There’s currently a lot of talk about what exactly is going on at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and what attractions are coming (Star Wars, Pixar) and going (Animation Academy, Backlot Studios Tour). With the rumor that Pizza Planet may close, it got me thinking about the area surrounding MuppetVision 3D and its history of Muppet attractions rumored to show up around there, making it a “Muppet land”. Perhaps my favorite rumored attraction was a restaurant that would have been run by Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat called “Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor.” With Pizza Planet already serving the same kind of food and its location close to MuppetVision 3D, it would be a natural fit to make this restaurant happen today.
In the 1980s, Jim Henson was trying to sell the Muppets to the Walt Disney Company and, while this business deal was going on, the idea came up to create a land for the new Disney MGM Studios park designed for the Muppets. The land would have featured a ride, a 3D show (which became MuppetVision 3D) and a restaurant. Unfortunately Jim’s untimely death led to the deal not being completed until 2004, leaving MuppetVision 3D and a merchandise location as the only pieces built for the proposed Muppet land. A stage show that Jim Henson had worked on also debuted, “Here Come the Muppets,” featuring walk-around versions of the characters, and later a new stage show called “Muppets on Location: Days of Swine and Roses” appeared, featuring the Muppets filming a movie as park guests looked on. Prior to Henson’s passing, a ride was proposed that would act as a parody to an already established attraction called The Great Muppet Movie Ride, having the Muppets recreate classic movie moments such as Frankenstein. A Muppet-themed parade called The Muppet Motorcade was also designed, however Henson’s passing left all of these concepts by the wayside.
I’ve read two sides to the story, one in which Gonzo’s Pandemonium Pizza Parlor was to be set where Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano sits today, and another where Pizza Planet is currently located. I can’t determine its exact location, but from all the research I did, the planned restaurant was everything a Muppet fan could hope for and more. The proposed story was that Gonzo and Rizzo had decided to get into the celebrity restaurant business, just like how Planet Hollywood was opened in the early ‘90s with help from Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis, Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Gonzo and Rizzo hired the Swedish Chef to run the kitchen for them. The walls of the restaurant would have been similar to the lobby and pre-show area of MuppetVision 3D, featuring recreations of props from Muppet films and shows and random sight gags.
Television screens would cover the restaurant showing classic scenes from The Muppet Show as well as new clips featuring Gonzo, Rizzo and the Swedish Chef running amok in the kitchen or assuring guests that everything was fine, meanwhile in the background of these clips, things are obviously not running so smoothly in the kitchen. Lobsters were shown escaping their pot and holding the waitstaff hostage, and The Swedish Chef would be attacked by a large mound of pizza dough. Smoke and chicken feathers would occasionally erupt from the kitchen doors, while commotion could be heard coming from inside the kitchen. Speakers hidden in the ceilings would create the illusion that Gonzo was stuck in the duct work above looking for Camilla, with the sounds of pounding and stomping as earlier, on the TV screen, Camilla was shown being sucked up into the exhaust fan over the stove and Gonzo had climbed in to save her. Perhaps the most unique and exciting aspect to this proposed restaurant was the concept of who the servers would be: Rizzo and the rats. Audio animatronic rats would deliver food to all the guests via a train track system.
Sound like a place you’d want to eat, after sitting through you 2nd viewing of MuppetVision 3D? I feel like this concept would work extremely well, especially now with the Muppets back in the forefront of pop culture. And with rumors of Pizza Planet closing – a restaurant that I personally find disappointing considering how much more could be put into it, based on the one featured in the first Toy Story movie – a Muppet restaurant next to the MuppetVision 3D theater and store seems like a natural fit. With the park looking to designate lands based on Disney properties like Pixar or Star Wars, a Muppet themed land seems like a natural fit and could feature many things that could be fun for the whole family.