Muppet Retro Reviews: The Muppet Movie

Today's article, written by our friend Mitchell Stein, was pulled from our sister site The Mickey Mindset in a cross-promotional effort. Check out the site for a dose of Disney to go with your Muppet meal!

Mitchell Stein -  Being a major Muppet fan, The Muppet Movie is my favorite above all the other ones. The movie is funny, heartfelt and inspiring and gives us a nice backstory (sort of) to how the Muppets approximately got started.

Our story begins from the first strum of Kermit’s banjo to the music of "Rainbow Connection," a truly beautiful song. For me, the song is truly about finding yourself and living your dream and really sets the tone for the rest of the movie. When a Hollywood agent named Bernie (Dom Deluise) meets Kermit in the swamp, he convinces him to audition in Hollywood and possibly make millions of people happy. Kermit declines the fame and fortune, but upon hearing he could have the chance to make millions of people happy, he decides to go and audition. This is one of the reasons why I love Kermit. The only thing he cares about is everyone else and how they would feel. He cares about making the audience happy when not even thinking about his own fortune, unlike a certain pig out there.

Along the way Kermit meets up with Fozzie Bear, Gonzo and Camilla, Miss Piggy, Rowlf the Dog, and the Electric Mayhem who decide to join him on his adventure to become rich and famous. Kermit catches the attention of Doc Hopper (brilliantly played by Charles Durning) who wants to use Kermit as his mascot to sell his Frog Legs. He’s so convinced about Kermit and so overshadowed by his own ambitions that he even goes as far as kidnapping him, hiring an evil scientist and a frog killer to convince Kermit to star in his commercials.

The music in the movie is always completely catchy, upbeat, mellow and profitable (I’ve had "Can You Picture" That stuck in my head all day). The "Rainbow Connection" was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song, but lost to “It Goes Like it Goes” from Norma Rae, it’s a true shame, as "Rainbow Connection" was a much deeper and meaningful song than the others. "I’m Going to Go Back There Someday" is easily one of the saddest songs in filmmaking history, which is sung by Gonzo when all hope is lost, and it seems that the Muppets will never be able to accomplish their dreams. "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along" is catchy and fun as is "Movin’ Right Along," which is probably one of my favorite Muppet songs ever.

With this being the first Muppet film I have to say they really started things off with a bang! The puppetry is eye-popping and way ahead of its time. Fozzie and Kermit dancing on-stage creates is incredibly eye-popping and sets the stage for an entire film where you will completely forget the characters are even puppets, and this was way before the days of CG animation.

In "Rainbow Connection," Kermit sits on a log in the swamp playing his banjo. Many people think this film is fake and filmed on a soundstage but in fact was actually filmed on location. Jim Henson would bend down into a small tank filled with oxygen with two spots to control Kermit and his banjo. It was extremely uncomfortable, but the finished project was totally worth it.

The cast of cameos lineup is truly terrific and has a great and hilarious lineup of celebrities including many popular names of the decade such as Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, Milton Berle, Steve Martin, Cloris Leachman, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Orson Welles, Bob Hope, Big Bird(!) and so many more. I truly love every cameo in this movie as each one is more memorable than the other. Some remain on-screen for as little as ten seconds, but their lines are quick and memorable and will always have a spot in Muppet history.

I truly love this movie. It’s the beginning of Muppets on the big-screen and began many more Muppet films to come. It’s the seed that grew into an entire big screen franchise and played predecessor seven other great Muppet films. It’s a lot of fun, has a lot of heart, depth and great story. I love this film and it still remains of my absolute favorites.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: June 13, 2014

JUNE 13, 2014

Netflix is the new streaming home for both The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper. Both films are now available to watch on Netflix Instant service. So if you don't have both films on DVD, Blu-ray, VHS, or laser disc, there's finally a way for you to watch these Henson/Muppet classics! If you don't have access to any of these means... I'm so sorry. With these additions, this leaves only The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted as the only Muppet feature films not on Netflix. Hopefully these will be added soon as well.

As we reported in our last News Update, Archaia is publishing a new graphic novel based off an unproduced 1968 screenplay from Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow. The graphic novel will feature art from the extremely talented Roger Langridge (of The Muppet Show Comic Book fame). USA Today officially announced the project a few days ago, and our friends over at ToughPigs.com have done a bang-up job of collecting all of the info in one convenient place. Check it out! The graphic novel will release in stores this October!

