The Happytime Murders (2018)

Seth Rogen, Seth MacFarlane, Melissa McCarthy, and Brian Henson all got incredibly stoned and drunk one night and had a brainstorming session while watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1998) and The Happytime Murders (2018) was born! Okay, so it did not happen quite like that, but that is the best way I can describe this movie.

In the movie’s universe, The Happytime Gang was the first show that starred puppets along with a human and did not rely on puppets singing and dancing. It was a sitcom from the 1990s and looked almost like something that would be on the Thursday night lineup of NBC. The show has gone into syndication and its former stars are being picked off one by one. Meanwhile, disgraced former cop Phil Phillips (Bill Barretta), who coincidently dated the human counterpart of The Happytime Gang, Jenny (Elizabeth Banks) and is the brother of puppet star Larry Shenanigans (Victor Yerrid), has been hired as a Private Investigator by vixen Sandra White (Dorien Davies) to find out who is blackmailing her. As luck would have it, Phil is present at each of the murders and is hired as a consultant to aide his former partner, Detective Edwards (Melissa McCarthy), solve the case. The cast also includes former veteran Muppet performer Kevin Clash as Lyle, former actor from The Happytime Gang who is now a powerful drug lord, Maya Rudolph as Bubbles, Phil’s Girl Friday who has a soft spot for puppets, especially Phil, and Joel McHale as Agent Campbell, an FBI agent who thinks Phil is behind the murders.

The Happytime Murders this is the first film Brian Henson has directed since Muppet Treasure Island (1996) and is his third theatrical film. It not only marks his first R-rated film involving puppets, but it is also the first film to be released under the banner of the Henson Alternative, a division of The Jim Henson Company that only releases content for adults.

The film includes the use of 125 puppets, many of which are recycled from That Puppet Game Show (2013), The Animal Show (1994), and Kermit’s Swamp Years (2002). 40 of the puppets were made specifically for this movie. Because the film including so many puppets as extras, background and main characters, nearly every shot could be considered a special effects shot. Puppets snort sugar, which is like a drug to them, smoke cigarettes, lift weights, get wrung out like a wet towel, get punted, and walk around with their legs visible. To achieve such a variety of shots, multiple versions of different puppets were made and teams of puppeteers had to manipulate single puppets at the same time.

This film was first announced in 2008. Since then, several different actors were attached and various versions of the script were written. Once previews showcasing the film’s crass humor and sexual content hit the internet, viewers were buzzing about the film. It’s tagline, “No Sesame. All Street,” gained notoriety when Sesame Workshop sued STX feeling the reference was damaging to the Sesame Street brand. Of course, the film’s marketing agency followed up with adding, “From the studio that was sued by Sesame Street…” to later previews. Other than one brief reference to Sesame Street, Henson steered away from allusions to the Muppets or Jim Henson’s works. Although, if it were not for many of the innovations developed for Jim Henson’s productions, many of the puppetry techniques incorporated in the film would not exist.

In fact, had it not been for several other seemingly unrelated productions, this movie would not have been made. The first being Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), a film that depicted a world where humans and cartoon characters co-exist and interact. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) also included a subplot of cartoon characters being treated unfairly, providing a social commentary on racism. The Happytime Murders contains a similar subplot, but it was not as well developed as Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

Sausage Party (2016), Family Guy (1998), South Park (1997), and The Simpsons (1989) animated productions noted for their adult humor and appealing to an adult audience also helped pave the way for this movie. Had audiences not first accepted dancing wieners and cigarette smoking babies, a mainstream movie featuring a puppet ejaculating Silly String could never be released. Brian Henson wanted to explore another side of puppets. Through his work with puppet improv, he noticed that skits quickly went to blue comedy, a risqué and sexually shocking type of humor. He also has pointed out that when Jim Henson and other Muppet performers played around behind the scenes, humor often got “naughty.”

The Happytime Murders has been slammed by many Muppet-centric fan sites as being way too vulgar and shocking. But the film is much more than sex jokes. Melissa McCarthy is hilarious. Not many actors successively play against puppets, but she called upon her comedic chops that were showcased in Tammy (2014), The Heat (2013), and Spy (2015). The on-screen comedic chemistry that McCarthy and Rudolph used to steal the scenes of Bridesmaids (2011) was reignited in this film.

Filmmakers called upon the audience favorite buddy cop/cop rivalry tropes that make the Lethal Weapon franchise and Dragnet (1987) fan favorites. The writing is also smart. Phil was a “real” cop. The first puppet cop while his brother played a cop on television. Once he fell from grace, Phil became a Private Eye and distanced himself from humans (except Bubbles) while Larry underwent expensive surgical procedures to lighten his color and change his nose in attempts to become more human.

The film also provides a commentary on the television industry. Once beloved stars are forgotten and often are become submerged in drugs or pornography, broke and still trying to chase the high that was once stardom. Jenny becomes a stripper, Goofer becomes a sugar addicted, offering blow jobs for sugar, and Lyle is a drug lord in a seedy part of town.

I do wish better attention had been paid to the social commentary and other parts of writing simply make no sense or left too many questions. For instance, is sugar expensive to purchase or cheap? Because it acts as a drug to puppets, is it regulated at all? What happens to puppets if it rains? Can puppets vote? I know, it is just a movie, but paying attention to the details is what made Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) a classic that invented the film term “bumping the lamp.”

My other criticism is with a human cast choice, Joel McHale. McHale plays the typical hard-ass, by-the-book foil that keeps trying to catch Edwards and Phil slipping up. McHale brings nothing unique to the role. He is basically a place holder going through the motions. I understand that we are not expected to like him, but I feel indifferent about him. Had his character been better developed and his performance memorable instead of generic, he could have really generated some hatred from the audience. Instead, he is as bland and flavorless as tap water in an otherwise colorful and hilarious film.

I hope that Henson feels that he succeeded in his goal and we see more films from the Henson Alternative. Even if you do not like puppets, the porn shop and Silly String scenes easily are worth the movie ticket to get into the film! I think Jim Henson would have been quite proud.