Aerosmith removed from roller coaster preshow at Disney's Hollywood Studios

Disney hates rock-n-roll.

It's about time they replaced this old theme with something modern and relevant...

I'm a Muppet fan. I thought the Liberty Square window show (Muppets Present...Great Moments in American History) was brilliant. Not sure it matters what the pre-show is for RnRC...but if this provides some laughs prior to the ride...great.

Kinda un-Disney-like to present an attraction with major storytelling elements removed, no? I’m assuming they want the ride open for peak holiday season but I’m still surprised by this.

From an availability standpoint, I much rather they do this. I mean, what are they still doing with Thunder Mountain that it won't be ready until spring?

If I am at the park I would rather have the ride open with no pre-show than having the ride be completely closed.

wahoo skipper:

I thought the Liberty Square window show (Muppets Present...Great Moments in American History) was brilliant.

^This.^ I watched it by accident when the rest of our party was in the Christmas shop and loved it. I ended up going back and watching it later in the trip.

Vater:

It's about time they replaced this old theme with something modern and relevant...

I tried SO hard to write something that good and just left when I couldn't.

In Disney's defense, better something irrelevant that you own, than something irrelevant you don't.

I mean, if you're doing the 25-year refresh on the ride anyway, no sane human is investing another 25 in Aerosmith...especially in this context. The Muppets are innoucous enough that no one is going to care either way. This is the "set it and forget it" choice.

I mean, the difference is that Steven Tyler is basically a walking skeleton, but Dr. Teeth looks like he's about the same age as he ever was.

Lord Gonchar:

The Muppets are innoucous enough that no one is going to care either way. This is the "set it and forget it" choice.

Exactly, and my comment admittedly doesn't (and I knew it wouldn't) imply that I actually think the Muppets is probably a better choice of theme than Aerosmith. Personally, I've always dug the Muppets--I grew up watching The Muppet Show. By a similar token, I've never disliked Aerosmith. And the ride itself? I've never ridden it, so I really have no opinion of it anyway, but I just found it funny that Disney is replacing a currently irrelevant theme with another...arguably slightly less irrelevant theme. And I say "arguably" because, well, it's debatable. Both themes are really, really old.

But ultimately I wouldn't care if they theme it to Princess Robot Bubblegum. Actually, maybe they should.

20 years from now, if the ride lasts that long, the Muppets will be more relevant than (name band here) will be, in all likelihood.

That anyone would be talking about Aerosmith still after 50 years surprises me. Admittedly, Disney doesn't use the Muppets as often as they could, but I don't think that I would consider them irrelevant. I mean, we still have Kermit drinking tea suggesting it's none of his business as a meme, and that video of Swedish Chef doing "Rapper's Delight" seems to resurface every six months (and I laugh every time). Every Christmas I see A Muppet Christmas Carol. There's some enduring appeal there, and I don't think it's going to wane.

Not that Disney die hards are a barometer of public opinion, but a lot of them were ready to set themselves on fire over the ridulously tired 3D theater show closing. I would think that gang would be thrilled to death that the IP is just moving across the park.

Don’t forget instead of trying another format yet again (ala Muppets Tonight) they are bringing back the Muppet Show, and doing so with a Sabrina Carpenter special first. All around the same time Rock N Roller Coaster relaunches.

Which just today they gave us Summer 26, and ride will close in Spring 26. So a short turnaround compared to Big Thunder.

If anything, this will make Muppets MORE popular, deserving. 2011's The Muppets movie is still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.

Vater:

Both themes are really, really old.

They ARE both kind of from the same heyday time period! Probably more similar than any of us realize (or are willing to admit - as the case may be)

Jeff:
Admittedly, Disney doesn't use the Muppets as often as they could, but I don't think that I would consider them irrelevant.

I am also of the age where as a child the muppet show was peak comedy and I - embarrassingly - watched the Muppet Babies cartoon far too long into my teen years and I assure you this is a "circles you follow" sort of thing. At large, no one above Sesame Street age or under AARP age (and that line keeps moving up - I'll soon have to say "retirement age") gives an actual flying **** about the muppets...or they shouldn't.

Here's what our overlords have to say (God, Google seems archaic already). It's a fair take:

TLDR: they are not anywhere near Star Wars / Marvel level, but they are absolutely not dead. The Muppets sit in this weird “evergreen, mid-tier legacy brand” zone: culturally famous, commercially smaller, and mostly powered by nostalgia at this point.

