Die Muppets (film)

thumb|300px|right|TV Ad for Fisherman's Friend campaign
Die Muppets is the German dub of The Muppets. The film was released in German theaters on January 19, 2012 (a record 57 days after the film's US-release date).
It is the first movie to feature major recasts of key characters since Muppets Der Zauberer von Oz, with only very few voice actors remaining to reprise their roles from Die Muppet Show. 
==Promotion==
To promote the film, The Walt Disney Company aired Die Muppets - Das große ProSieben TV-Special zum Film on TV-channel ProSieben's "Disney Day" on November 20, 2011. Afterwards, Kermit the Frog (dubbed in German) appeared in front of a "Die Muppets" banner to announce the next film (Bedtime Stories).
Image:DieMuppets-DasGroßeProSiebenTV-SpecialZumFilm-(2011-11-20).jpg|
On November 28, 2011, Miss Piggy appeared on website Moviepilot.de (dubbed) with an exclusive message and a brief movie featurette. The website later featured a video of interviews with the cast filmed in L.A. in November 2011, during which Jason Segel and Walter attempt to speak some German.
In early January 2012, British company Lofthouse (together with German ad company Scholz & Friends Berlinmarketing-blog.biz - Die „Muppets“ für Fisherman’s Friend (2012-01-02)) kicked off their campaign of muppetized TV and movie theater ads for Fisherman's Friend in German speaking countries. The brand of strong menthol lozenges uses scenes from the film to describe life with and without the product.
The release date for both DVD and Blu-Ray was announced on January 10, before the film hit theaters. Three special "customer review" videos were created, in which Statler and Waldorf heckle the release. They were posted on Amazon.de as part of the cover art and media section. (Video #1, Video #2, Video #3)
A billboard campaign for The Muppets kicked off on January 12, and a wide variety of print publications offered interviews, stickers and posters to promote awareness, including Familie&Co, teen-mag Bravo, the Disney comic Micky Maus Magazin, the German Vogue, and the online mag Glo Magazin. Die Muppets - Das Magazin zum Film, a German companion magazine for the film packaged with a small stuffed Kermit the Frog, arrived in stores on January 19.
Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and James Bobin were in Berlin on January 18, 2012, to promote the film and hold a press conference at Hotel Ritz-Carlton. A contest was held with sponsor airline AirBerlin for a contestant to win a meet & greet with the two attending Muppets.Filmecho.de - „Die Muppets“ kommen nach Berlin! (2011-12-13) The press conference was covered by a large number of German language news magazines and sites, such as Stern.de.Stern.de - Muppet Kermit im Interview: Die Leichtigkeit des Grünseins by Sophie Albers (2012-01-20)& Stern.de - Muppet Miss Piggy im Interview: Über die Liebe zu einem Frosch by Sophie Albers (2012-01-20)
Image:DieMuppets-GermanPremierePressConference-Berlin-(2012-01-18)03.jpg|With press conference host Joko Winterscheidt
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For the release of the film, Cinemaxx theaters offered a special Muppets-Menü, containing a soft drink and popcorn in a collectible tray, a collector's cup with a Muppet PVC topper (Kermit or Miss Piggy) and one of five Muppet plush key chains (Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie Bear or Gonzo). The menu cost 7,90 €, the key chains were available separately for 5,50 €. The theater chain UCI Kinowelt offered the same menu, though without the plush key chains, for the same price.
On January 19, the official release date, Statler and Waldorf appeared as official hosts on the German funniest-home-videos show Upps! Die Pannenshow, replacing the regular host. The special episode airs retitled as Upps - Die Muppets sind los! ("Oops - The Muppets are Loose!"). The two-hour show aired in TV-channel Super RTL's prime-time slot.
Interviews with Miss Piggy and Kermit in Berlin aired on KI.KA LIVE on TV channel Kika, on Abendschau on TV channels rbb and ARD EinsExtra,Abendschau - Miss Piggy besucht Designer Michalsky (2012-01-19) video and on Radio Energy Berlin, January 19.
At the official press conference in Berlin, Miss Piggy announced that she would appear at a photo op for Berlin Fashion Week, running from January 17 to 22. The pig was on her way to German fashion designer Michael Michalsky's studio in order to try on an exclusive robe that he created for her.
On January 20, 2012, Kermit and Miss Piggy visited SAT.1 Frühstücksfernsehen (TV channel SAT.1's breakfast/morning show) hosted by Simone Panteleit, and talked extensively about the film.
Build-A-Bear Muppet puppets of Kermit and Miss Piggy were released in German stores to coincide with the film's opening. The same puppets were released in US-stores a month later to promote the DVD and Blu-ray releases of the film.