The folks over at The 13th Dimension website recently posted a fantastic tribute to the late John Henson. The tribute goes in depth with John's career as both a puppeteer and an artist. The author, Aimee LoSecco, notes how John's work was always larger than life, yet completely relatable, which is one of the finest descriptions of the man I've heard. The whole tribute is very beautiful and I suggest giving it a read, plus you get to see some of John's rarely-seen Kermit golfing illustrations (see right).

A few weeks ago, Disney announced the release of Disney Infinity 2.0, a sequel to their ultra-popular Disney Infinity video game/toy system. With this announcement, it was revealed that Marvel characters would be playable in the game and a whole slew of new Power Discs (in-game items) were revealed as well. One of these Power Discs is Miss Piggy's U.S.S. Swinetrek (see right), which allows players to bring the Swinetrek into the game and ride it. Always great to see the Muppets getting more representation in the Disney family!

This week, Variety published an article interviewing the writers of Sesame Street, Joey Mazzarino and Belinda Ward, about the upcoming, groundbreaking 45th season of the show. The article is really interesting, discussing everything from their spot-on "Homelamb" parody to the challenges of writing for both kids and adults. It's incredibly interesting.

Last but not least, last week Ricky Gervais tweeted the picture below, revealing that he had filmed a guest spot on Sesame Street, presumably for the upcoming season. I'm so glad to see Ricky is still working with the Muppets and coming back to Sesame Street!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com 

Weekly Human Wednesdays: Snake Walker

Written by Mark Hansen.

SNAKE WALKER

Performed by...
Scott Walker

Appeared in...
The Muppet Movie (1979)

What he does...
Kill frogs

Memorable quote...
“Kill frogs.”

WHO IS SNAKE WALKER?
Very little is known about Mr. Walker, but his legacy looms large in Muppet history. Doc Hopper, charmed by Kermit the Frog’s natural charisma, insists he become the national spokesfrog for his French Fried Frog Leg chain of restaurants. Kermit, understandably, turns this offer down, in spite of a very lucrative offer of five hundred American dollars. Hopper then takes a hard turn from businessman with a dream to homicidal sociopath, hires the best (and only?) frog assassin in the Western United States.

Snake Walker, like most assassins wears all black to blend in the shadows. Unlike most assassins, he also wears goggles, presumably because his targets are amphibians. His weapon of choice is a gun that shoots what appears to be a sharpened tuning fork. Fortunately, the only Kermit impaled by the tuning fork is a crude stick figure at target practice. He was last seen running from the Godzilla-sized Animal, along with Hopper’s motley crew of various hooligan and non-frog-based ruffians. Presumably, he’s given up contract killing/pest control, perhaps becoming a singer-songwriter?

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED SNAKE WALKER?
I suppose in terms of story structure, Snake Walker’s presence is what pushes Hopper’s right-hand man Max to have a crisis of conscience and culminates in the big showdown. But really, the Muppets don’t need Snake Walker. They need him not!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Ten Odd Things About The Muppet Movie

Michael Wermuth - The Muppet Movie is a great film, but there’s a lot in the movie that I find odd--even if it is just "approximately how it happened." Here’s ten of those odd things:

1.   The Muppets just drop everything to go to Hollywood.
As Kermit meets more and more Muppets, they tend to invite just anybody (who’s a Muppet) on their journey to Hollywood. And they all seem ready to go right away. Wouldn’t they have jobs or plans? They just seem to drop everything and join a bunch of characters they’ve just met.

2.   After one meeting the Muppets act like they’ve always been close friends.
This movie tells the story of how Kermit met the other Muppets, and yet once they’ve had their introduction scenes, they all seem to know each other well, as if they had always been friends.

3.   Sweetums’ introduction scene.
The whole introduction to Sweetums is rather awkward. They never actually introduce him by name. And then there’s him bringing the price down due to swatting a fly... Did he hit that fly on purpose or by accident? Did he do it because Mad Man Mooney apparently mistreats him, or because he likes those particular customers who he doesn’t know well? And although he gets the Muppets a deal on a car, why does Kermit invite him to come with them? They didn’t really interact much in that scene, and at that point they don’t even know his actual name.

4.   Mad Man Mooney’s twelve dollar trade-in seems to treat both cars as one.
Mad Man Mooney provides a 12-dollar trade-in for their old vehicles, and when Sweetums brings the price down from $1195 to $11.95, Gonzo points out that he owes them a nickel. But they were trading in two cars (Fozzie’s Studebaker and Gonzo’s plumbing car). Mooney owed them 12 dollars and a nickel!

