Man or Muppet

Written by	Bret McKenzie
Date	2011
Publisher	Fuzzy Muppet Songs

The Muppets Man or Muppet

music video

Constantine providing commentary in 2014. (video)

"Man or Muppet" is an Academy Award-winning original song from the film The Muppets. The song is sung by Gary and Walter.

During the song Walter sees himself in human form, while Gary sees a Muppet version of himself. The four complete the song together.

Songwriter Bret McKenzie discussed the process at length in a New York Times blog interview:

“I was channeling power ballads — Harry Nilsson, “Without You” — [singing] “I can’t liiive, if living is without yoooou.” And Eric Carmen, “All by Myself” — [singing] ‘I don’t want to live, alllll by myself.’ Those are two of my favorites. I knew this had to be an incredibly dramatic song. It’s one of those, the more serious the song is, the funnier it would be. I just wanted to make it as epic and dramatic as possible. That’s why the chorus is just these relentless long notes at the top of Jason Segel’s range. There’s something about guys singing at the top of their range, it’s really emotionally desperate.”

In 2012, Bret McKenzie was honored with an Academy Award for "Best Original Song" (albeit with only one other nominee in the category). "Man or Muppet" marked the first Oscar win for any Muppet production.

Jim James of My Morning Jacket had written a demo of the song, but it was deemed "incredibly mellow" and was rejected by the producers.

The song was performed live at The Jim Henson Retrospectacle Live in Concert in 2018. McKenzie performed Jason Segel's parts, accompanied by a Muppet likeness of himself. Walter sang as well, with a member of the choir as his human counterpart.

Kermit the Frog and James Corden performed a brief duet of the song on a 2018 appearance on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

Releases

• The Muppets: Original Soundtrack (2011)

Music video

To promote the release of the film's soundtrack, Walt Disney Records released a music video of the song intercut with clips and dialogue from the film. In conjunction with the release of Muppets Most Wanted, Vevo released the music video to YouTube with commentary by Constantine.

The music video version was released on a limited edition album, The Tributes Collection.