There's a cyclical nature to what people like in the world. Through time, things come around again.
It doesn't matter if you're good at anything, just try your best. Then there's the idea that individually they're flawed but together they can do amazing things. I think that's a very nice message and it's not something you hit people over the head with. It just comes with The Muppets; it's what they're about. It's that kind of innocent try, try, try quality. And it also makes them underdogs. You can't help but support the underdog.
You are a product of what you watch as a kid largely.
I think one of the great bits of The Muppet show is that it was set in a 19th century British theater and they live so nicely amongst that lovely old theater.
Inevitably in any work you do I think that there is a sense of continuity, and I like that.
I am always a great fan of keeping things on an eye level for comedy because it plays better.
With humans you would say, "Don't stand over there." and that would probably work. With puppets, you can't stand over there because you would see the guy underneath. So it is a lot of foreground stuff.
I never want to make a movie which is going to be CG filled, cold, and computerized.
Honestly, puppets themselves are actors effectively. The joy of puppetry is that it is very simple and low-fi, which I love.
You're basically the same person forever so you find the same stuff funny forever. The Muppet Show spoke to me at 5 and it speaks to me in my late 30s in the same way.
I am a great believe that your humor is developed at a very early age and it doesn't ever change.
The Muppet Show is very much seen as an English thing. So for us in the U.K. it is one of the treasures of the history of children's TV and of comedy basically.
I think the children of Hollywood are more influential than the parents.
My kids were always my test audience. I'd take home the dailies and show them what we'd been filming that day.
I love the idea that if you build something with enough depth and texture, you can watch it again and again and see new things every time, and that's very important.
Cable news is 24 hours long so you have to fill it up with something. No, the Muppets are not communist. And the character of Tex Richman is not an allegory for capitalism in any way. The character is called Tex Richman. It's a joke. Clearly he is a classic, old school bad guy. He's bad not because he works for an oil company but because he's evil. No, it's not a communist movie in any way.