5.   Doc Hopper seems to know where Kermit is headed.
Isn’t it odd that Doc Hopper knows where Kermit is headed? He sees Kermit and Fozzie dancing on-stage at the El Sleezo from outside, and instead of going in to talk with Kermit and make a deal, he runs out to set up TVs to play his commercials. I could see that maybe being the only way out of that place, but then he gets ahead and knows they’ll see the billboard with Kermit’s face, and they know what restaurant Kermit and Piggy will go to for their date. Kermit never even tells Doc Hopper that he’s going to Hollywood. Does Doc just have a copy of the screenplay or something?

6.   We don’t know why the secretary won’t let Kermit in.
Kermit saw the ad in the paper that a Hollywood studio was giving open auditions to frogs, but when he shows up, the secretary won’t let them in. The paper only said there’d be auditions for frogs, so it makes sense that the others would have to wait in the lobby, but why won’t she at least let Kermit in? I know that one early draft of the script has the secretary mention that the frog auditions were canceled. They should have left that line in.

7.   The movie the Muppets make in the finale seems to have a limited crew.
When the Muppets start on their movie, it seems like the entire crew consists of the characters who traveled to Hollywood in the movie, as well as Crazy Harry as technician and Robin, who doesn’t really do anything notable (I know that an early script had a running gag where Robin kept randomly popping up with the main characters). Shouldn’t they have had more Muppets working on the set (perhaps all those characters in the final shot were there but we didn’t see them until then)? It would have been great to have seen more Muppets working on it, to have seen Beauregard moving the sets, The Swedish Chef and Gladys doing catering, Sam the Eagle and Link Hogthrob studying lines.

8.  How does Max explain knowing that Kermit will meet with Doc Hopper for a showdown?
Max goes behind Doc Hopper’s back (I assume) to warn Kermit about the frog killer, and Kermit tells Max to tell Doc that he’ll meet him at an old ghost town. So how did Max tell Doc Hopper this without informing him that he was trying to warn Kermit?

9.   Fozzie seemingly doesn’t stop his car when Gonzo and Camilla enter.
When Gonzo and Camilla’s car crashes on top of Fozzie’s, Gonzo then gets in. We see a wide shot of the car in motion and hear sound effects of Gonzo getting in before a cut to Gonzo and Camilla in the car as if they’d just gotten in. Shouldn’t Fozzie have stopped the car before they got in (though Gonzo would probably prefer to climb in while it’s driving)? And I didn’t think the Studebaker had an open-roof. Did Gonzo and Camilla climb through the side windows?

10.   Kermit thinks they’ll need bears just because they’re auditioning frogs.
The ad clearly only says that they’re auditioning frogs wanting to become rich and famous. So when he meets Fozzie and invites him to come along, Kermit assumes that if they’re auditioning frogs than they must need bears, too. And that’s based on what? Frogs and bears don’t really go together, and aside from Kermit and Fozzie there aren’t really any other frog-and-bear duos.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

Rachel Herrick Reviews... The Muppet Movie

Last month our good friend Rachel Herrick revealed that she would be partnering with us here at The Muppet Mindset to produce exclusive video reviews for all seven Muppet movies prior to the release of Muppets Most Wanted in March. Well, she has kept her promise, and August's video is here at long last! It's well worth the wait, because Rachel's commentary and review of The Muppet Movie is hilarious, sharp, and a whole lot of fun. There's no use building it up anymore... the video really speaks for itself. Check it out below!









The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

The Muppet Movie Blu-ray Review

The Muppet Movie - The Original Classic

The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray

Available August 13th

Ryan Dosier - With the major success of 2011's The Muppets both in theaters and in home entertainment release, it should come as a surprise to no one that Disney is re-releasing the other Muppet movies on Blu-ray. Disney's expertise lies in using new home entertainment formats to preserve its franchises, so it's nice to see the Muppets get the Blu-ray treatment too. We saw it first with The Muppet Christmas Carol last fall and now The Muppet Movie is finally releasing in high definition glory. I was extremely lucky to receive a copy of the Blu-ray early from Disney, and I'm happy to say that it is a very worthwhile release.

