The Great Gonzo – world-famous daredevil artiste, has done it all, seen it all, and survived it all. But on Halloween night, the fearless Gonzo takes on the greatest challenge of his life by spending one very daring night in the most grim grinning place on Earth …The Haunted Mansion.
Inspired by all four of the iconic Disney Haunted Mansion attractions located across the globe at various Disney Parks, the “Muppets Haunted Mansion” includes many hidden Easter Eggs for Disney fans and “Muppet-ized” sets and props that help immerse viewers in the storytelling experience.
This marks the Muppets’ first-ever Halloween special and features the trademark attraction theme song, "Grim Grinning Ghosts". In addition, the special also features three new original songs, "Rest in Peace", "Life Hereafter", and "Tie the Knot Tango", a star-studded Muppets cast, celebrity cameos, and spooky fun for families to enjoy together.[1]
Plot[]
Rather than attending the Muppets' annual Halloween party, Gonzo and Pepe are En route to participate in a fear challenge event in the mansion where Gonzo's favorite magician, The Great MacGuffin, disappeared. Upon being dropped off by their driver (Yvette Nicole Brown), Gonzo and Pepe meet the caretaker (Darren Criss), along with several ghosts and singing busts outside the mansion who perform "Rest In Peace."
The duo is then greeted by their "Ghost Host" (Will Arnett) who informs them that Gonzo was invited there to see if he can survive one night inside this haunted mansion. And if they cannot, they will be trapped there forever. While Gonzo claims that he is afraid of nothing, Pepe is scared by everything he sees. The two explore the mansion and, after meeting Madam Pigota, Gonzo and Pepe come across a room full of several ghosts resembling their Muppet friends who put on a vaudevillian-esque show entitled The Mansion Show (featuring At the Dance style jokes, the stand up comedy of Gauzey the Hatbox Bear, and a performance of "Life Hereafter"). The host reappears and informs Gonzo that in order to survive his time in the mansion he must face his fears in Room 999.
As Gonzo is led off to the room, Pepe meets and becomes entranced by the mansion's resident bride Constance Hatchaway (Taraji P. Henson). It is revealed via song in the "Tie the Knot Tango" that she plans to marry Pepe and then, as explained by the ghosts of her past husbands, kill him.
Gonzo enters Room 999 and faces his biggest fear: that no one will like him if he does not continue to do dangerous stunts. Gonzo starts to turn old as his reflection taunts him, but recalling a conversation with Kermit that he had earlier, Gonzo realizes that he can be great by just being Gonzo and, upon looking out at the party he's missing, he realizes that his bigger fear is losing his friends (and no stunt is worth that). Gonzo rejects the allure of the mansion and its challenge and is ready to leave to reunite with his friends.
The host appears to congratulate Gonzo for facing his fears and tells him that he is free to go. But upon realizing that sunrise is approaching and that Pepe is in trouble, Gonzo refuses to leave the mansion without him. With the help of the host's candelabra, Gonzo is able to find Pepe and stop the wedding. The pair jump out the window and make it out of the mansion just as the sun rises. The host meets them outside, revealing himself to be the ghost of the Great MacGuffin, and is impressed that Gonzo was willing to do what he could not - face his fears. The pair are picked up by their driver and head off to meet the rest of their friends for a post-Halloween breakfast, accompanied by the Hitchhiking Ghosts as "Dancing in the Moonlight" plays on the car's radio and a rainbow appears in the sky.
This is one of the final performances of Ed Asner, along with Dug Days, which premiered on Disney+ a month prior to his death. The special was dedicated to his memory.
This is Brian Henson's first time working on a Muppet production since The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005).
Among the celebrities Pepe hopes to meet at a big Hollywood Halloween party when asking the Ghost Host about whether there's any "famous peoples" at the Mansion is Ryan Gosling, who was attached to Guillermo del Toro's cancelled Haunted Mansion reboot.
The scene in which the ghosts tell bad jokes while dancing is an homage to the "At the Dance" sketch from The Muppet Show.
Five nods to the song "Be Our Guest" from Beauty and the Beast (1991) appear in the song "Life Hereafter", which was originally planned as a more direct parody[3]:
The Ghost Host's introduction to Gonzo and Pepe's funerals is strikingly similar to Lumiere's opening lines at the start of the song.
After the Host sings about a flying candelabra, Rizzo sings the lines "But he ain't French and he can’t croon", clearly referencing Lumiere. Yolanda and the Host then sing "We did that in a beastly cartoon. She was a beauty".
One of the lyrics is "We tell jokes. I do tricks. With my deadly candlesticks", a nod to the line "We tell jokes. I do tricks. With my fellow candlesticks" from "Be Our Guest".
The Ghost Host’s line, "You’re all alone, but don’t be scared, we’ve got your wake all pre-prepared." references Lumiere’s line, "You’re alone and you’re scared But the banquet’s all prepared."
Another lyric is "corpse by corpse and one by one, til you shout my life is done" a nod to the line "course by course, one by one, til you shout enough I'm done"
One of the ending shots from the "Life Hereafter" song references one of the closing shots from The Muppet Show's opening theme.
When Gonzo relates to his mirror some of the stunts he did, footage from previous Muppets productions (such as Muppets Tonight) can be seen.
The organ part of the song "Grim Grinning Ghosts" can be heard through the special.
The special's closing shot is an homage to the title credits for The Muppet Movie.
Gallery[]
Logo
Geoff Keighley as Uncle Theodore
Darren Criss as the Caretaker
Videos[]
Announcement - Muppets Haunted Mansion - Disney+
Muppets Haunted Mansion - Official Trailer - Disney+
