Jim Henson and his army of colorful puppets became the face of a unifying childhood experience thanks to The Muppets. He passed away in 1990 at the age of 53. Just a year after his passing, Walt Disney World launched the final Muppet-related project of Henson’s, Muppet*Vision 3D. Now, however, there are talks of demolishing it completely.
While Henson’s resume includes the likes of Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, Henson entered the world of children’s entertainment television through Sesame Street in 1969, quickly becoming a formative power in developing Muppet characters for the series. Henson’s work helped revolutionize the way puppetry was used in entertainment and in 2011, he was officially named a Disney Legend. But what fate awaits the last mark he left on this world?
Walt Disney World may get rid of Jim Henson’s final Muppets project
Walt Disney Imagineering, the engineering and design team responsible for the various Disney-themed parks, entertained plans to dismantle Muppet*Vision 3D. The attraction is a 4D experience, combining a changing image on a screen in front of shifting seats, bubbles, smoke, animatronics, and other immersive features around the audience.
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The experience runs for 15 minutes and shows Kermit the Frog introducing the program, then goes through the Muppets getting ready for a big show. However, a rogue computer program called Waldo sabotages their efforts, leading to humorous mishaps.
Just after presentations at D23, the “ultimate Disney fan event” by Disney Experience, Walt Disney Imagineering raised the possibility of shutting down Muppet*Vision. According to The Wrap, the team was given a week to decide the attraction’s fate.
Fans get their message across
The Muppets attraction first started up exactly a year after Henson’s death on May 16, 1990 from pneumonia, and was the last project he worked on firsthand. As a result, its presence has come to be treated as a memorial to the trailblazing entertainer. The decision was supposed to be addressed during the D23 event but was withheld at the last minute, an insider told The Wrap.
The insider also said that the attraction would be moved to an area called “animation courtyard,” a go-between that acts as a limbo between Disney-MGM Theme Park and the actual attraction venue. A potential replacement would be attractions themed around Monsters Inc., with infrastructure already in place to accommodate a restaurant and shopping.
On social media, fans make their opinions known loudly and clearly.
“It’s devastating for me because I love Muppet*Vision and it still plays really well,” mourned Kevin Perjurer, the personality behind Defunctland. “They also just refurbished it and the effects look better than they have in a long time. Hollywood Studios is a park that has very little history left and while not an opening day attraction, Muppet*Vision was from that bygone era.”
“If this replaces animation courtyard, this is a pretty neat addition,” reasoned one parkgoer on social media, before adding in dismay, “If this replaces Muppet*Vision 3D, this is the worst thing that has happened in my entire life.
Have you seen Muppet*Vision 3D?
