A Muppets Reboot of 'The Great Gatsby' Could Save 2021
When the clock struck midnight on January first, we not only said goodbye to the dumpster fire that was 2020, but ushered in the beginning of a new era. An era not defined by a global pandemic, murder hornets, and Tiger King, but by the fact that The Great Gatsby is now officially fair game for a Muppet's reboot. On New Year's day, the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic, along with Mrs. Dalloway and every other work released in 1925, has entered the public domain, meaning it is no longer beholden to those pesky copyright laws and can be adapted in any way our little hearts desire. And according to an outcry of the internet as a whole, it seems our little hearts desire nothing more than watching our favorite felt friends taking on the beloved novel.
Imagine this: In my ideal vision, which has taken inspiration from Twitter, The Verge's Ian Carlos Campbell, and my love of both the Muppets and 1920's literature, Nick Carraway will be played by Bill Hader, our witty (and certifiably not Tobey Maguire) narrator, with Kermit the Frog taking on story's titular character, Jay Gatsby, embodying the it's-not-so-easy-being-green light in an erm, slightly more literal fashion. Miss Piggy, of course, will be Daisy, with Fozzie Bear or Gonzo duking it out for the role of Tom Buchanan, and Animal well, playing a party animal at each of Kermit's shindigs.
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While the specifics may vary from person to person, much like the details of any film that only exists in our respective fantasies, with some proposing Kermit should take on the role of Nick ...
... The story being rethemed around Gonzo ...
... and even tossing Sam the Eagle into the mix ...
.. most everyone wants to see this vision come to life, the concept itself becoming some sort of collective attempt to manifest even a drop of good into the new year. And they're not alone -- some even argue that this iteration could easily beat Baz Luhrmann's 2013 take -- as well as pretty much any other adaptation -- of the classic work. "There's obvious aesthetic charms to The Muppets version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American novel, but beyond that, The Muppets'' takes on classic stories are often better," Campbell wrote in his pitch. "Writers for Bright Wall/Dark Room and The Guardian have made compelling cases for The Muppet Christmas Carol as the best adaptation of Charles Dickens' work and I can't imagine it would be any different for The Great Gatsby."
So, Jim Henson Company, it's on you. Please give us this -- let's start 2021 off on the right foot, er, well, whatever puppets have for feet.
For more internet nonsense, follow Carly on Instagram @HuntressThompson_ and on Twitter @TennesAnyone.
