Joseph Scarbrough launched what he called "The Scarblog" as a way of cataloging his work over the years, as well as going into greater detail of things on his mind (known as "Unfinished Thoughts").
When I finished and uploaded my very first YouTube video in December of 2007, I honestly expected it to garner a lot of hate, given how incredibly shoddy it was, not to mention it was basically a parody of (and a tribute to) a rather popular show from my generation's childhood . . . I didn't think that it would not only end up garnering over 20,000 views (which was a big deal, way back when), but that it actually became popular, and that people actually wanted more. It seems only fair to give the people what they want, doesn't it? After a couple of months of putting it together, May 30, 2009 saw the release of the anticipated MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!
The sequel was undoubtedly less shoddy than its predecessor, but like its predecessor, it clearly has not aged well. At all. Then again, you have to keep in mind, this was during a time where the tools that I had to work with were even more limited. Although I was just finally beginning to get a grip on Movie Maker by this time (which I have, thankfully, moved on to Adobe Premiere Pro since then), there was still the matter of actually shooting this thing, and happily, this ended up being my very last videotaped production: like the first entry, shooting on videotape meant having to shoot the whole thing in-sequence/in-order, in a linear method, before the entire footage could be digitized for the Internet.
It's not so easy to munk yourself.
Unlike the first entry, however, I did not also perform this live as I was shooting, because I really couldn't. Luckily, by this time, I had downloaded and installed Audacity for sound recording and mixing, so rather than do the voices while shooting, I could record and mix the entire soundtrack for the production separately and sync it up with the video footage in post[-production] (which ended up being something I had to do with almost every production of mine up after this, up until I got Adobe Premiere). The biggest challenge was having to do a squeaky voice for the sequel's guest star, Brittany Miller of The Chipettes. The technique of doing squeaky chipmunk voices pioneered by Bagdasarian Productions, the company that owns the Alvin and The Chipmunks franchise, seems simple enough: record your dialogue at half-speed, then speed it up afterward, creating the familiar squeaky sound that The Chipmunks and Chipettes are known for. Turns out, it's actually not quite that simple, nor as easy as it seems . . . granted, they had decades to perfect this craft to make the characters' voices, inflections, mannerisms, and tones sound natural and believable . . . when I attempted it for this short, it resulted in an unintentionally stilted, disjointed, and robotic sound, much like The Chipmunks infamously had in their earliest years from the late 50s and even into the early 80s.
This was probably my first production where I really had to approach the project from more of an actual film making perspective. Unlike the previous entry, or even most of my Steve D'Monster videos up until this point, more work went into the shooting besides just simply framing shots - this was a(n ever-so-slightly) bigger production featuring a larger cast of characters of varying sizes, which meant more attention was paid to things such as composition: the use of foreground and background space, angles, and focus, among other things. While the composition, as well as the overall cinematography wasn't really that spectacular (the fact that several shots and sequences evidently lacked a tripod to keep the camera steady), it's something that I've put more effort and attention into ever since . . . I like to think that I've improved quite a bit since then; especially since I've gotten an HD camera.
Just some of the "incredible" sets that were put together
The main thing I wanted to avoid this time was having this entry be another straight-forward parody of the source material that inspired it, ACTION LEAGUE, NOW! - instead, this entry featured actual settings and scenery . . . albeit very, very cheaply done. So much so, in fact, that a majority of the Downtown Scarburg street that opens the entry was simply a Fisher-Price SESAME STREET play set, with only one other additional building constructed specifically for the street - out of cardboard, no less. Another major set in this entry was a cave that three Yoshi's were keeping Brittany in: all of this was just crumbled up brown paper set up for cave walls, and rocks scattered around the shooting area. Brilliant, huh? This is another reason why this hasn't aged well at all, but I really wanted to put the characters into an actual world they would fit into (in more ways than one) and not just repeat doing another ACTION LEAGUE, NOW! parody; this is a tradition I'm continuing even into the current production of MORON LEAGUE 4 (which, I promise you, will have much better-looking, detailed, intricate settings than the previous two entries).
Sorry, Yoshis. Our princess is in another cave.
As far as the overall story goes . . . I think this was even more random, non-sensical, and off-the-cuff than the original! Perhaps not entirely off-the-cuff. I don't quite remember after all of these years, but I'm fairly certain when I did the original entry, that I practically just made it up as I went along . . . this time, however, I at least had inspiration, if you can call it that. I had been watching Let's Plays of different Super Mario games on YouTube, which also lead to watching Let's Plays of Yoshi games, such as YOSHI'S ISLAND and YOSHI'S STORY . . . somehow or other, this apparently inspired the plot of having my BD&A Yoshi beanies (just Green, Red, and Yellow, because I never was able to find Blue) "save" who they believe to be a princess for Mario; but, as the Nerdlucks point out, Brittany is no princess (though Brittany says she totally should be).
And, of course, MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL! carried on the tradition of being shot in the animation/puppetry hybrid style developed for ACTION LEAGUE, NOW!, Chuckimation, so it was really ramped up in this one; so much so, that crashing the Moron Airship became a running gag.