1. Money and scale
If you look at franchise revenue lists, the wider “Muppet world” (specifically Sesame Street with The Muppets Studio involved) is estimated around 7.7 billion dollars, which puts it in the same revenue tier as things like Scooby-Doo or Ice Age, not anywhere near Pokémon, Star Wars or Disney Princess territory that live in the 40 to 100 billion range.

So in the relative scheme of things:

Top tier: Pokémon, Star Wars, Marvel, Disney Princess, etc.
Solid but smaller tier: Sesame Street / Muppets, Shrek, Scooby-Doo.
Below that: lots of niche stuff that never even hits a few billion.

The Muppets are comfortably in that “respectable mid-card” group.

2. Current output and Disney’s behavior
Recent years are kind of a mixed signal:

Disney+ experiments
Muppets Now (2020) tried the sketch / improv thing and was praised as a fresh angle, but it did not become a gigantic hit.

The Muppets Mayhem (2023) got good reviews and even hit a number one Billboard kids album with its soundtrack, then got canceled after one season anyway.

Anniversary attention
Disney is using the 50th anniversary of The Muppet Show with a new special for Disney+, which is the kind of thing you do for brands you still care about but are not building your whole platform around. Disney Fanatic
So: they clearly still matter to Disney, but they are not getting Marvel-level investment. More “let’s keep this alive and milk the nostalgia” than “this is our flagship.”

3. Theme park presence
This is actually one of the bigger indicators that the brand still has juice:

Disney just decided to fully retheme Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster at Hollywood Studios into a Muppets / Electric Mayhem coaster, opening 2026. The storyline will be you racing across Hollywood to find the band for their big concert.

They do not give a full roller coaster to a franchise they think is worthless. That is a legit sign the brand still has enough recognition and affection to anchor a big park experience.

At the same time, Disney also closed MuppetVision 3D in 2025, replacing that area with a Monsters, Inc. theme, with a hint that some elements might show up later in a different form.

So again, same pattern: not “dying” but being reshuffled into more strategic, nostalgia-heavy uses.

4. Cultural footprint and fandom

A few signals here:

The Muppet Show coming to streaming was treated as a big deal and was praised as still feeling relevant and broad-appeal even decades later.

Muppet movies and specials still get strong critical scores. Lists ranking Muppet films almost always talk about them as “beloved” and “iconic” even when they drag specific entries.

Kermit’s official Instagram account has around 675K followers, which is not massive compared with global pop stars but is solid for a puppet frog who peaked before many of those users were born.

The fan community is big enough that a single fan account like “Muppet History” built a huge cross-platform following and made headlines when it imploded in scandal. You do not get that level of drama without a sizable, emotionally invested fanbase.

So they still live in the meme / nostalgia brainspace for a lot of adults, and kids are at least aware of them through streaming and theme park exposure.

5. So where does that leave them?
Blunt take:

Recognition: Very high among Gen X and Millennials, decent among Gen Z and kids. Most people know Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, even if they have not seen a full movie.

Active power: Medium. They do not drive box office weekends or subscription spikes like Star Wars or Frozen. Their new projects tend to be modest, often one-and-done.

Corporate treatment: Disney sees them as valuable “heritage IP” that is worth tending, cross-promoting and plugging into parks and specials, but not as a pillar holding up the empire.

Fandom: Loyal, a bit niche, and strangely intense. The brand still carries a lot of goodwill and emotional weight.

So in the relative scheme of things:

They are not an A-list global juggernaut anymore, but they are a very healthy B-tier legacy franchise with strong nostalgia, good critical respect, and just enough modern relevance to keep them on stage instead of in the storage closet.

Which, frankly, is a better fate than most characters from the 70s get.

Like, Aerosmith.

LostKause:
If anything, this will make Muppets MORE popular...

Lord Gonchar:

I am also of the age where as a child the muppet show was peak comedy and I - embarrassingly - watched the Muppet Babies cartoon far too long into my teen years and I assure you this is a "circles you follow" sort of thing.

I can still sing the Muppet Babies theme song in my head. That Star Wars episode was something special. Saturday mornings were this and Dungeons and Dragons at the top, and then everything else was second tier. "I like adventure....I like romance....I tell great jokes....ANIMAL DANCE!"

Thanks to my wife, I've seen Aerosmith live more times than my own favorite band, REM....but you know you're old when your favorite band no longer produces new music. At least they split on good terms.

And for the record (pun intended), Aerosmith just released a new album 2 weeks ago with Yungblud. I'm still in denial over Ozzy passing (If you missed the tribute collaboration, peace be with you on your journey through life).