On January 22, 2012, late-night television comedy talk show TV Total aired prerecorded interviews with Kermit and Miss Piggy to promote the film's release.
On January 22, 2012, TV-channel SAT.1 Comedy showed a 15-episode best-of marathon of Die Muppet Show. The channel began airing the show around Christmas 2011; the first time that the show graced German TV in about a decade.
Renowned weekly newspaper Die Zeit posted two essays in their series Ich habe einen Traum (I Have a Dream) on January 25, 2012; one written by Kermit, one written by Miss Piggy. The editorials are illustrated with a black and white photo each, as is tradition with the series. The essays can be downloaded in PDF-form, and for subscription members, the essays can also be found as audio files. Previous contributors include Dave Grohl, Elvis Costello, Michael Bublé, Christian Louboutin, Snoop Dogg, John Malkovich, Lena Meyer-Landrut, Ozzy Osbourne, Will.i.am, Miley Cyrus, John Landis and Homer Simpson.Die Zeit - Kermit der Frosch "Wer schafft schon den Sprung aus dem Sumpf ins Showgeschäft?" (2012-01-25)Die Zeit - Miss Piggy: "Als Diva verlange ich, dass jeder Tag traumhaft ist – sonst rollen Köpfe!" (2012-01-25)
On January 26, Miss Piggy appeared on episode 16 of neoParadise on ZDFneo, hosted by Klaas Heufer-Umlauf and Joko Winterscheidt, the latter coincidentally hosted the German press conference for Die Muppets. In a trailer for the episode, Winterscheidt admitted to have fallen in love with the pig, who in turn swayed back and forth between being attracted to, and being weirded out by the host.neoParadise - Die sechzehnte Sendung (2012-01-26) video
On January 27, German rapper Marsimoto released his cover version of "It's Not Easy Bein' Green." The song was recorded together with Kermit, while the frog was in Berlin to promote the film. It further cross-promotes the rapper's solo album Green Velvet.JUICE Magazin - Marsimoto x Kermit (2012-01-27) video
On February 4, Miss Piggy and Kermit appeared on the German film and television awards show Verleihung der Goldenen Kamera (dubbed, on screen), and Piggy came out on stage (performed by Eric Jacobson) to sing a duet with the show's host and award winner, comedian Hape Kerkeling. The awards show was broadcast live from Berlin, with Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Dionne Warwick, Michael Bolton, Nena, Xavier Naidoo, Joko Winterscheidt and Scarlett Johansson in attendance.
==Voices==
*Stefan Kaminski as Kermit der Frosch
*Patrick Bach as Walter
*Hubertus von Lerchenfeld as Gary
*Manuel Straube as Gary (singing)
*Giuliana Jakobeit as Mary
*Kerstin Heiles as Mary (singing)
*Christian Gaul as Miss Piggy
*Tom Deininger as Fozzie Bär
*Jan Spitzer as Tex Richman
*Bernd Simon as Gonzo
*Christina Hoeltel as Scooter
*Tanja Geke as Veronica
*Donald Arthur-Schwarz as Onkel Tödlich and Beauregard
*Klaus Sonnenschein as Bobo
*Tommy Amper as Bobo (singing), Dr. Goldzahn (singing), Wayne, Human Walter
*Wolfgang Ziffer as 80er Roboter
*Hartmut Neugebauer as Waldorf, Beaker, Schwedischer Koch, Das Tier
*Thomas Reiner as Statler
*Olaf Reichmann as Landstreicher Joe
*Ulli Essmann as Landstreicher Joe (singing)
*Michael Rüth as Rowlf
*Ulrich Krohm as Dr. Goldzahn
*Norbert Gastell as Sam der Adler
*Mogens von Gadow as Dr. Honigtau Bunsenbrenner
*Gerald Paradies as Floyd Pepper
*Oliver Rohrbeck as Pepe der Schrimp
*Tobias Meister as Jack Black
*Wolfgang-Rainer Gerlach as Tour Guide
*Matti Klemm as Miss Poogy 
*Claudia Urbschat-Mingues as Kellnerin
*Bianca Krahl as Miss Piggy's Receptionist
*Philipp Moog as Neil Patrick Harris
*Michele Sterr as Camilla
*Katrin Zimmermann as Janice
*Manfred Erdmann as Sweetums
*Sabine Bohlmann as Wanda
*Andreas Mannkopff as Lew Zealand
*Dirk Müller as The Newsman
*Werner Böhnke as Crazy Harry
*Axel Malzacher as "Punch Teacher" Host
*Regina Lemnitz as Whoopi Goldberg
*Marcel Mann as Young Gary
*Jie Zhao as Elderly Asian Woman
*Daniel Montoya as TV Executive
*Matthias Klages as stage manager voice
*Additional Voices: Uwe Adams, Walter Alich, Peter Bischof, Jane Bogaert, Hans Dierstein, Simon Dirks, Sami-El Sabkhawi, Tina Frank, Bea Gebauer, Denise Gorzelanny, Livia Greif, Gerrit Hamann, Gunnar Helm, Nita Herting, Stephan Hoffmann, Andreas Hosang, Uwe Jellinek, Wicki Kalaitzi, Thomas Kästner, Ricarda Kinnen, Andreas Klumpf, Velia Krause, Raimund Krone, Jan Kurbjuweit, Andreas Müller, Omnitah Must, Bimey Oberreit, Alisa Palmer, Gerald Paradies, Gabrielle Pietermann, Patrick Roche, Nana Spier, Anita Straube, Ron von Lankeren, Frank Oliver Weissmann, Hasso Zorn
==Notes==
*While other international versions like Los Muppets reflect the local language, the title card of the German version of the film still reads "The Muppets" instead of "Die Muppets."