Where did these guys learn to drive, anyway?
Unfortunately, this entry did not get a proper ending scene. In 2009, YouTube still had a rather strict 10-minute time limit on almost all video uploads, and this entry - completed as is - almost clocked in at exactly ten minutes. An ending scene was planned, but ultimately never coordinated and shot, in which the Nerdlucks get into Brittany's concert for free for saving her, but as she's performing, they can't stop talking shop about how successful their mission was, disrupting the concert for others, and getting thrown out of the venue as a result. More than likely, I would have used an actual Chipettes song for the concert (probably "Diamond Dolls" since it's a personal favorite of mine), which would probably result in the entire video receiving a copyright claim from Bagdasarian Productions for the use of the song, thus removing it from YouTube - so, it's probably best that the ending was never included either way.
There you have it; the story behind MORON LEAGUE, SEQUEL!, on this day of its tenth anniversary. Of course, you can see it for yourself anytime on YouTube, but you might want to take a moment to watch it today:
The Ran-Dells' "The Martian Hop" is a quirky little novelty song from the oldies era that I've been wanting to do a music video for for years, the problem is I never was exactly sure how I would approach this . . . I really couldn't see myself constructing some martian puppets for just one little music video.
It finally donned on me that with the upcoming MORON LEAGUE 4 in the works, that said martians for the music video could be none other than the Nerdlucks! As much as I denounce the excessive overuse of chromakey in modern film and television, the work I did on this music video turned out to be roughly 99% chromakey! Some had to be done with green screen, other with blue screen - it wasn't perfect, and the keying didn't turn out perfect either, but I suppose I got the job done for what I wanted to do.
So, finally, here is my music video for "The Martian Hop" by The Ran-Dells, with the Nerdlucks (and also featuring cameos by characters from SEINFELD, SESAME STREET, and ALVINNN!!! AND THE CHIPMUNKS).
I'm sure that a majority of the people who read Scarblog (if anybody even still reads this thing, since blogging has pretty much died in recent years) are either fellow Muppet Freaks or fellow puppetry aficionados, and as such, you're probably already familiar with this situation that's been in the news all week long, so I'm not going to waste any body's time and repeat all of the known sordid details, because you've probably already read about it yourself from various different sources. What you can do, however, is see Steve Whitmire's statements for yourself, as he has recently started his own blog to share his experiences with fans and friends across the globe:
http://stevewhitmire-muppetpundit.com/ Note: It's been speculated that this may not actually be the real Steve Whitmire behind this blog, so take it however you will.
What I am going to do, however, is offer up my own two-cents worth on why the Muppets seem to be struggling so much lately. . . . Actually, the Muppets haven't been struggling so much lately, rather, they've kind of struggled since Jim Henson's sudden death in 1990 - the struggle has just gotten more and more apparent in recent years because of the things that have transpired, and more. Since Jim's death, the Muppets have been in multiple hands over the past two-and-a-half decades: the Jim Henson Company retained them up until the late 90s when they sold the characters to German media company EM-TV, and when that failing company began going under in 2003, the Jim Henson Company bought back the Muppets, only to sell them again a year later to Disney, where they have remained ever since. This isn't the first time Disney has had their hands in the Muppets: Jim was already in negotiations to sell his company and all of its properties (minus the Sesame Street Muppets, which Jim promised to leave with what was still known as the Children's Television Workshop at the time) to Disney before his death, but because the deal was never finalized in writing (as Jim always prefered to do business with a handshake), the Jim Henson Company continued to own the characters and properties, while Disney distributed certain titles like THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL and MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND.
Bad concept.
Still, Disney didn't finally get complete control over the Muppets until 2004, and since they were so eager to get their hands on the Muppets, what did they do with them? Nothing. At first. Well, that's not entirely true: they did give us a TV movie in 2005 with THE MUPPETS' WIZARD OF OZ, and a TV special in 2008 with LETTERS TO SANTA, but other than that, Disney pretty much did nothing else with them. Years later, actor/filmmaker Jason Segel sought to remedy that, and shopped a script to Disney that eventually lead to the Muppets' first theatrical movie in over a decade in 2011: THE MUPPETS. THE MUPPETS, while met with mixed reaction from fans and critics, did well enough to garner a sequel in 2014, MUPPETS MOST WANTED; with the Muppets back in the public eye, Disney felt like they were ready to blow the dust off a new Muppet show they had previously shelved several years prior - a Muppet version of THE OFFICE, known as, well, THE MUPPETS . . . and the show failed, thus getting canceled after a single season. Meanwhile, there's certainly been some creative differences within the Muppet world: although he had long retired from the Muppets, Frank Oz strongly disliked the 2011 movie, feeling is was disrespectful to the characters and failed to capture the spirit of what made the Muppets so unique and wonderful in the first place. Not only that, but based on information that's floating around, it seems that Steve Whitmire has also not been entirely pleased with the way Disney has been handling the Muppets all this time, and this is supposedly what lead to his termination.
