Day Fifty-Five: The Muppet Movie

THE MUPPET MOVIE

Starring:
-Jim Henson
-Frank Oz
-Charles Durning
-The Muppet Company

Directed by: James Frawley

Screenplay Credits: Jerry Juhl & Jack Burns

MPAA Rating: G


Kermit the Frog is a nobody, minding his own business and playing his banjo in his little swamp with a big shot Hollywood agent (Dom DeLuise) paddles by in a rowboat. The agent tells Kermit about the upcoming Hollywood auditions for frogs hoping to be rich and famous. At first, Kermit tells the man that he’s fine staying in his swamp, but the more he thinks about making millions and millions of people happy, he realizes that going to Hollywood is his dream.

Kermit packs up, hops on his bicycle, and says goodbye to his swamp. Along the way he meets up with Fozzie Bear (wacka, wacka, wacka!) Camilla the Hen, Gonzo the Whatever, Miss Piggy, Sweetums, Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and an all-star cast of human entertainers including but not limited to Bob Hope, Milton Berle, James Coburn, Madeleine Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Carol Kane, Mel Brooks, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Orson Welles, and many others.

As they head toward Hollywood they are pursued by the evil Doc Hooper, the owner of a fried frog legs restaurant who has hopes of expanding his business into a fast food chain. Hopper is obsessed with Kermit, the singing, dancing, banjo-playing amphibian, and wants him to be the face of the frog legs franchise (say that five times fast).

Kermit repeatedly refuses the man, which angers him greatly. This all comes to a head in an old western ghost town where Animal (An-i-mal! An-i-mal!) saves the day. The Muppets arrive in Hollywood and are given the standard issue “rich and famous” Hollywood contract.


This movie is a celebration of the Muppets and all things Henson. The Muppets have always meant a great deal to me, plus they’re a lot cooler than all those Sesame Street hooligans. And while the Street Crew has seen countless changes with time, the Muppet Show Company is still standing, just as it did over fifty years ago.

And they’ve made millions, and millions, and MILLIONS of people happy.


FINAL GRADE: A

Off in search of the rainbow connection,

M.