As much as I adore The Muppets, it's all nostalgia. It's a thing for our generation. And that's OK.

Now I have this urge to go watch the Thundercats.

Now that I think about it, I've seen Aerosmith at least four times, without really being a huge fan. One of those times it was with Run-DMC, so I got to see that version of "Walk This Way" live. I didn't hate that. I also listened to early Run, so it appealed to my middle school self. Kid Rock was there also, and he seemed like a real poseur.

My 15-year-old says that he's always known The Muppets, so take that for whatever it's worth. If you connect the lineage to Sesame Street, that actually tracks, because while not technically the same IP, they sure feel related. His jam is Murder Drones, which I completely do not get.

OhioStater:

"I like adventure....I like romance....I tell great jokes....ANIMAL DANCE!"

That was mean. All night now. All f'n night.

And yeah, you're younger than me. I was WAY too old for that ****.

Jeff:
Now that I think about it, I've seen Aerosmith at least four times

Yeah. And how many times have you seen the muppets?

Exactly. 😉

Jeff:
My 15-year-old says that he's always known The Muppets

Know and "care about" are vastly different things. What kid doesn't come up through Sesame Street to some degree - even today?

My kids know what Muppets are. They might even be able to name more than a couple of them. But if you put a gun to my head and demanded the title of a Muppet movie from them (and literally worded it like that with the title of one of the the movies as the question), my brains would be on the wall.

The real question is does he know who Aerosmith is.

Jeff:
because while not technically the same IP

Hmmm. ChatGPT disagreed and, in fact, if I read the info it gave us between the lines correctly, Sesame Street accounts for much of that popularity/money.

Let's check back with our superior once more:

TLDR:
Yes, that big 7–9 billion number does include Sesame Street, and once you strip that out, the Disney “Muppets proper” brand is a lot smaller. Think “cult legacy brand with solid history,” not “multi-billion-dollar juggernaut.”

Let’s untangle it.

1. What that big number actually is
Those franchise lists that say something like:

Sesame Street (The Muppets) – about 7.7 to 9.2 billion in revenue
are talking about the Sesame Street franchise as a whole, which happens to use Jim Henson–style Muppets, not the Disney Muppets brand by itself.

And structurally:

The Muppets Studio (Disney) owns Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie, etc.

Sesame Workshop owns Big Bird, Elmo, Cookie Monster, the actual Sesame Street show and its IP.

So those “Sesame Street (The Muppets)” franchise numbers are mostly Sesame Street merchandise, licensing, and media, with Kermit & friends just name-checked in the historical creator list. The chart basically treats Sesame Street as the franchise, not The Muppets.

2. What the Muppets look like without Sesame Street
Here is what we can actually quantify for the Disney Muppets on their own:

Worldwide box office for Muppet movies
The main Muppet theatrical films together have done about $455 million worldwide across their run.

Physical home video sales tracked - estimates about $99 million in domestic DVD/Blu-ray sales for Muppet titles.

Past that, you get into:

Merch lines that spike when a movie or series hits (Adidas collabs, Gap collabs, fashion tie-ins, etc.).

Older Henson licensing revenue where all Henson brands together were doing about $225 million a year in licensing at one point, with The Muppets as the flagship but not the only property.

Specific bits like “Muppet Babies retail sales exceeding $25 million” as a single sub-line.

Nobody publishes a clean, modern “Muppets-only lifetime revenue” number. Disney folds them into its overall consumer products reporting, and the old Henson figures mix them with other shows.

So if we stay honest:

The Sesame Street 7–9 billion is a Sesame-driven number with Muppets mentioned historically, not money that belongs to Kermit & Piggy.

The Muppets alone have:

Under half a billion in theatrical box office

Roughly a tenth of a billion in tracked disc sales

Unknown but clearly smaller-scale merch, licensed collabs, and park usage

That puts them in the low single-digit billions at most, and realistically probably far under what Sesame Street has done on its own. Anyone who gives you a precise “Muppets only = X.XX billion” is guessing harder than I am.

3. So relatively speaking, where do they sit without Sesame?
Once you mentally yank Sesame Street out of the picture:

The Muppets proper drop from “big 7–9B entry on franchise lists” to a mid-sized, nostalgia-heavy IP:

Respectable film history
Persistent merch and licensing
A theme-park coaster retheme and various specials keeping them visible
Sesame Street is the larger commercial engine in that shared Henson DNA tree.

Your original instinct was right: those giant numbers are inflated by the Sesame side of the family. The Muppets by themselves are still meaningful, but they are not secretly hiding Pokémon-level money behind the curtain.