The Muppets Planned to Have a Ride DECADES Before Taking Over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

It’s (FINALLY) time to meet the Muppets on a ride.

Last week, Disney shocked the theme park world when they announced that the Muppet*Vision 3D attraction would be closing to make way for Monstropolis at Hollywood Studios, but that the iconic characters would remain at the parks and take over the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster. Disney touted the latter as the first Muppets “ride” in the history of their theme parks, a pronouncement which likely would have SHOCKED those who worked behind the scenes to craft the Disney/Muppets relationship over 30 years ago.

By the late 1980s, Disney and The Muppets were two of the most powerful institutions in American entertainment. The former had been a powerful studio for 60 years, with 30 years of theme park experience under its belt, while the latter had grown from Jim Henson’s initial television and advertising creations of the late 1950s and 1960s to become one of the hippest brands in America, cemented by Sesame Street, the legendary Muppet Show of the 1970s and feature films of the 1980s.

During this period, Disney began negotiations with Jim Henson to acquire Jim Henson Productions and the rights to the Muppets and other characters (excluding Sesame Street). An agreement in principle” for the question was announced in 1989. During said announcement, it was also confirmed that several Muppets attractions were in development for Disney’s theme parks, specifically the then-new Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.

These projects included Muppet*Vision 3D, a Muppet stage show which would eventually go through two iterations at the park, character meet & greets, and a ride would be placed near Muppet*Vision in a Muppet-themed area that would also feature a Muppet restaurant.

In early 1990, while production on the 3D film was ongoing, Henson himself spoke about the proposed Muppet ride and land to the Disney Channel Magazine. He explained that the plan was to create a Great Muppet Movie Ride, which would essentially function as an in-park parody of MGM Studios’ headline attraction The Great Movie Ride. The ride was also once planned for the never-built Hollywoodland planned for Disneyland as well.

According to Henson, the attraction would have been “…the flip side of the rest of the Disney-MGM Studio, which tells you how movies are really made. We’re doing it in the most stupid way possible, using lots of misinformation.”

Looking at the attraction’s concept art, it appears there would have been segments spoofing Peter Pan…

…Indiana Jones…

… Frankenstein…

… and genres like science fiction, all in the iconic Muppet way.

Disney was banking hard on the Muppets and these attractions to be a huge part of the Disney Decade. In fact, the company produced an entire TV special — The Muppets at Walt Disney World — to more closely link Henson’s characters with the parks. It premiered on May 6th, 1990.

Sadly, in the midst of all these plans, Jim Henson passed away suddenly on May 16th, 1990 (just 10 days after the special aired) due to toxic shock syndrome caused by a bacterial infection. He was just 53 years old.

Just weeks after Henson’s death, the first Muppet project at MGM Studios: the Here Come the Muppets stage show. Playing in the theater that would later become home to Voyage of the Little Mermaid, the show featured full-body walk-around versions of the Muppets, as opposed to puppets.

While Here Come the Muppets opened, the future initially looked dim for Muppet*Vision 3D. While Henson’s puppeteering performances were completed before his death, the film was still a year away from premiering at the park. During this period, relations between Disney and Henson’s company fell apart. In December of 1990, it was announced that Disney would no longer be acquiring the company or the characters, and Henson’s son and company executive Brian began calling for the 3D film attraction to never open.

Thankfully, Disney and Henson’s company were able to reach a licensing agreement (which allegedly initially limited Disney Muppet attractions to theme parks east of the Mississippi) in time for Muppet*Vision 3D — Jim Henson’s final work — to premiere in May of 1991 to widespread acclaim. Here Come the Muppets ran until September 2nd of 1991. It was replaced later that month by Muppets On Location — The Days of Swine and Roses, a new show in the park’s backlit area which ran until January of 1994.

However, despite these agreements — and Disney working with Henson to release several Muppet films in the 1990s including Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island — all work on future Muppet attractions, including the Great Muppet Movie Ride was paused after Henson’s death.

The 2000s brought a new licensing agreement that allowed a clone of Muppet*Vision 3D to open at the Disneyland Resort’s California Adventure in 2001. Then, in 2004, Disney was able to complete the purchase of the Muppets that they’d announced 15 years earlier. At the time of this acquisition, many wondered if projects like the Great Muppet Movie Ride might actually happen. However, over the next 20 years, the Muppets presence at Disney parks didn’t grow. In fact, it arguably shrank.

In 2014, the California installation of Muppet*Vision 3D closed for good. Meanwhile, no other Muppet attractions were added to any park. On the East Coast, the now-renamed Hollywood Studios did see the opening of the Muppet-themed restaurant PizzeRizzo (which depending on your point of view is either one of the most fun themed quick service restaurants at Disney World or a smite on the very concept of food itself), the theming around Muppet*Vision 3D’s Muppet Courtyard area was continuously stripped away.

When the new Monsters, Inc. land and roller coaster was announced as coming to Hollywood Studios at the 2024 D23 Ultimate Fan Event, many saw the writing on the wall for Muppet*Vision. Sure enough, as mentioned above, Monstropolis will be taking over the current Muppet courtyard area.

However, Disney also announced that “to make way for the monsters, Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and more of their friends will be moving right along to Sunset Boulevard! But there’s more to the story: The Muppets will be taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, teaming up with some of music’s biggest stars for a rockin’ music festival! We know so many of you share our love for The Muppets and know their energy will be a perfect fit for this coaster. Plus, as the first Disney ride ever to feature The Muppets, there’s sure to be laughter, screams and new tunes for this attraction for fans to enjoy throughout the adventure and plenty of Muppets-themed merchandise on Sunset Boulevard!”

While the fact that the Muppets will still be a major part of Hollywood Studios (arguably the biggest part of the park they’ve been since 1994, in fact) I’m still left with several questions:

• How will Disney adapt the Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster’s thrilling elements to the comedic and (mostly) family-friendly Muppets?
• Will any props or thematic elements from the current Muppet area, like the Miss Piggy Fountain, be preserved for the new area?
• Will there be any Muppet-theming or place-making beyond the coaster itself?
• And most of all, will Muppet*Vision 3D — again, the FINAL work of the legendary Jim Henson — still be available to the public? Either as a presentation somewhere else at the park or related to steaming or home media.

After a 35+ year saga of development, death, and legal battles, the Muppets are finally getting their own ride at Hollywood Studios. Stay tuned to AllEars for more on the new Muppet experience coming to Hollywood Studios.

Based on Your Horoscope, This Is Your Muppets Soulmate

Are you excited for the new Muppets coaster? Do you wish the Great Muppet Movie Ride had been built? Let us know in the comments below!

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