Muppets Haunted Mansion Review

Welcome Foolish Muppets... 

If you haven't watched the Muppets Haunted Mansion over on Disney+ yet, you are definitely missing out!  It was released on Disney+ last Friday and I've already watched it twice!  I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved it!

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My brother Jeremy loves the Muppets.  He's been looking forward to this since it was first announced.  I'm not as big of a Muppet fan, but I enjoy their silly movies and specials.  As soon as I knew the special was Haunted Mansion themed, I was sold and couldn't wait to see it.  Friday afternoon, I sat down to watch it while Eliot was at work.

The thing I loved the most was that it had so many Easter eggs.  There were a few references to the other Muppets movies- many of which I probably missed.  But what really jumped out at me were the Haunted Mansion ride references.  There were lines from the ride, the scenes and backgrounds were inspired by the ride, the characters were from the rides.  It was really well thought out!

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I loved how they reimagined our favorite Muppets into our favorite Haunted Mansion characters. Miss Piggy as Madame Pigotta was my favorite, but I also enjoyed seeing Fozzy as the Hatbox Ghost "Gauzey the Hatbox Bear", Rowlf as the Organist and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker as the staring busts. 

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The music also surprised me.  I really enjoyed the original songs.  My favorite was the one that Darren Criss (as the caretaker) sings at the very beginning.  I love how they included the actual puns used on the Haunted Mansion tombstones at Disney Parks.  It was bittersweet seeing Ed Asner in one of his final performances, but it made me smile that the performance was dedicated to him.  I also enjoyed how they incorporated the singing busts and "Grim Grinning Ghosts" into the opening song.

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My absolute favorite part of the entire thing was when Miss Piggy was yelling for "Kimmeeee" and Kim Irvine walked in as a mansion maid.  Not only was her costume exactly like the uniforms the cast members wear at the parks, but it was a subtle funny joke to those of us who know Kim as a talented Imagineer who worked on the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Her mother was Leota Toombs- who Madame Leota is named after, and the original voice and image of her in the mansion.  Today, Kim provides the face for Madame Leota as well as the voice of "Little Leota" and Madame Leota in the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay at Disneyland.

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Overall, I was really impressed and I know that it will be a favorite for years to come.

As soon as Eliot got home from work, I turned it on for him to see.  I really enjoyed watching it a second time.  I caught a lot more of the Easter eggs the second time around.  I pointed a few things out to Eliot occasionally because I wasn't sure he'd catch them.  (For example, he didn't recognize Kim Irvine right away like I did.) 

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Eliot loved the special too.  In fact, he purchased a few items when Shop Disney released a small selection of Muppets Haunted Mansion items for D23 members on Monday.  He got the Muppet Stretching Portrait Pins to go with the rest of my collection and he bought himself the Muppet Wallpaper button down shirt.  It seems like a lot of others also enjoyed the special so maybe Disney will release more items in the future!

If you haven't checked Muppets Haunted Mansion out yet, you really should!  °o°