Could Kermit win an Academy Award

I'm Muppet nut. Always have been and always will be. I enjoy Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, Emmit Otter's Jugband Christmas. If it has puppets and it originated in the mind of one James Maury Henson, I'm in (even if it is woefully age inappropriate). As a result, I'm outraged! Outraged I tell you that my beloved Muppets were snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. (AKA the roughly 90 people who decide who is nominated and awarded Golden Globes - you read that right, 90)

A nomination in the "Best Motion Picture: Musical or Comedy" would have been nice. Ok HFPA, you went with a cancer comedy (50/50), the female version of The Hangover (Bridesmaids), Woody Allen's latest wonder (Midnight in Paris)*, a British biopic of an American icon (My Week with Marilyn), and the first black and white serious contender since Schindler's List, and the first silent film serious contender since???? The Gold Rush? (The Artist). I get it. Really, no matter that Jason Segal's screenplay is brilliant. No matter that the movie is everything a Muppet movie should be. It's still a Muppet movie. A nomination as Best Picture was a bit of a long shot.

That being said... would a Best Original Song nomination been too much to ask for? I know with heavy hitters like Elton John, Chris Cornell, Madonna, and Mary J. Blige its a crowded field. Still, show me a song as sorrowful as "Picture in my Head". Show me a song as exuberant as "Life's a Happy Song". Show me a song as ridiculously fun as "Man or Muppet". I dare you Hollywood Foreign Press. I would accuse you of being anti-felt, but you nominated the brilliant Rainbow Connection from the 1979 film, "The Muppet Movie". It may have been beat out by Bette Midler's The Rose, but at least it was nominated. No love this time? The Shame The Shame.

That being said, there is still a ray of hope - The Oscars. Not only did Rainbow Connection get a nomination, so too did The First Time it Happened, from "The Great Muppet Caper." But since that time, due largely to uneven outings from the Muppets, not a single glance from the Academy. Thirty years.

So will this be the year? I have to think a nomination is in the offing.

• The Oscars have a long history of awarding the work of artists on the strength of their past work rather than the current offering (how else could one explain Sandra Bullock beating Gabourey Sidibe in 2009?)
  
• "The Muppets" is almost certainly the strongest offering by creatures made of felt since "The Muppet Movie" and according to Rottentomatoes.com is even a better movie than that. (97% Fresh vs. 90% Fresh) The best Muppet Movie of all time and no nomination? I certainly hope not.
  
• The songwriter of many of the tunes is Bret McKenzie. Yep. That's Bret McKenzie of Flight of the Conchords fame.
  

All I am saying Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is Give Felt a Chance!


* BTW Midnight in Paris is fantastic.