I've heard it claimed that there was some behind-the-scenes strife regarding the final cut of the movie. That's why there are some obvious gaps where chunks of storylines are missing, such as Chris Cooper's recurring "Maniacal Laugh" gag, which has niether any setup or payoff.

That part bothered me the most. There is a payoff to it (two, in fact) but since it wasn't properly set up, it feels like it came out of nowhere. Weird that they cut down his song which actually helped establish why he hates the Muppets and explains the whole "maniacal laugh" bit.

Before I heard the whole song it didn't bother me one bit about the "maniacal laugh" thing. I thought it was funny just because villains always laugh like that for no reason in movies, I never expected any kind of "pay off" or anything like that.

I didn't bother me one bit until the movie decided to pay it off twice. It felt rather awkward at that point. The song could have easily solved that.

The whole bit with the ball curing his inability to laugh was cut entirely from the movie.

Ah...was it necessary within the context? I don't see how it would better the character.

It wouldn't better the character but it would justify the broadcast antenna scene.

Yeah, but the song was terrible. The little of it we got in the movie was painful enough to sit through.

The way it plays now, the "Maniacal Laugh" bit is a bizarre non-sequitur that isn't explained, doesn't make any sense, and (most importantly) just isn't funny. It needs some set-up to explain why he says "Maniacal Laugh" rather than maniacally laughing. As adults, we can piece it together that "Oh yeah, that's supposed to be making fun of villains who laugh maniacally." But, again, it isn't funny the way it plays now. It's something that sounds more amusing in concept than it turns out to be in execution, and kids in the audience will not get the joke at all.

Yeah, the "maniacal laugh" bit was my biggest gripe about the film. Like Josh said, as an adult it's easy to figure out the "joke" it was just not funny and wildly out of place without a setup.

I had no idea the setup was part of deleted scene material. Sounds like a director's cut should have been put together for the DVD release.

I actually liked the song. But thatly because I didn't expect Chris Cooper to be so manic. Even when he's playing a pissed off bad guy, he's usually just gritting his teeth and not acting all super excited and happy.

The one song I didn't like at all was the disco duet with Amy Adams and Miss Piggy.

It just feels like what it is, remnants of an abandoned subplot that somehow made the final cut.

Honestly, there were a lot of songs I didn't like in the movie. What was that endless one Amy Adams sang in the diner? The only really great new song was "Man or Muppet." Everything else was either forgettable or pretty bad. And I'm a fan of the Conchords.

With all that said, I did actually like the movie. I feel that I should make that clear.

That was the crappy disco duet with Amy Adams and Miss Piggy.

Likewise. The movie did leave me smiling and a tad misty eyed (due to nostalgia) at the end. So I definitely liked it.

Kermit's "Pictures in My Head" was almost as good as "Man or Muppet"

Have to disagree here. The finale/reprise version of Life's a Happy Song (and all but the Amy Adams part of the first version) is such a great song. It such a catchy fun upbeat song.

You're not the first person I've heard say this. I thought it was funny without the setup. Why? Because it's making fun of something you see in every movie. The villain always says something and then laughs "maniacally". So having the character just say "maniacal laugh" instead of actually laughing is what was so funny about the scene. The deleted setup just makes it funny in a different way.

I agree with you. I thought the "maniacal laugh" stuff was funny even without the setup I'm now reading about.

I was feeling guilty about pre-ordering this one till I remembered my kid's birthday is this weekend!

Guilty about what?

Trying to cut down the spending, and I got the one with the soundtrack code

Is the Best Buy Lunchbox exclusive hard to find?

I don't want to pay $70 from some crook at Ebay.

I had no luck finding any at my local Best Buy.

Man or Muppet was made by the appearance of ...

My Best Buy had 10 Wocca Wocca sets - needless to say at 1230 they were gone

I really dug the fact that Disney put that menu at the very beginning when you first load it up that gives the option to play the previews, go straight to the menu, or play movie. They need to put this on every release from here on out.