As I said, after two lukewarm theatrical movies and a failed TV show, it seems as though the Muppets are facing new struggles right now - why? Well, before we get into that, let's take a look at something else: In 2015, longtime Henson/Muppet rivals, Sid & Marty Krofft, made a triumphant return with a new preschool show on Nick Jr. - MUTT & STUFF - co-produced with Cesar Milan; the series became a smash hit, and after enjoying an inaugural season of 40 episodes (impressive, when you consider most Krofft shows from decades past generally lasted 17 episodes), it was renewed for a second season with another generous amount of episodes: something that seldom happened to previous Krofft shows. That same year, Nickelodeon also began airing ALVINNN!!! AND THE CHIPMUNKS; initially produced for just two seasons, this series also became an unexpected hit for the orange network, that it's since been renewed for an additional third and fourth season (the third just began airing this summer). Like the Muppets, these others have also been around for decades: the Kroffts practically dominated Saturday Morning television in the 70s and into the 80s with a string of psychedelic kids shows like H.R. PUFNSTUF, THE BUGALOOS, LIDSVILLE, SIGMUND AND THE SEA MONSTERS, LAND OF THE LOST, THE LOST SAUCER, FAR OUT SPACE NUTS, and several others; meanwhile, the Chipmunks have been putting out squeaky albums and singles since their creation in the late 50s, and they've also successfully starred in a number of TV shows, TV specials, and movies.
With success like that, how is it the Muppets aren't really enjoying that same level of success in this modern age of entertainment? What is the big difference here? I think it all lies in the handling of these properties. Sid & Marty Krofft have the creative freedom to make MUTT & STUFF the way they want to, without a lot of interference from Nickelodeon, and likewise Bagdasarian Productions has complete creative control over ALVINNN!!! AND THE CHIPMUNKS as well (this after they had very little input with the string of live-action/CGI movies that Twentieth Century Fox had control over); MUTT & STUFF has the Krofft charm that their previous shows had, and the Chipmunks certainly sound and act more like the way we knew and loved them than they ever did in those Fox movies. In short: the creative forces behind these shows are in control . . . this isn't happening with the Muppets, and in fact, just the opposite has been happening. With the exception of THE MUPPETS' WIZARD OF OZ and LETTERS TO SANTA being directed by Muppet director Kirk Thatcher, Disney seems to be going out of its way to avoid bringing in actual Muppet writers or directors to handle new Muppet titles: aside from Jason Segel and his writing partner Nick Stoller doing the screenplay for THE MUPPETS (Nick also wrote MUPPETS MOST WANTED), Disney also brought in FLIGHT OF THE CONCORDS director James Bobin to direct both of their theatrical movies; as for the 2015 series, Disney brought in writers from shows like THE BIG BANG THEORY, THE OFFICE, and MODERN FAMILY. It seems to me that Disney feels the need to try to bring in people from other successful mainstream shows to try and give the Muppets more of a mainstream appeal, in hopes they'll achieve mainstream success, but that isn't what the Muppets are about at all (why do you think ALVINNN!!! on Nick is doing better than those terrible Fox movies?): a new Muppet show would have been most excellent if it didn't try so hard to be "The Big Muppet Modern Office Family Theory" - I mean, really, the mockumentary format has overstayed its welcome; not all sitcoms have to follow that format. The Muppets have never been about trying to follow the zeitgeist of what mainstream entertainment is, so why try to conform them to that? Jim Henson was a one-of-a-kind creative genius who always did his own thing in his own way; Sid & Marty Krofft are a dynamite duo who always did things their own way; Ross Bagdasarian & Janice Karman are a power couple who try their hardest to ensure the Chipmunk franchise retains its integrity.
That's right kids, if you're not careful, the evil people from the
networks and major studios will take your creations away from
you!
Why can't Disney take a hint and realize that perhaps the key to the Muppets' success is to just let the Muppets do their own thing in their own way? Because Disney is what Lloyd Kaufman would refer to as a Devil-Worshipping International Media Conglomerate (and ironically, so is Viacom, and they own Nickelodeon, which has been letting Krofft and Bagdasarian do their own thing in their own way, so go figure), and what's the main objective for Devil-Worshipping International Media Conglomerates? Money. Matter of fact, this is what almost all of Hollywood has been reduced to: money-making machines. Why do you think so many movies are turned into franchises and become infected with sequelitis? Money. If entertainment properties don't bring in a satisfying amount of profit or revenue, then it will pretty much just be discarded. Again, THE MUPPETS 2015 series did poorly in the ratings, and as such, it got canceled and was not renewed for another season . . . and why did it do so poorly? Because this wasn't the Muppets as we know them, this was the Muppets trying too hard to be something they're not. Hollywood thought it was doing itself a favor by assuming all creative control over shows and movies themselves, but that has ended up with just the opposite results. Why has MUTT & STUFF been so successful? Because Sid & Marty Krofft have creative control over their own show. Why has ALVINNN!!! AND THE CHIPMUNKS been so successful? Because Bagdasarian Productions has creative control over their own show. So, again, this begs the question: why can't Disney take a hint from one of its rivals, and perhaps start letting the Muppets just do their own thing? The results could very well be surprising.
