Watched this again for the umpteenth time tonight, and reflected on how the Muppet Movie makes me laugh and smile on every viewing.
The TV show was great, and some of the other films were OK. But the original Muppet Movie is one of the classics of my lifetime. I remember seeing it in the theater when I was about 9. I’ve always remembered how the audience was amazed at Kermit riding a bicycle.
There were a zillion cameo appearances, some of whom were known to me as a kid and some who were venerable actors known to my parents: James Coburn, Richard Pryor, Dom DeLouise, Telly Savalas, Madeline Kahn, Milton Berle, etc, etc.
And so many fun moments that I enjoyed as a child and now as an adult:
The film-within-a-film format was fun from the outset (I especially loved Lew Zealand calling Kermit “Mr. The Frog”)
The Rainbow Connection, as syrupy as it is… works
That’s just a myth!
“You think this crowd’s ugly - you should see the dancing girls!”
“I’m on my way to New York city, to try to break into public television.”
“I don’t know how to thank you guys!” / “I don’t know WHY to thank you guys…”
You’ve got to check out the extras on the DVD. There’s some test footage with Fozzie and Kermit. It’s incredible to see how adept Henson and Oz were at adlibbing, with movement as well as dialogue.
There’s a bit in the actual movie that for me, sums up the Muppet artistry. During the “Can You Picture That” number, Zoot gets a closeup. He plays a few bars, spins around, and tilts his head. I know it sounds like nothing, but I appreciate it as really bringing him to life, not just making him move.
Serenata, I often say “Easier done than said!” zamboniracer: Gonzo was quite the prescient character in this. Besides the Bollywood prediction, there’s his song. I’m told that when this was in production, Gonzo wasn’t supposed to be an alien yet. They came up with that years later. At the time, he was just “a thing…whatever Gonzo is.” And yet the song tied in so perfectly with that, it might as well have been planned. Perhaps the song was the inspiration.
Slightly off-topic, but totally related: the way Rowlf the Dog violently flips his sheet music and then peers nearsightedly at the next page while pounding out the Muppet Show Theme during the credits. Brilliant.
When my siblings and I are all together, the dinner table conversation is almost entirely Muppet Quotes. My brother said he had to introduce his girlfriend to the rest of us so she would understand that he wasn’t the only one who did this. Her first “meeting with the family” was Muppet Movie night with my little sister.
One joke that most 9 year olds wouldn’t get is that Orson Welles plays the producer Lou Lord at the end - an homage to Lord Lou Grade, whose company distributed The Muppet Show.
I say it all the time too! (well duh) Maybe since we live so close, if we keep saying it, enough people will catch on. It’ll be the thing to say in NEO.
I just saw this with the kids again a month or so ago and that’s exactly what I thought.
When the Muppets got to Honeydew’s lab, my 8-year-old daughter asked why Kermit wouldn’t take the growth pills to chase the bad guys away. Good for her.
The gone with the Schwinn line is one of my favorites from way back when I first saw it. I miss how awesome the Muppets were.
