To those who saw Jason Segel’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall a few years ago, a Muppet revamp from the Freaks and Geeks drummer might have seemed inevitable. This time, Segel returns to his typewriter to bring Henson’s classic characters back to life.

If you’re a Muppet fan, you’ll find the abundance of in-jokes and references clever and satisfying. There’s plenty of prodding at the Muppets themselves, drawing attention to how outdated and insubstantially famous the Muppets are in the 21st century, massively oversaturated media. But that’s why we love the Muppets: simple, family humor blown up to a surreal, spastic, slapstick flux of gags.

Needless to say, a host of cameos show up in the film, not limited to the likes of Alan Arkin, Neil Patrick Harris, Jack Black and, of course, Whoopi Goldberg. Segel dialed in a lot of favors to legitimize this risky venture. Most kids now only know the Muppets as faded legends.

One complaint is the lack of Gonzo and Rolf scenes. Gonzo only blows up one building and shoots himself out of one cannon. Rolf is virtually cut out of the movie, though he’s an original and quite funny. There’s plenty of garbled lines from the Swedish Chef, though, and you can expect Kermit’s iconic “Rainbow Connection” to cap the campy musical.

The Muppets attempt to seize their dilapidated theatre from an oil tycoon by staging a telethon to raise $10 million. Their inspiration comes from a very Muppet of a man, Walter (Peter Linz), and his friends Gary and Mary (Amy Adams), who attempts the iconic Chaplin/Arbuckle “Fork Dance”.

In the end, Kermit preaches that togetherness trumps any hope for success. The frog laments their time spent scattered around the globe, but having reunited the old gang, takes solace that no effort was in vain. The Muppets is great family fun, and the Toy Story short before the picture is worth the price of admission.