Disneyland Didn’t Want to Do the Muppets Totally Dirty for Their 70th Anniversary

As the Muppets’ presence at Disney Parks continues to evolve, the beloved Jim Henson Company characters are marking their 70-year anniversary at the same time as Disneyland. With that in mind Disney Experiences and Muppet Studios collaborated on a special show to fit perfectly along with the celebrations across the Disneyland Resort.

io9 was present for the premiere of the Muppets’ special greeting before the first showing of World of Color: Happiness, the nighttime water spectacular at Disney California Adventure. Before the show, representatives and producing teams from Disney Experiences discussed the latest collaboration between Disney and Henson.

“Well, there’s a lot of hijinks I can tell you that for sure,” said Susanna Tubert, creative director of Disney Live Entertainment. “But it quickly became apparent to us that the Muppets are actually celebrating their 70th anniversary as well. So when we reached out to our partners at the Muppet Studios and said, ‘Hey, do the Muppets want to play with us? It was also resounding: yes.”

Tubert added, “I will share that Miss Piggy had a lot of requests, there were a lot of wardrobe requests. There are a few special outfits that may have been made for her for this. Gonzo got into some hijinks [and] it all kind of went rolling down hill very quickly, but we had a lot of fun.”

The Muppets moment before World of Color presents some classic Muppet Show-style shenanigans, as they’re there to give audiences instructions on how to spectate the show they’re about to watch. All of the iconic characters get in on the action and it makes you wish they’d just run the rest of the show. There’s music and classic gags. Be sure to watch out for Gonzo the Great making a death-defying jump over the water, and of course there’s enough Mayhem to go around with Dr. Teeth and friends.

What’s interesting is that World of Color: Happiness heavily features Paul Williams’ iconic Muppets tune “Rainbow Connection” covered by Boys II Men—but the characters themselves don’t appear in the show, which is such a wasted opportunity. Inside Out fans will be happy to know all of Riley’s emotions handle the mix-tape tinged new water show that fits the chaotic tone that takes you on a real rollercoaster of feelings with new and nostalgic Disney musical moments. But we wanted more Muppets! We lost their 3D show in California years ago and Disney World’s version just followed suit.

While we look forward to the Muppets coaster on the East Coast, we hope the West Coast isn’t forgotten. The World of Color intro got some good cheers and showed how even projected on water, the Muppets energy cannot be contained. And as they celebrate 70 years of timelessness, that is something we shouldn’t take for granted.

World of Color: Happiness with a special message from the Muppets will be projected on scheduled nights during Disneyland’s 70th Anniversary at the Disneyland Resort.

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