Anyone who knows me well knows that I’m a huge Muppets fan. Even some people who don’t know me well at all know that. And with two teaser trailers for the next Muppet movie being released in one week, I thought it might be a good time to broadcast some opinions I have about the whole ordeal, thus far.

First, a little bit of backstory: It’s been about three years since talks began on this film, which will be titled simply The Muppets. Jason Segel worked with the Jim Henson Company on building the puppets used for the end of a film he wrote and starred in, Forgetting Sarah Marshall in 2008. Once his foot was in the door with this creative team he expressed his love for the original Muppet Show gang and how he had an idea for a movie that could return them to the spotlight after being in the background of pop culture for so many years. Aside from a cameo appearance in the movie Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium, Kermit the Frog hasn’t been seen on the big screen since 1999’s uneven Muppets from Space, which many people agree (me definitely included) was barely worth making. Since then, there’s been no Muppet television show or movie, and the only thing filling the Muppet void has been YouTube videos like their now-infamous cover of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Segel convinced Disney (who owns the Muppet name and classic characters) to jump on board, and everything started taking a real shape.

Segel re-teamed with his Forgetting Sarah Marshall co-writer, Nicholas Stoller, and penned what people who have read it have described as a terrific way to reintroduce children of all ages to the Muppets and aims to recapture what made them great in the first place. Which is great, because buying Muppet DVDs for all my friends’ kids has gotten expensive. The last two critical pieces to fall into place were the decisions to go with director James Bobin and music supervisor Brent McKenzie. McKenzie is one-half of the comedy-folk duo Flight of the Conchords, who make some of the funniest, catchy songs I’ve ever heard, and their short-lived TV show was hilarious. And probably not incidentally, James Bobin directed the majority of episodes of The Flight of the Conchords, so once this all fell into place, my faith in the project increased tenfold.

Now, is this the right team for the job? Let’s consider that James Bobin knows even obscure Muppets, like the Phantom of the Muppet Show, Uncle Deadly. And while I’ve heard a few people complain that Segel will do the Muppets an injustice, that his humor is too adult-oriented and won’t translate well to these characters, let me point out that the Muppets were never intended to be a kiddie act; they were supposed to be all-ages from the beginning. Plus, I highly doubt we’ll be seeing any full-frontal shots of Segel in this outing. But if you want the most convincing argument that he’s a good fit, consider this: At one of the first table readings for The Muppets (And no, I’m not a fan of the title. It’s confusing and too simplistic all at once.), the puppets were brought out and Segel had to stop the reading. The reason? He was crying. He was so moved by being in the same room as Kermit the Frog that he was brought to tears. That cemented in my mind that he was the right man for the job.

So months and months pass, and there have been a few (VERY few, WAY TOO few) publicity photos released, and some behind-the-scenes shots revealed, but the big ticket item came last Friday, when before the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, a trailer for a new romantic comedy from Disney premiered. Here it is, Green with Envy:

So, a fake-out that, thanks to press releases, a lot of people already knew was coming, but exciting nonetheless! I liked this tactic; I think it plays out extremely well, and most importantly, it’s funny. To me, it feels like a trailer for the Muppets, even when it’s not a trailer for the Muppets. (Anyone follow that logic?) And there’s a lot to interpret and analyze. (I won’t break it down much myself, but two great fan sites already have. See: http://www.toughpigs.com/greenwithenvy/ and http://themuppetmindset.blogspot.com/2011/05/breaking-down-green-with-envy-trailer.html) The Muppets themselves don’t show up until about halfway through the trailer, and since this is a teaser, that means that out of a 1 minute, 32 second trailer, we only see about 41 seconds of Muppets. But that’s the point of a teaser trailer: to tease you. And in those 41 seconds, there is so much alluded to!

Although I contemplated going to theatres just to see this trailer (I’m not a Pirates fan, so I had no interest in seeing the film.), I waited patiently for it to be uploaded on Monday. And once it was up, I immediately watched it on my phone. And then again. And then raced to my laptop to watch it a few dozen more times. I was instantly in love.

And then, the nigh-impossible happened: Just three short days later, there was a trailer for this, The Fuzzy Pack.

(For more analysis fun: http://www.toughpigs.com/fuzzy-pack-disney-has-a-plan/)

In one short week, we went from seeing behind-the-scenes photos to TWO trailers. Now, the second one doesn’t offer much in the way in new snippets, but it does feature two of the many, many cameos that will take place throughout this film (For those who can’t recall their names, that’s Wanda Sykes and Danny “Machete Don’t Text” Trejo). But I still got chills when I saw those opening images.

The plot of the story, for those wondering, is that the Muppets have disbanded and scattered across the country during various new things. Jason Segel plays Gary, Amy Adams plays his girlfriend Mary, and the little brown guy no one knows yet is Walter, Gary’s roommate who loves the Muppets and relates to them for reasons he can’t explain (Doesn’t he know he’s fulfilling my lifelong dream? He IS a Muppet). So they travel the country to reunite the group and save the theatre where The Muppet Show and all their movies were filmed from being torn down for its hidden oil reserves underneath by Chris (Lt. Dan) Cooper’s character, brilliantly-named Tex Richman. So seeing these flashes of what the theatre looks like after years of neglect gave me chills. I’ve gotta say, seeing this made me shiver with antici … pation.

When I was a kid, the biggest thing to come out in my lifetime was Star Wars, Episode 1. And when that teaser trailer hit the theatres and subsequently the internet, I watched it pretty much every day, speculating what the story behind all these quick flashes of images and snippets of dialogue would be. I remember watching it with my dad, who had seen the original Star Wars in theatres and had been waiting even longer than my whole life to see this story that had been talked about for years. Looking back now, I can’t remember exactly where my level of excitement sat when I first saw that trailer. But I can almost guarantee it’s nothing compared to my excitement for The Muppets.

I’ve been a fan of the Muppets pretty much since birth. I can’t imagine a time in my life that they weren’t a part of; whether it be through learning the alphabet from Sesame Street or learning what comedy was all about from reruns of The Muppet Show every afternoon on Nickelodeon. They’re ingrained in me somewhere and I’ve never “outgrown” them, and I can say with absolute confidence that I never will. So this has been pretty much the best week of my life so far. I’ve never been more excited for a movie in my life, and the smallest glimpse of what will transpire in it gives me goose bumps.

Would I have tried to be the first in line this Thanksgiving to see this movie without these trailers? You bet your ass I would have been! But seeing how much care Disney is taking in promoting this film, coupled with the fact that there is so much Muppety goodness to love in just under 3 minutes of footage, and so much that harkens back to what made me love the Muppets in the first place, this has me standing up and hollering for more (MORE!).

I love the Muppets. And I can’t wait for The Muppets. No matter what title they’ve come up with.