There aren’t many movies I can say bring me as much pure joy as this one does, and revisiting it after 47 years only reinforced how much I love it.
For this review, I decided to revisit one of my all-time favorite movies: The Muppet Movie from 1979. The film was directed by James Frawley and written by Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns. It features the voices and performances of Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog, Frank Oz as Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, and Charles Durning as the villainous Doc Hopper.
One of my favorite TV shows as a kid was The Muppet Show. I loved it so much that on the rare occasions when I got in trouble, one of my punishments was being forbidden from watching the newest episode.
What I loved about The Muppet Show was the combination of variety-show craziness, clever humor, slapstick comedy, and celebrity guest stars. It was something my parents and I could all enjoy together. The Muppets were clean and family-friendly, but they were never overly sweet or “goody-goody.” Most importantly, they were consistently funny.
I remember The Muppet Movie coming out in the summer of 1979. I had just finished fifth grade, which was around the age when kids sometimes start deciding that things they enjoyed as younger children were suddenly too childish. That certainly wasn’t the case with the Muppets. I begged my dad to take me to see the movie, and I actually ended up seeing it twice in the theater that summer.
Needless to say, a lot of time has passed since then, and I’ve still never grown out of the Muppets. At at this point, I think it’s safe to say I probably never will.
The movie tells the story of how the Muppet gang came together. Kermit is happily living in his swamp when he’s approached by a Hollywood agent, played by Dom DeLuise, who tells him about auditions being held for frogs looking for fame and fortune. Kermit decides to head to Hollywood, and along the way he meets the characters who will eventually become the Muppet gang.
As Kermit travels across the country, he picks up Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, Rowlf, and several others. Naturally, the trip isn’t exactly uneventful.
The biggest obstacle comes in the form of Doc Hopper, played by Charles Durning. Hopper owns a chain of restaurants specializing in frog legs and sees Kermit as the perfect spokesman for his business. Kermit refuses to cooperate because he obviously doesn’t want to promote the eating of his fellow frogs. Hopper isn’t willing to take no for an answer, and his pursuit of Kermit and his friends provides much of the movie’s conflict.
The movie successfully takes the basic formula of The Muppet Show and expands it into a road movie. There’s plenty of humor for both kids and adults, and the celebrity cameos are a huge part of the fun. Some of the guest appearances that stand out include Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, and Carol Kane. A lot of the cameos are built around celebrities who were especially recognizable in the late 1970s, so some of them may not mean quite as much to younger viewers today, but they’re still entertaining.
The movie also features musical numbers, with music and lyrics by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher. I’m not generally someone who needs a lot of musical numbers in my movies, but they work extremely well here and never feel like they’re getting in the way of the story or comedy.
There’s also a nice bit of history surrounding the film. The Muppet Movie was dedicated to legendary ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who appears in the movie with Charlie McCarthy. Bergen died shortly after completing his work on the film.
As much as I enjoy the Muppets, I don’t think they ever quite topped this movie. There have been some excellent Muppet films since then, particularly The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992 and The Muppets in 2011, but the original Muppet Movie remains my favorite.
In fact, I’d go further than that: I think this movie is damn near perfect. It’s unusual for me to spend an entire movie smiling, but that’s exactly what happened when I watched this again. There’s always something happening. Sometimes the humor is completely over the top, while other times it’s subtle enough that you might miss it if you’re not paying attention.
More than anything, The Muppet Movie just makes me happy. There aren’t many movies I can say bring me as much pure joy as this one does, and revisiting it after 47 years only reinforced how much I love it.
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
