The Muppet Movie (1979)

The Muppet Movie (1979): Dir: James Frawley / Featuring: Charles Durning, Mel Brooks, Austin Pendleton, Scott Walker, Dom DeLuise: Imaginative family film about the magic of filmmaking and in particular the wonderment of the Muppets. Kermit the frog sits on a log playing his ukelele until Dom DeLuise rows by and offers him a copy of Variety, which has an ad for singing frogs. He decides to go to Hollywood to become a star and along the way he encounters fellow Muppet pals Fozzie Bear, the Great Gonzo, and Miss Piggy. Fine opening with detailed road movie plotting thanks to director James Frawley. Charles Durning plays the villain who wants Kermit as a trademark for French Fried Fog's Legs restaurants. Among his henchmen are Mel Brooks as a brilliant scientist who attempts to render Kermit a real frog through a machine but this will backfire. Others have rather standard roles. Austin Pendleton plays Durning's closest henchman who will have a change of heart. Scott Walker plays the nasty Snake Walker set to exterminate Kermit. Other celebrities appear briefly but memorably. It is a wonderful combination of movie stars interacting with these fictional creations and with great payoff. Imaginative family film that will appeal to children as well as adults. It succeeds in the wondrous magic of Muppet creator Jim Henson and the world he creates. Score: 9 / 10

Replacing moose and squirrel as the top non-human super couple of television, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy moved onto the movies in the late 1970's and never looked back. Miss Piggy, already a T.V. diva, even went as far as to protest on the Oscars as to why she was not nominated to which host Johnny Carson told her the only Oscar she was worthy of was Oscar Mayer. Kermit, of course, was much more humble, and coming from the swamp as opposed to a luxurious sty, that makes perfect sense to me. In fact, if it wasn't for Dom De Luise paddling through that swamp on a boat and finding Kermit strumming a banjo singing "The Rainbow Connection", he might still be there today! It is De Luise's suggestion that he get himself to Hollywood and present himself as their newest romantic star. After all, the last time frogs made an impression in Hollywood was those nasty ones who along with some snakes and other swamp creatures invaded Ray Milland's plantation in the horror epic "Frogs". The musical adventure follows Kermit's journey, his romance with beauty contestant winner Miss Piggy, and most nefariously, Charles Durning's desire to use Kermit for commercials for his chain of frog's legs restaurants which of course makes Kermit hopping mad. All of the muppet regulars join Kermit and Piggy for their journey to Hollywood and dreams of movie stardom. Even Big Bird makes an appearance, turning down Kermit's offer to join them, trying to find his way to public television rather than that dangerous world known as Hollywood.There's a dozen cameos by various celebrities of the era (and a few of the past) including Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy as judges in Miss Piggy's beauty contest, Bob Hope who makes jokes while selling Kermit ice cream, Richard Pryor as a sarcastic balloon salesman, Milton Berle as a shyster car salesman, Steve Martin as a sarcastic waiter who almost spoils Miss Piggy and Kermit's date, Cloris Leachman as an officious movie studio secretary (sneezing as she is surrounded by the furry creatures invading her office), and finally, Orson Welles as a very imperious seeming movie mogul who hides a huge heart of gold underneath his enormous girth."The Rainbow Connection", Kermit's theme song here, has almost surpassed "It's not easy being green" as his theme song. After many years of making the rounds on every variety show and of course "Sessame Street", the muppets moved onto a very popular syndicated show which lead to their transition into the movies. This was one of the biggest hits of the 1979 summer season and has stood the test of time, even if some of the cameos by the various older stars may not ring any bells of familiarity with today's younger audiences. As for the other songs in the film, they are vibrant and peppy, if shortened for the movie with lyric changes that were heard on the original soundtrack album. Miss Piggy really hams it up with her big solo, "Never Before, Never Again", but even that is really worth a Golden Apple. Seldom after has Hollywood given us entertainment that continues to appeal to practically everybody to this day.

An inspired combination of slapstick, music, vaudeville and charm, The Muppet Movie takes all the now familiar characters away from the Muppet Theatre where humans were the minority, and plonks them right among the (almost) real world.We meet Kermit alone in his swamp singing beautifully to himself, and after a chance meeting with the frog, a crocodile and a movie agent – yes it's that kind of film – Kermit is inspired to try to forge his own path in showbusiness.Along his journey to Hollywood he meets aspiring stand up comedian Fozzie, amateur stunt man Gonzo and a group of zany musos known as The Electric Mayhem. He also finds that romantic sparks fly when he meets a diva pig with delusions of grandeur.That's the core part of the initial Muppet group identified, the slightly awry element arrives in the form of a fat, sweaty guy in a white suit named Doc Hopper, who just happens to sell frog's legs as cuisine. He takes a shine to Kermit's pins and decides that he simply must have them to promote his wares, whether Kermit agrees or not.The remainder of the film is essentially an extended chase sequence as Kermit and the gang hightail it towards Hollywood with Doc Hopper and his toadying (no pun intended) assistant close behind.And this to me is the problem with the initial Muppet Movie, the best parts are the simple times, Kermit sitting on the log singing Rainbow Connection without a care in the world, the awkward but undeniable chemistry between pig and frog, the stoner-ish hep dialogue between the members of the Electric Mayhem, the stand-up bear who is terrible at stand up.They kinda lost me when the film veered into 'eating the primary character's legs' territory. They definitely lost my four year old in the looming torture scene, and nearly killed the poor boy when the Frog assassin clad all in black and looking decidedly evil showed up. (I really didn't remember these things from my previous viewings.) Despite these depressing and out of place sequences there is still a lot to love about the first Muppet Movie, the constant breaking of the fourth wall is already obvious, the general funkiness of the Electric Mayhem and the timelessness of Kermit's tunes, the cheesy jokes that are so bad that you can't help but smile – especially when delivered with such innocence and charm by a handpuppet… the inclusion of several big name cameos, none of whom for a moment let on that they are conversing with a sock, yet some of whom still manage to out-ham the very same talking puppets.The Muppet Movie finds a bunch of frogs, pigs, bears and whatevers coming to terms with their own existence, growing into their own skin and fur. Over the years some peripheral characters became more central, and others stepped back to spout occasional quips when required.Most of all this film showed that there was entertainment value to be found in these talking socks, and that people of all ages could enjoy their shenanigans guilt free.Final Rating – 7 / 10. 'Mature thematic elements' aside, this is a fine intro to the Muppetational world.

With The Muppets out on screens right now, I decided to rewatch the first feature that starred the late Jim Henson's creations for the movies-The Muppet Movie. This was pure entertainment from beginning to end especially with all those celebrity cameos that abounded with perhaps the most hilarious coming from Steve Martin and Mel Brooks. There was also an amusing and touching one from Edgar Bergen with his dummy Charlie McCarthy. Amusing because of what was said and touching because they were the inspiration for Henson's career and that Bergen would soon pass away afterwards which was the reason for the dedication at the end-"Dedicated to the memory and magic of Edgar Bergen". Besides the mostly hilarious screenplay by Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns, there were also wonderful songs by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher of which the most inspirational was "The Rainbow Connection" as performed by Kermit the Frog at the beginning and which was later Oscar-nominated but lost to "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae. Oh, and Charles Durning was a hoot as the villain. Now I think I'll go rewatch The Great Muppet Caper...