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.

Am I a man or am I am a Muppet?  If there's a defining philosophical question of our age, it is this.  Luckily, The Muppets addressed this philosophical imperative with a damn fine musical number late in the film, as Gary, played by co-writer Jason Segel, and Gary's brother Walter, played by Muppeteer Peter Linz, both attempt to figure out their true natures.  Disney has released a music video for "Am I a Man or am I a Muppet" that incorporates the musical and clippage from throughout the film.  Bret McKenzie, who also happens to be one half of New Zealand's folk-comedy duo Flight of the Conchords, served as music supervisor on The Muppets, and this particular song most recalls the music from the HBO series The Flight of the Conchords.  So watch now, and if you haven't seen The Muppets, watch it first then come back to watch the video.

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.

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. 

Comedian Greg Proops may just be The Smartest Man in the World, or at least he pretends to be on his extremely funny and popular podcast of the same name. Proops is an improvisational comedian that is best known for his work on both the UK and US versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?. But he’s also appeared on such shows as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Lately, Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show and Flight of the Conchords, as well as lending his voice to popular films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But now the comedian, who is constantly on the road making appearances, has truly found his voice with his groundbreaking weekly podcast The Smartest Man in the World.

The podcast is recorded in front of a live audience each week and usually takes place during one of Proops’ sold out shows. I recently had a chance to speak with the comedian right before he took the stage in Cleveland for one of his performances. The interview was only supposed to last ten minutes but because he is such a fascinating person to talk to, and very gracious with his time, Proops and I ended up chatting together for almost an hour. It would be impossible for me to include everything we talked about in this article, but I have attached the audio below so that if you’d like to hear the entire interview, you can. We discussed an assortment of topics in addition to his podcast including stand-up comedy, politics, the Republican debates, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, The Ohio Players, the Oscars, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres, Star Wars, George Lucas, Winter’s Bone, comic book adapted movies, romantic comedies, Judd Apatow, Wes Anderson, Zach Galifiankis, and the trappings of success.

The very first poster for The Muppets showed Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Animal up on two feet, strutting out from an ethereal white light, probably the wellspring of all universal goodness from which muppets no doubt originate.  Their bipedal movements proved threatening to those who oppose muppet political empowerment, however, and the subsequent international poster stuck with familiar fuzzy faces from corner to corner.  Now, the final domestic one-sheet for The Muppets adds human stars Jason Segel and Amy Adams, both enthusiastically holding back an avalanche of adorability.

They may look like a bunch of felt mops/puppets, but much like a heavenly choir of angels, Jim Henson's Muppet creations are beings of pure goodwill and radiance, with maliciousness towards none.  Their unwavering altruism and generosity tends to manifest itself in a ceaseless desire to put on a damn good show, with music and entertainment for all.  In The Muppets, the gang will reunite after twelve years away from the silver screen in order to save the Muppet Theater from destruction at the hands of a greedy oil baron played by Chris Cooper.  A new international poster for the film omits human castmembers Jason Segel and Amy Adams to cram every available inch of space with muppety sweetness.

For twelve years, Jim Henson's beloved Muppet creations have laid more or less dormant, not having starred in their own movie since Muppets From Space, though they have made a number of television appearances in the likes of The Muppets Wizard of Oz and a couple Christmas specials.  This fall, though, The Muppets return to the big screen, with Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie Bear, The Swedish Chef, and the rest of the gang putting on a proper show to save the Muppet Theater.  After three amusing parody teaser trailers, Disney has finally released a full theatrical trailer for The Muppets, and the whole gang is in attendance, along with Jason Segel and Amy Adams.

By now, trailers and TV spots featuring Ryan Reynolds reciting the Green Lantern oath have become downright inescapable.  Another recognizable green character fills in for the cosmic cop in this trailer for The Muppets, with Kermit the Frog reciting an oath of his own.  This is the third clever little trailer homage from the film, which stars Amy Adams, co-writer Jason Segel, and the entire Muppet gang (Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, et al.), following the fake-out pseudo-movie Green With Envy and The Hangover Part II-style 'The Fuzzy Pack.'  If you got a kick out of those, then 'Being Green' won't disappoint.

“Its time to play the music, its time to light the lights … it’s time to meet the Muppets on The Muppet Show tonight!”

Those are the unforgettable opening lines to The Muppet Show theme song, which the world will finally get to hear once again next fall when the loveable Muppets make their triumphant return to the big screen. Scheduled for release on November 23^rd is The Muppets, a brand new film featuring the classic characters that was written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller, the writer and director of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, respectively. The music for the movie was written by Flight of the Conchords star Bret McKenzie, and James Bobin, who co-created the popular HBO series, also directs the film. The Muppets, which is their first theatrical release since ‘1999s Muppets From Space, promises to return Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, and the entire gang to the forefront of popular culture … exactly where they belong.