*Uncle Deadly and Bobo sing part of "Together Again" in the original version of the film, as well as in the German version; disregarding Die Muppets erobern Manhattan's "Und Wieder Vereint" title of the song.
*While Camilla's clucking at Gonzo's Royal Flush and Scooter's humming while sweeping the stage right before performing "We Built This City" have been dubbed for promotional material, the original English voices remain intact for those scenes in the German theatrical release.
*As Kermit is looking for a celebrity host, trying to reach President Carter in the original version of the film, he's trying to get ahold of David Hasselhoff in the German version. Kermit's original German voice artist coincidentally provided Hasselhoff's voice for decades.
*While Veronica threatens Kermit to rerun Benson if he can't find a celebrity host in the original version, she uses Bonanza in the German version.
==Posters & Billboards==
Image:TheMuppets-GermanPoster02.jpg|German teaser poster
Image:Muppets_Teaser_HP_72dpi_RGB.jpg|German poster(date unspecified)
Image:TheMuppets-GermanPoster01.jpg|German poster(date specified)
Image:TheMuppets-GermanPoster03.jpg|German poster(print media ads)
Image:DieMuppets-GermanBillboard01-(2012).jpg|German billboard(January 2012)
Image:DieMuppets-GermanBillboard02-(2012).jpg|German billboard(January 2012)
==Releases==
Image:German-DieMuppets-DVD-(2012).jpg|DVD releaseMay 24, 2012
Image:German-DieMuppets-BluRay-(2012).jpg|Blu-ray releaseMay 24, 2012
Image:DieMuppets-6MovieCollection-(6DVDs)-(2014-04-24).png|Die Muppets - Sechs Movie Collection (DVD box)April 24, 2014
Image:DieMuppets-4MovieCollection(Blu-ray)-(2014-04-24).png|Die Muppets - Vier Movie Collection (Blu-ray box)April 24, 2014
==See also==
*Die Muppets - Das Original-Hörspiel zum Film (audio book)
*Die Muppets - Original Film-Soundtrack (soundtrack)
*The Muppets (German dub of the 2015 TV-show)
==Sources==
==External links==
*Official site
*YouTube - Walt Disney Studios Germany (German Muppet trailers & film clips)
*Moviepilot.de - Miss Piggy's Exclusive (2011-11-28)
*Detektor.fm - Radio interview with Kermit, Miss Piggy, Walter & Jason Segel by Anna Wollner (2011-12-03)
*klatsch-tratsch.de - Miss Piggy will Fashion Week in Berlin besuchen und Kermit die Kollegen (2012-01-18)
*Stadtmorgen.de - Glamourös: Miss Piggy und Kermit als Vorhut der MUPPETS in Berlin (2012-01-18)
*Promiflash - Die Muppets: Todes-Angst in Deutschland (2012-01-19)
*Süddeutsche Zeitung - Kermit und Miss Piggy zu Gast in Berlin (2012-01-18) video
*Süddeutsche Zeitung - Kermit und Miss Piggy sind zurück (2012-01-19) video
*Bild.de - „Miss Piggy ist die Einzige für mich“ (2012-01-19)
*ZDF.de - Kermit und Miss Piggy in Berlin (2012-01-19) video
*ITN.co.uk - Kermit and Miss Piggy hit Berlin (2012-01-18) video
*ProSieben.de - taff - Miss Piggy in Berlin (2012-01-20) video
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Category:International The Muppets (2011)
Category:International Muppet Movies (Germany)