Muppet Treasure Island [1996] (1 disc)

Random Trivia For This Title:

• Kermit the Frog doesn't appear until 27 minutes into the movie. Miss Piggy doesn't appear until 1 hour and 6 minutes in.
• Ellis Flyte: The wife of Brian Henson (the film's producer and director) gives an uncredited appearance as Big Fat Ugly Bug-Faced Baby-Eating O'Brian (a female ship's crew mate seen only during the Roll Call scene).
• On its initial release, Muppet Treasure Island took the number one spot for its success unlike the four previous Muppet films.
• David Bowie and Mick Jagger were both seriously considered for the role of Long John Silver before Tim Curry was cast.
• In the original script, Polly Lobster's role was played by a sultry female parrot who flirted with Silver (a similar character had been used in a sketch of [The Muppet Show] starring John Cleese as a pirate). When this got "too weird", according to Brian Henson, she was replaced with a male parrot named Stevenson (after Robert Louis Stevenson) who pointed out the changes made from book to movie. Stevenson was replaced by Polly Lobster for the film, but later showed up in the PC game based on the film.
• Tim Curry had been a huge fan of Muppets for years before doing this movie. And has stated in many interviews he regards this role as one of his favorite roles. He was even given a Muppet made in the likeness of him as Long John Silver after shooting was completed.
• Brian Henson was nervous that the whole cast and crew would get motion sick as the ship rolled on the gimbals. He gave everyone seasickness pills for the first day of the shoot, and not only did the cast and crew not get seasick but they almost fell asleep on the job.
• Brian Henson said that Frank Oz was not originally a fan of Fozzie Bear's "Mr. Bimble" (the man who lived inside of Fozzie's finger). However, by the end of filming, Oz decided that it was one of his favorite jokes.
• After Jim Henson's death, Rowlf the Dog was not recast for several years, as he was considered the character closest to Henson's actual personality (even more so than Kermit the Frog). In this film, Rowlf appears, but does not speak, in the first scene set in the Tavern.
• Tim Curry tried a peg leg, but the discomfort forced him to change to using a crutch.
• Hormel Foods Corporation, makers of Spam, sued the film production company for making the name of a warthog character "Spa'am". Their suit was defeated on September 22, 1995. The judge noted that "one might think Hormel would welcome the association with a genuine source of pork."