If you missedThe Happytime Murdersin theaters last year, you weren’t alone. The adult-oriented, R-rated, film noir puppet movie fromBrian Hensonwhiffed at the box office, taking in a little over $27.5 million against a reported $40 million budget. Here’s hoping the bizarro hybrid of live-action puppeteering and traditional human performances finds a second chance to succeed in the home video market because there’s some good stuff hidden away under an unfortunate amount of “rotten cotton.”
Strangely enough, you’d think that landingMelissa McCarthyin the lead would have been enough forThe Happytime Murdersto land a bigger box office, but it might just be her involvement that had people turning out to the theaters at all. It’s a testament to her comedic timing and ability to improv that she was able to act opposite a cast composed primarily of felt and fluff, not to take anything away from the talented and hardworking puppeteers literally sweating away behind (and often beneath) the scenes. And alhoughBill Barrettadoesn’t get any screentime per se as the voice and puppeteer of Phil Phillips, he turns in one helluva noir performance in a parody that’s ratcheted up to 11. That’s the saving grace ofThe Happytime Murders, a movie that’s a better fit for college dorms after a bar crawl than it is a Saturday afternoon at the movie theater.
For my full review of the feature,check it out here. I was hoping that the eventual Blu-ray release would dig deep into the puppet side of the production, and while I wasn’t disappointed by the bonus features, they didn’t quite go as deep as I would have wanted. Still, if you want to get to know the puppets better, this is your best option short of enrolling in a puppetry class. My extensive review of the Blu-ray’s bonus material follows below:
Deleted Scenes
Gag Reel(~3 minutes)
Line-o-rama(~3 minutes)
Virtual Environments(~2 minutes)
Avatar Demo(~2 minutes)
VFX Breakdown(~4 minutes)
Feature Commentary with Director Brian Henson and Bill Barretta
