After the sad and untimely departure of Muppet creator Jim Henson his beloved franchise, which had at the time of his death had three hit big screen adventures, turned to some of literatures finest classical stories to form the basis of their new revitalised movie series. The first of which was the fantastic Muppets Christmas Carol, a surprisingly faithful to the original Charles Dickens novel but with Muppet characters filing out the supporting roles along side actor Michael Cain, directed by Henson's son Brian who remained in the directors chair for the follow up Muppet Treasure Island! Another adaptation of a classic British author's works namely R.L Stevenson and his swashbuckling high seas adventurer, with Muppet Characters once again supporting the human stars such as the wonderful Tim Curry as the one legged scoundrel Long John Silver. MTI is light hearted and whimsical with plenty of laughs and typical Muppet style gags and songs but at the same time manages to capture the spirit of the book by retaining much of it's excitement and drama! After the return of the Muppets to Television with Muppets Tonight the focus shifted from classic story adaptations to something altogether more original and so Muppets From Space
The Muppet movies weren't typically heavy on merchandise apart from Plush toys, Tie-In books/comic books and restaurant promotions but what had been put out had always been of a high standard especially so in the case of Muppet Treasure Island which had not one but two different sets of collectable toys put out in both McDonalds and Burger King but in different regions! USA consumers were treated to an very nice set of "Tub Toys"(which will feature first in this post) courtesy of McD's whereas in the UK and Europe we got an equally brilliant set of toys supplied by Burger King (The complete reverse of what we saw with the Disney promotions produced around the same time) similarly with Muppets From Space there were two distinct restaurant promotions divided up between both regions and supplied once again in the UK and Europe by Burger King and Wendy's for our US cousins which included: Gonzo Sparker, Activity Book, Voice Changer, Kermit Keychain Clip, Electric Mayhem Bus View and Gonzo Puzzle for the U3! though like the movie itself neither set was quite as good as those produced for MTI though Breakfast Cereal brand Wheetos brought out a great set of little PVC figurines to make up for it! Here we will be looking at all of the above mentioned Promotions (minus the Wendy's set) in detail:
Kermit as Captain Smollett: When cabin boy Jim Hawkins is placed in charge of the treasure map he sets out to assemble a crew for a voyage to Treasure Island where they hope to discover mounds of Treasure! Captaining the ship is none other than Captain Smollet (Kermit) a noble and honest captain who will have to deal with treachery from his cunning shipmates lead by the devious Long John Silver!
The high seas adventure theme of the movie lead McDonald's to make their toys "Bath Time" appropriate with each toy being able to float on water and each one even has an additional feature for extra Tub time fun, Kermit for example doubles up as a water squirter! This toy is simple and elegant looking with a basic paint scheme and a very over used feature but is still very nice and clean looking just not particularly exciting!
Miss Piggy as Benjamina Gunn: Marooned on treasure island by boyfriend captain Flint Benjamina has been the caretaker of the treasure ever since and is also pretty friendly with the local swine!
This is a much more impressive looking toy than the Kermit figure depicting Piggy relaxing on a make shift throne with a bunch of grapes looking pretty pleased with life! She is surprisingly detailed throughout particularly on her raft which appears to be made of Bamboo and leaves all of which are really intricately sculpted! Piggy herself also looks fantastic and also has plenty going on about her overall it really is a wonderful looking toy but only has a very basic feature, the raft bobs up and down when waves are made in the water!
Gonzo as a cabin boy: When Billy Bones passes away leaving young bar boy Jim Hawkins with the much sort after Treasure Map he takes his best friends, Gonzo and Rizzo on a high seas adventure to Treasure Island in search of buried gold! While a board Jim befriends the chief cook Long John Silver (whom he had previously been warned about but who seems trustworthy enough) When Long John sails ahead to the Island he makes clear his intentions to young Jim and Gonzo and Rizzo along with Captain Smollet are held captive by the remaining crooked pirates! They soon hatch a rescue plan however and soon on their way to save Jim from the clutches of Silver and his crew!
Another really nice looking toy featuring a very eager looking Gonzo seated in a rowing boat accompanied by a chest full of treasure, which when pushed down activates the mechanism which propels the boat when place in water! This brightly coloured but very nicely detailed toy is probably the most fun to play around with while having a wash!
Fozzie here is a pretty simple but nice looking toy, again he is intended to be played with in the bath tub with his gimmick being that his head rises up to the top of the barrel when placed in water! The barrel portion of the toy has the better detailing including some comical looking squid or octopus and a s tar fish clinging onto the side!
Kermit as Captain Smollet: Taking on the role of the noble Captain is Kermit the frog who uses his amphibian reflexes to god use when battling scurvy pirates on treasure island, With help of course from His precious Mina! 
This toy is a simple PVC Kermit figurine and Boat combo with no additional feature or gimmick other than the fact that you can peg Kermit onto his boat. Despite the lack of imagination this set is still very nice looking with a decent sculpting job on the figurine very much in line with the promotional materials put out around the time of the films release rather than being a true to the movie itself representation. Both figure and boat are nicely rendered and look great on display!