I'm going to carry on in this review assuming that everyone reading knows the story of the very first Muppet movie. Everyone knows how Kermit sang "Rainbow Connection" and set out from humble swamp beginnings to become a movie star in Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit befriends Fozzie Bear, Gonzo the Great, the Electric Mayhem, Rowlf the Dog, Scooter, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, and the divine Miss Piggy and sweeps them all into his dream. Along the way there is laughter and singing and loving galore. If you've never seen The Muppet Movie... well, you're crazy and you should amend that immediately.

The Muppet Movie possesses some really gorgeous visuals on the new high definition transfer. Just like every other Muppet movie Blu-ray, the colors here are simply astounding. Kermit's green shines, the Electric Mayhem radiates neon beauty, and the entire movie looks like it was crisply fine tuned to perfection. The most spectacular sequences in The Muppet Movie are even more spectacular on Blu-ray. The "Rainbow Connection" moment is especially gorgeous, as is the beautiful scenery shown during "Movin' Right Along" and "America." The Blu-ray transfer is wonderful and a magnificent step-up in visual quality. The sound is also amped up a notch for high definition. I noticed some little dialogue asides that I had never heard in my countless viewings, so I think that's saying something.

The bonus features for the release are quite good, but there could have (and arguably should have) been so much more. As with the Blu-ray releases of The Muppets and The Muppet Christmas Carol, once again, the Disney Intermission feature is present. When you pause the movie, the Muppets do things to keep you entertained. In this case, the new "Frog-E-Oke" feature plays on a loop. Which brings me to "Frog-E-Oke," which at first I disliked, but after awhile I enjoyed. The feature is basically just animated, repurposed music videos for "Rainbow Connection," "Movin' Right Along," and "Can You Picture That?" The effort the graphics and design team put into these videos is great, but no new Muppet material was shot. It would have been nice to see some new stuff, but the feature is decent.

The other bonus features are not new, but they are excellent. My favorite by far is the Jim Frawley Camera Tests, first seen on the first DVD release of The Muppet Movie. If you haven't seen these infamous camera tests, they are hysterical, 100% ad-libbed bits with Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, and Sweetums out about London to see how the puppets look in the real world. Jim Henson and Frank Oz are bafflingly funny in these bits and I was laughing like a fool for 14 whole minutes. Another awesome (albeit short) feature is Doc Hopper's Commercial, which is the original footage from the commercial Doc Hopper shows Kermit and Fozzie. It's hilarious, charming, and a beautiful tribute to the late Charles Durning. The final feature is the "Pepe Profiles" piece spotlighting Kermit that was new on the 2005 DVD release. It's still funny, but not nearly as funny or sharp as the Muppets are eight years later.

Overall, the bonus features are fun and Muppety, plus there is a new, moving menu on the Blu-ray home screen with foam cut-out Muppets. It's pretty adorable and well done. But there are some huge missed opportunities on the bonus feature side. Audio commentary with Jim Frawley, Dave Goelz, Frank Oz, and Steve Whitmire would have been incredible. Or even commentary from some of the Muppets would have been nice. However, the biggest oversight is the lack of The Muppets Go Hollywood TV special made to promote the movie. There is no better place to release this special than alongside The Muppet Movie, and it's a major shame that it is not included.

But on the whole, The Muppet Movie Blu-ray is well worth your time. The release is only $20 (currently), which is more than fair for spectacular high definition transfer of the Muppets' greatest film. The bonus features could have been more impressive (although I say that about every Muppet release), but what is here is wonderful. Owning the Jim Frawley Camera Tests is yet another reason to buy this release. You won't want to miss your opportunity to own The Muppet Movie in high definition!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

The Muppet Movie Blu-ray Bonus Feature Details

The official Disney Movies website has revealed what appears to be the official and complete listing of bonus features for the August 13th release of The Muppet Movie on special edition Disney Blu-ray Combo Pack. Check out the list of features below!

• Disney Intermission Frog-E-Oke Sing-Along
• Jim Frawley's Extended Camera Test
• Doc Hopper's Extended Camera Test Commercial
• Original Theatrical Trailers
• Outtake Easter Eggs
• Pepe Profiles Kermit - A Frog's Life

It certainly looks like we've got a nice mix of exciting bonus features which combine some of the classic footage with some newer stuff. Once again we get the fantastic "Disney Intermission" feature which, like on the Blu-ray releases for The Muppets and The Muppet Christmas Carol, provides some entertaining Muppety fun when the movie is paused. This one appears to be a sing-along of sorts which could be interesting.

