have included audio of the interview in its entirety below, the following is a summary of my own conversation with Mr. the Frog and the ravishing Miss Piggy. The two iconic characters talked about their new film, their impressive dramatic performances, early Oscar buzz, Kermit’s most emotional scene, his friendship with Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy’s martial arts training, her duet with Amy Adams, how she avoids the paparazzi, where the Muppets will be spending Thanksgiving, and of course … Kermit and Piggy’s very special relationship.

Opening in theaters on November 23rd his the highly awaited and triumphant theatrical return of The Muppets in an all-new film named after the beloved characters created by the late Jim Henson. The Muppets marks the lovable group's first theatrical film in over twelve years and features all your favorite characters including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Crazy Harry, Dr. Teeth, Floyd Pepper, Zoot, Statler and Waldorf, and introducing the newest Muppet ... Walter.

The Muppets was co-written by Nick Stoller and Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), directed by James Bobin (HBO's Flight of the Conchords), and features original songs written by Flight of the Conchords member Bret McKenzie. In addition to the Muppets themselves, the film stars Segal, Academy Award-nominated actress Amy Adams (The Fighter), Academy Award-winning actor Chris Cooper (The Town), and Rashida Jones (The Social Network), as well as appearances by Jack Black (School of Rock), Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Prada), Zach Galifianakis (Puss in Boots), musician Dave Grohl (Foo Fighters), political strategist James Carville (The War Room), Neil Patrick Harris (The Smurfs), Kristen Schaal (Toy Story 3), Sarah Silverman (Peep World), Academy Award-winners Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) and Whoopi Goldberg (Ghost), and living legend Mickey Rooney (National Velvet). 

IAR's managing editor Jami Philbrick recently had a chance to sit down with co-writer and executive producer Nick Stoller to discuss his work on The Muppets. Stoller talked about the new film, which Muppets he knew he had to focus on in the script, a missed opportunity with James Carville and Sam the Eagle, a missing scene featuring Dave Grohl and Animal, the return of Uncle Deadly (The Phantom of the Muppet Theater), developing the film's original songs, Chris Cooper's rap, and Walter's "unique" talent. 

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 premiered in Los Angeles last night, and it hits theaters nationwide this Friday, so right now, much of America is no doubt fixating on vampires and werewolves with high cheekbones.  A trio of new character posters for The Muppets, however, bring forth the startling notion that the Twilight films could increase their sex appeal by replacing the three lead actors with Muppets, swapping Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner for Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and Rowlf, respectively.  With The Muppets less than two weeks away from domestic release, you'd think the Disney marketing machine would've finally lost its parody mojo, but these posters show that the mojo remains strong, even without any more spoofy trailers, which seem to drop with like clockwork whenever you think there couldn't possibly be another.

Much like a junkie who swears he's coming back for just one more hit of that sweet, sweet black tar, The Muppets can't stop releasing new little parody-style trailers.  Two weeks ago, what was supposed to be the last one disappeared up its own meta-hole and even poked fun at Paranormal Activty 3, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Puss in Boots, and Happy Feet Two.  Now though, yet another parody trailer entered the world today, and it shows The Muppets going a little bit Bollywood, with many of the film's copious musical moments playing out to some thoroughly Indian musical accompaniment.  And as a bonus: NPH himself, Neil Patrick Harris, makes an appearance.  At this rate, Kermit and the rest of Jim Henson's puppet cadre will probably still be showing up in trailers after the movie actually hits theaters, perhaps randomly in trailers for other movies.

We've previously established that The Muppets are creations of pure goodwill and fluffy happiness, little felt puppets that somehow feel like sunshine on your shoulders.  The Muppets appears to embrace the wide-eyed, childish joy that has long defined Jim Henson's characters; like Kermit and his cohorts, The Muppets just wants to put on a hell of a show and leave its audience grinning like imbeciles.  A preview of the opening musical number is now online, and it typifies the go-for-broke cheerfulness of the Muppets.

You actually won't find any familiar Muppets in this little excerpt.  Instead, you'll meet Jason Segel as well adjusted lovebird Gary and his best friend Walter, a huge Muppet fan.  Walter happens to be a puppet himself, and the two interspecies besties belt out a musical number that is unfiltered happiness.  How happy?  The song they're singing is apparently titled "Life's A Happy Song."

Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, and the rest of the Muppets possess a rare quality – impossible to reduce simply to cuteness or calculation – that reduces anyone and everyone to gleeful, wide-eyed children.  A new clip from The Muppets doesn't contain any of the familiar Muppet crew, it instead introduces the film's human lead, Gary, played by Jason Segel, and his best friend Walter, who is puppeteered and voiced by Muppets and Sesame Street veteran Peter Linz.  Appropriately enough, both characters are basically wide-eyed children, sporting cartoonish pajamas and generally behaving as though they've never had a malicious, unwholesome thought in their lives.

The clip is most set-up, as Gary surprises Walter with an invite to join him and his equally-wholesome squeeze Mary, played by Amy Adams, on their trip to Los Angeles.  From there, it's all exposition, establishing Walter as a massive Muppets fan and ominously foreshadowing the current, disused state of the Muppet Studios.

The theatrical release of The Muppets – the first big screen adventure for Jim Henson's soulful, hilarious puppet creations since 1999's Muppets in Space –  is less than a month away.  Today, to my heathen sensibilities, the best holiday on the calendar, and Disney has taken the opportunity to promote the film with a seasonally-appropriate image that fits right in with the string of The Muppets parody promotional material we've seen over the last six months.

Just last week, we saw the last parody-minded trailer for the film, which upped the ante on the self-awareness even higher, cramming in spoofy moments for Paranormal Activity 3, Puss in Boots, Happy Feet Two, and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1.  That followed the fake-out announcement trailer for a nonexistent movie called Green With Envy and a series of trailers spoofing The Hangover Part II, Green Lantern, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.