Long John Silver and Polly: The crew's Cook the one legged Long John presents himself as a humble and friendly man of good intent when in reality he is planning mutiny! If you are familiar with this movie than you may have noticed that Long John here doesn't resemble his on screen counterpart very well which may or may not be deliberate as this toy has a distinct "Muppet" like appearance about him! This might suggest that Long Jon Silver had at some point been considered to have been portrayed by a puppet instead of a live actor (Tim Curry). Despite that fact this is still a really nice looking toy who comes adorned with Polly lobster, a treasure map and telescope it also has a "walking " windup feature which works very effectively!
Miss Piggy as Benjamina Gunn: When the crew arrive on Treasure Island the burial spot where the treasure once lay is empty but Long John knows just where to find and seeks out the marooned Benjamina who had been left stranded on the island by old boyfriend! It turns out Captain Smollett is also an old acquaintance of Benjamina's which comes in handy for the captain who is ambushed by a band of natives who plan to roast the frog alive until
Unlike Kermit this figurine has some articulation, she is jointed at the waist so you can put Piggy in a sitting position to better fit her into the oversized treasure chest that accompanies her. there is really nothing else you can do with the toy other than store her in the chest but she is fantastically detailed and painted whereas the chest is generic looking and fairly plain!
Gonzo and Rizzo as Cabin Boys: As with the previous Muppet outing everyone's favourite "whatever" and his Rat companion are at the centre of the story, accompanying friend Jim Hawkins on his high seas adventure! While Rizzo is busy turning the ship into a cruise liner for his rat companions Gonzo suspects that is all is not well with Long John Silver and the rest of the crew acting suspicious!
The toy doesn't represent any particular scene from the film but seeing as Gonzo always had a thing for being fired from a cannon on the original series this toy design is very appropriate for both the movies pirate theme and Gonzo as a character. The toy is simple in design and detailing with the action feature also being pretty basic but fun at the same time, you simply pull it back and watch as it rolls fourth with Gonzo's head popping in and out as it goes along!
Rizzo is A basic solid PV figurine sat astride the cannon looking as though he is about to launch his buddy Gonzo! He is a pretty decent looking representation and compliments the rest of the toy nicely!
Electric Mayhem Bus: Making its very first appearance in the original Muppet Movie the iconic vehicle makes a triumphant return in Muppets from space! When Kermit and the gang realize Gonzo and Rizzo are in trouble they hop on board the bus to their friends rescue!
This is a pretty simple wind up toy were the majority of the detail is provided by decals which feature some psychedelic (not to mention inaccurate to the movie) looking designs plus various characters peering from the widows including Miss Piggy, Animal , Dr. Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker and Fozzie Bear in the driving seat. As the bus rolls along a very basic looking tiny Kermit figure pops up and down from the sun roof!
Rizzo The Rat: After Gonzo becomes convinced he is from another planet he and Rizzo set out to discover his origins but are captured by C.O.V.N.E.T agents and are experiment on with Rizzo ending up as a lab rat Shaw shank redemption style and encounters a talking sandwich in the process!
This is the best toy of the whole set and is actually a very good representation of Rizzo who does "sit ups" as you push the mouse trap along! This toys gimmick was inspired by a very brief scene in the movie itself where Rizzo does some early morning exercises!
Miss Piggy: When Andie McDowell's supernatural investigative reporter is unable to do her show, Piggy fills in and is soon on to an exclusive scoop when she finds out Gonzo has been in contact with aliens he claims are his long lost family!
If you are unfamiliar with this movie You may be wondering what this toy is suppose to be representative of! The toy is based on another brief scene were Miss Piggy stands in for a paranormal T.V host who presents her show from a set that is shaped like a meteor! And this is not a bad representation of said set piece which has a little Piggy figurine sat inside which can be operated like a figure puppet while the two sections of the meteor can be closed around her!
Another tie-in promotion for The Muppets From Space came from UK Cereal brand Wheetos who gave away one of six 2" miniature figurines in their boxes of cereal including: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal and Rizzo
Kermit the Frog: These miniature figures are all very nicely detailed and feature several paint applications which isn't often the case with cereal premiums it has to be said! What's more the paint applications are generally very clean and seem pretty accurate to the on screen character and Kermit here is a great example of that!
Fozzie Bear: The details on Fozzie are fantastic particularly in the sculpting of the fur especially considering this figure is quite small! All the paint detailing is pretty cleanly applied also making for a very nice little collectable!
Miss Piggy: Piggy is probably the most impressive of the three and this toy does a great job at capturing her on screen appearance! the intricacy of the paint work is quite astounding here particularly on areas such as her eyelashes and the sculpting is also pretty detailed for the scale!
The last two Muppet theatrical movies of the 90's are considered by some to be the weakest of the entire series though are still incredibly enjoyable and entertaining in their own right! The premiums for both movies are probably the most extensive of any of the films and make fantastic additions to any Muppets collection from a time when Fast food and cereal toys were at their most impressive!
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