Last Friday, Ken Smith, general manager of electronic publishing services at Logos and author of a number of blog posts, conceived of an idea for a new Muppets movie: The Muppets in Middle-Earth. That's right, a muppet cast for Tolkien's Lord of the Rings!
During the lunch hour, Ken sent an officewide email that began:
"I got to thinking about which Muppet characters I would cast into which LOTR roles and decided it would be a fun little diversion to share with anyone who wanted to give their opinion."
When somebody throws down the gauntlet like that, what can you do but rise to the challenge?
A number of people did so, resulting in the following consensus cast list for The Muppets in Middle-Earth (with comments from Ken Smith). Feel free to leave your own nominations, cheers or jeers in the comments section!
Frodo: Kermit
Sam: Fozzie Bear
Gandalf: Big Bird
Aragorn: Kermit (There was no clear second choice)
Legolas: Gonzo
Gimli: Tie between Rizzo the Rat and Cookie Monster
Merry/Pippin: Ernie/Bert
Gollum: Tie between Oscar the Grouch and Animal
Galadriel: Janice
Arwen: Miss Piggy
Elrond: Tie between Dr. Teeth and Sam the Eagle (Sam definitely has Elrond's permanent scowl)
Saruman: Tie between Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Count von Count
Eowyn: Miss Piggy (dual-role? I think she could handle it.)
Wormtongue: Rizzo the Rat
Orcs: Animal, Sweetums
Black Riders: Count von Count, Statler & Waldorf
No consensus (see below):
Bilbo, Boromir, Faramir, Theoden, Eomer
Not on the original list:
Treebeard: Big Bird
Cave Troll: Sweetums
Here are other nominations, with comments from those who submitted them:
Frodo: Grover, Fozzie Bear
Sam: Scooter, Elmo, Grover
Gandalf:
Sam the Eagle, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Swedish Chef
Rowlf (with a dorky hat)
John Denver (if he were still alive--maybe some CGI magic?)
Aragorn:
Floyd, Big Bird, Rowlf
Grover (with possible appearance by Super Grover)
Here I would cast a live-action actor, say, Christopher Walken
Legolas: Janice, Grover, Elmo, Floyd
Gimli: Sweetums (muh-nah-muh-nah), Fozzie Bear, Gonzo
Merry/Pippen: Gonzo/Rizzo the Rat, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew/Beaker
Gollum: Beaker
Galadriel: Miss Piggy, Camilla the Chicken
Arwen: Sam the Eagle in a wig
Elrond: Elmo, Grover, Big Bird
Bilbo:
Swedish Chef, Gonzo, Cookie Monster, Telly, Floyd
Statler… or Waldorf (they could switch off, like Mary Kate and Ashley did)
Boromir: Statler, Cookie Monster, Zoot, Scooter, Bert
Faramir: Waldorf, Rowlf, Grover, Ernie
Saruman: Statler
Theoden: Swedish Chef, Sam the Eagle, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Rowlf
Eomer: Rowlf, Elmo, Robin the frog, Gobo (Fraggle Rock)
Eowyn: Janice, Camilla the Chicken, Mokey (Fraggle Rock)
Wormtongue: Beaker, Waldorf, Oscar the Grouch, Marvin Suggs
Orcs:
Oscar the Grouch, Clifford, Bobo, Floyd, Dr. Teeth, Pepe the Prawn
One Million Swedish Chefs (Just picture it...)
Black Riders:
Sam the Eagle, Zoot, The Fraggles
the purple siamese twin monsters from Sesame Street
Gonzo (fell beasts, chickens, same difference)
Other fun comments:
Aside from the hobbits listed above, all the other hobbits would have to be those aliens from Sesame Street that just walked around saying “yip-yip-yip-yip yuuuuuup“.
I know that having the Swedish Chef as Gandalf is bizarre, but just think how funny it would be to hear him shouting out lines like "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!“
At the end, we find out that that … Sauron … is … really …
… ELMO!
I would pay to see it! Finally some good movies.
My vote is for Grover as Aragorn. Kermit is a natural Frodo.
Great post!
You guys have way too much time on your hands.
That's what Bob said, too, Brad. In defense of the Muppets Project, let me hasten to point out that it was undertaken during lunch hour (a time that most of us feel is "our own") and the movie poster was created by yours truly during off hours. In fact, you could call it a labor of love (though my wife who was at home keeping dinner warm might disagree). :-)
Way too funny. I love Lord of the Rings, so to see a spoof is pretty funny. Keep up the good work with the great Logos products.
SamWise - Rick Brannan
i really like the idea but kermit should definitely be frodo. kermit isn't the aragorn type.
Obviously the two old guys from the balcony should be cast as Gimli and Legolas, since they're always bickering...
But I'll second Rick as Sam!
The two old guys...that was hilarious
What about those of Fraggle Rock? Uncle Mac as Gandalf for sure!
ok so i happen to trip on this and was just talking to my roommate about it... we think its an amazing idea and wish it would take off... here are our suggestions/votes for characters
Frodo: Robin the Frog
Bilbo: Mr. Waldorf
Sam: Scooter
Gandalf: Dr. Bunsen Huneydew
Aragorn: Kermit
Legolas: Fozzie
Gimli: Mr. Sweetums
Merry/Pippin: Gonzo/Rizzo the Rat
Gollum: Animal
Galadriel: Janice
Arwen: Miss Piggy
Elrond: Sam the Eagle
Saruman: Statler
Eowyn: Annie Sue (another pig character, really old from The Muppet Show)
Wormtongue:
Orcs: the Yip-Yip aliens from Sesame Street
Black Riders: Skeksies(sp?) from Dark Crystal
Treebeard: The ents can just be talking trees (the muppets use stuff like that all the time)
Don't Forget the Talking Fruit, they have to be somewhere... they could be added in in the bar scenes, the feasts, and the parties...
One of my favorite muppets that I would like to see as a Middle
Earth character is the King Prawn "Pepe". I think he would make
a good pippin.