I'm most excited about having Jim Frawley's camera tests which are a fantastically fun feature starring Kermit, Fozzie, Sweetums, and Piggy as Jim and Frank and Richard goof around in real world settings. The camera tests were available on the first DVD release of The Muppet Movie but not the most recent, so it's great to see Disney bringing them back. The Doc Hopper camera test feature is a never-before-seen as far as I know. What a wonderful tribute to the late Charles Durning. I can't wait to see it!

The theatrical trailers can be seen on YouTube and a few other places, but it will be nice to have them as well. I had no idea that outtake footage from the movie existed, so I'm thrilled to see that listed as one of the features. I can't wait to see what those contain, considering Muppet outtakes are the best. The Pepe Profiles inclusion is interesting--it's a fun little feature from the 2005 DVD release.

So there you have it! The official, seemingly complete list of Blu-ray bonus features for The Muppet Movie! What are your thoughts, Muppet fans? I know I would have loved to see some audio commentary for the film as well, but I'm pretty satisfied with what we're getting.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: July 28, 2013

NEWS UPDATE: July 28, 2013

A new piece of pretty awesome Muppet merchandise is apparently coming soon. We have only found it available for pre-order at ComicsInfinity, who provide this information about the cool piece: "This character-authentic polystone mini-bust is designed and sculpted by Patrick Romandy-Simmons. Standing 6 1/2" tall, Kermit the Frog comes painted and ready to display." The bust is currently on sale for $64.70, down from the normal $70. Hopefully more Muppets will be made into busts soon. Check out the Kermit bust below and click over to ComicsInfinity if you wish to pre-order!

Our friends at ToughPigs.com found a musical little gem on YouTube this week from Canadian rapper Classified. His new song, "3 Foot Tall" features a sample from "Life's a Happy Song." Classified sampled Walter's line from the song, "When you're alone, life can be a little rough, it makes you feel like you're three foot tall. When it's just you, well times can be tough when there's no one there to catch your fall." The song is insanely catchy and really, really well done. Take a listen below! (WARNING: There are a few semi-explicit lyrics.)



Over on the suddenly-active-again Facebook fan page for The Muppets, the fine folks from Disney posted a cute little picture to promote the release of The Muppet Movie on Blu-ray on August 13th. The image, which you can see below, shows a few pages from Walter's scrapbook about his favorite film, The Muppet Movie. It's adorable and absolutely something Walter would do.

And, unfortunately, that's all the news this week. So... happy Friday! Go have some ice cream--on us! (NOTE: Ice cream will not actually be on us, unless you dump it on us because we didn't pay for it when we said we would.)

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com

News Update: June 21, 2013

NEWS UPDATE: June 21, 2013
This week Disney Mobile released a brand new iPhone application called "My Muppets Show" which features a virtual Muppet Show with unlockable characters and props. Unfortunately, and immensely frustratingly, the app is currently only available in Australia. The Facebook fan page for the app suggests that it will be released wider soon... so cross your fingers, Muppet fans. Thanks to our friend Zac Parker, we have some exclusive screenshots from the app, so check them out below!

As we reported last weekend, the 40th Daytime Emmy Awards were held and Sesame Street won a lot of shiny statues. But a meaningful piece of news came after viewers had time to upload the ceremony to YouTube, including the In Memoriam segment, which featured both Sesame Street director/writer Emily Squires but also Muppeteer Jerry Nelson. Watch the video below for the full segment (which starts at 3:10).



I don't know if we've mentioned it on the site before... but our friend Brian Jay Jones is in the finishing stages of his new, all-encompassing book Jim Henson: The Biography, which will be released on Jim's birthday, September 24th. The book already has a lot of buzz around the internet including a newly released blurb from none other than Frank Oz, who had this to say about the book: "I worked with Jim for over thirty years.  He was one of my closest friends. And yet I found out things about him in Jim Henson that were new to me.  Brian Jay Jones has captured the layers of Jim’s genius and humanity as well as the flaws that made Jim, like all of us, so delightfully imperfect. Jim needed this book to be written. I thank Brian for giving Jim life again. This book has captured the spirit of Jim Henson." You can pre-order the book on Amazon now, and check out the awesome cover art to the right!

Finally, we now have confirmation that The Muppet Movie Original Soundtrack will be re-released in conjunction with the film on Blu-ray on August 13th by Walt Disney Records. Still no cover art or track information (though we can probably guess the latter with some accuracy). However, you can pre-order the soundtrack on Amazon.com and check out the announcement from our friends at StitchKingdom.com for some more information about the re-release.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com