The Muppet Movie (1979)

Kermit and his newfound friends trek across America to find success in Hollywood, but a frog legs merchant is after Kermit.

Director:

James Frawley

Writers:

Jack Burns, Jerry Juhl

Stars:

Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 9 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Henson	...	Kermit the Frog / Rowlf / Dr. Teeth / Waldorf / Swedish Chef / Link Hogthrob / Doc Hopper's Men (voice)
Frank Oz	...	Miss Piggy / Fozzie Bear / Animal / Sam the Eagle / Doc Hopper's Men / Marvin Suggs / Swedish Chef (assistant) / Motorcycle Guy (voice)
Jerry Nelson	...	Floyd Pepper / Crazy Harry / Robin the Frog / Lew Zealand / Camilla / Blue Frackle (voice)
Richard Hunt	...	Scooter / Statler / Janice / Sweetums / Beaker / Fozzie Bear (assistant) (voice)
Dave Goelz	...	The Great Gonzo / Zoot / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Doglion / Iraqian in El Sleezo Cafe / Nigel / Pig (voice)
Charles Durning	...	Doc Hopper
Austin Pendleton	...	Max
Edgar Bergen	...	Himself / Charlie McCarthy
Milton Berle	...	Mad Man Mooney
Mel Brooks	...	Professor Max Krassman
James Coburn	...	El Sleezo Cafe Owner
Dom DeLuise	...	Bernie the Agent
Elliott Gould	...	Beauty Contest Compere
Bob Hope	...	Ice Cream Vendor
Madeline Kahn	...	El Sleezo Patron

Storyline

While living the quiet life in a swamp, Kermit the Frog is approached by a Hollywood agent to audition for the chance of a lifetime. So Kermit takes this chance for his big break as he makes the journey to Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit comes across several quirky new friends including comedic Fozzie Bear, beautiful but feisty Miss Piggy and the Great Gonzo. But Kermit must also watch out for ruthless Doc Hopper, who plans to use him as his spokesman for his Frog Legs food chain.

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Plot Keywords:

the muppets | hare krishna | national film registry | troubled production | frog leg | 

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Taglines:

More entertaining than humanly possible

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Musical

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Certificate:

G

Details

Official Sites:

Henson.com

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

22 June 1979 (USA)

Also Known As:

As Aventuras dos Marretas

Filming Locations:

Santa Clarita, California, USA

Box Office

Gross USA:

$76,657,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Henson Associates (HA), ITC Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Madeline Kahn: At the El Sleezo Bar.

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Goofs

When Gonzo is flying with the balloons and says "Look at our little car down there", the sunlight makes the cord suspending the balloons visible.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Statler: I'm Statler.
Waldorf: I'm Waldorf. We're here to heckle "The Muppet Movie".
Gate Guard: Gentlemen, that's straight ahead. Private screening room D.
Statler: Private screening?
Waldorf: Yeah, they're afraid to show it in public.
[they laugh as their car proceeds forward]

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Crazy Credits

After the last credit, Animal is shouting,"GO HOME! GO HOME!", then he gets sleepy, "Bye-bye..." then falls asleep.

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Alternate Versions

A scene in which Fozzie Bear is menaced by a sailor brandishing a broken bottle was cut by the New Zealand censors as being too violent for children.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Comedy Movie Franchises (2018)

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Soundtracks

Finale: The Magic Store
Music and Lyrics by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher
Performed by Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, and Kathryn Mullen

User Reviews

Life is a Movie

We all lost something important when Jim Henson died. But his magic alone wasn't sufficient to do more than clever skits, both before and after this gem. Some fated match of director, writers, songwriters and puppeteers came together to create an underappreciated masterpiece.

Forget the kids -- this is a great work, period. Among the best story-films ever. And nowhere is the enfolding of reality and fantasy more rich than here. Naturally, you have the mix of humans (accented by celebrity cameos) and puppets. And some puppets are of humans, some of human-like animals, and some of animal-like animals. But that's just the tokens.

The real novelty comes in the story. It is a film about the making of itself, with a wonderful sequence at the end where the film is represented in cartoonish props contrasted with a `real' rainbow. Throughout, one weaves between being in the story and observing the story. Kermit (Henson's alterego) says `I hope you appreciate I'm doing my own stunts.' Think about it.

The songs, themselves self-referential, are important frosting: `why are there so many songs about rainbows?'

`Life is a movie, write your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending...' You don't get that in common fare. If you have kids, this is the most educational exposure you can give them among the kiddie offerings. There's nothing more powerful than the ability to perform abstract reasoning and the foundation of that is the play between what things are and what things represent them. Thanks and God bless you, Jim.