After watching the film, a friend pointed out that his favorite character, Rizzo the Rat, wasn't in the film. Did we miss him? Or was he left out for a reason? I sort of expected him to be working at Gonzo's plumbing business or something.
shareHe's shown multiple times but didn't get a line.
shareAh, too bad...
shareI was sort of hoping that he'd be Gonzo's assistant at his plumbing business, what with those two being such a good duo. Oh well, hope to see him in the next movie.
"PIGGY PUDDING?!"
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Rizzo was on "The Muppet Show," but not until the last couple of seasons and even then only in minor roles. He was also in "Muppets Take Manhatten" and since he's done by core Muppeteer Steve Whitmire (Kermit's current voice), he can certainly be called one of the "normal" Muppets.
The reason he was downgraded in screentime this time around was likely because Segal and company wanted to give the spotlight to Muppets who hadn't gotten much lately (like Rowlf and Scooter to name two prominent examples). Rizzo's been featured so prominently in the last few Muppet movies and TV specials, I think it's only fair that he take a backseat for once.
>> he did not feature on the TV show which is OBVIOUSLY what they were trying to get back to. <<
According to MuppetWiki, Rizzo is in the following episodes of The Muppet Show:
Episode 418: Christopher Reeve
Episode 419: Lynda Carter
Episode 422: Andy Williams
Episode 423: Carol Channing
Episode 424: Diana Ross
Episode 501: Gene Kelly
Episode 502: Loretta Swit
Episode 503: Joan Baez
Episode 504: Shirley Bassey
Episode 505: James Coburn
Episode 506: Brooke Shields
Episode 507: Glenda Jackson
Episode 509: Debbie Harry
Episode 510: Jean-Pierre Rampal
Episode 511: Paul Simon
Episode 513: Tony Randall
Episode 514: Mac Davis
Episode 523: Linda Ronstadt
Episode 524: Roger Moore
No need to overreact or anything lol.
sharei think since the gonzo/rizzo dynamic came about in the post-jim henson era, they decided to scrap it and go back to the earlier stuff
but i get wanting to see him, i did too. he's so funny, and the gonzo/rizzo stuff was one of the few good things that came out of the later era. i think that happened because kermit was a bit sidelined after jim died for a while, and frank oz was also less involved than he used to be, so fozzie and piggy were a little sidelined too.
so gonzo had to step up as the main muppet, and he needed someone to interact with, so they used rizzo.
omg, Rizzo was also my favorite muppet and it's HORRIBLE that he didn't even get a LINE! And though he's in the movie around four times, three of those times you actually have to freaking search for him.
The problem with the movie was the fact that I feel I'm a muppet fan too. I was born in 1991 though and didn't see the TV show but saw the movies, which I loved and Rizzo was a huge deal in them. Him and Gonzo were always the best parts to me and since they took Rizzo out I feel as though they kind of took something big out of MY childhood and relationship to the muppets. So I get screwed over in the end....
I think it was a bad idea JUST to focus on the TV show, I'm sure more teens and kids know them through their movies. God, it makes me sad just thinking about hoe underused he was...
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I can understand the writers wanting to go back to the original premise, but like Knoxvicious the Muppet Treasure Island and Christmas Carol were a bit more of my generation. I've seen the older movies, but I grew up preferring the newer ones, which featured Rizzo quite heavily. Even if they didn't make him a main character, I'd have liked for him to have a couple lines.
shareI kind of agree.
They were definitely going for more of a "The Muppet Show" era feel with the characters (with the exception of Bobo working with the villians, which I LOVED btw, Bobo was the saving grace of Muppets From Space in my opinion)
That being said, Rizzo was a minor character then, but he could've had some lines. He had some funny one liners in The Great Muppet Caper, and was even a fairly prominent supporting character in The Muppets Take Manhattan.
I also would've liked a line from Robin or Pops, but I can't complain much, this movie was a definite step in the right direction with the Muppets.