{"id":29377,"date":"2013-01-18T13:46:23","date_gmt":"2013-01-18T20:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29377"},"modified":"2022-11-29T16:17:35","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T23:17:35","slug":"muppet-movie-the-1979","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29377","title":{"rendered":"Muppet Movie, The (1979)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;All I can see is a million frogs on tiny crutches.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Poster-194x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"194\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-29380\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Poster-194x300.jpg 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Poster-83x128.jpg 83w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Poster.jpg 490w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 194px) 100vw, 194px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA talent agent (Dom DeLuise) convinces Kermit the Frog (Jim  Henson) to leave his Mississippi home and pursue a career in Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit encounters a host of Muppet friends eager to join him on his trip, and tries to evade capture by the nefarious owner (Charles Durning) of a frog leg-serving restaurant chain.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Aspiring Stars<\/li>\n<li>Carol Kane Films<\/li>\n<li>Madeline Kahn Films<\/li>\n<li>Puppets and Ventriloquism<\/li>\n<li>Road Trip<\/li>\n<li>Telly Savalas Films<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nTwo years after <a href=\"http:\/\/muppet.wikia.com\/wiki\/The_Muppet_Show\">&#8220;The Muppet Show&#8221;<\/a> became a worldwide hit on television, Jim Henson and his creative team brought Kermit, Miss Piggy, and their friends to big-screen fame in this first (and best) of several full-length Muppet features (including the Peary-listed <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=2453\"><em>The Muppets Take Manhattan<\/em><\/a> [1984]). While geared primarily towards kids, the screenplay of this first entry was clearly designed to appeal to adult fans of the TV series as well, given that it&#8217;s littered with witty one-liners, cameo appearances, and genre-specific homages, and doesn&#8217;t shy away from placing its characters in decidedly precarious situations. Indeed, I recall how, when watching this film for the first time as a child, I was traumatized by the fact that Kermit is pursued by an evil restauranteur whose primary goal in life is to chop off frogs&#8217; legs (eek!); and the scene in which a sadistic professor (Mel Brooks) attempts to turn Kermit&#8217;s brain to mush was equally disturbing to my young sensibilities. As an adult viewer, however, I&#8217;m better able to appreciate how slyly screenwriters Jack Burns and Jerry Juhl play upon various generic tropes, ranging from the central conceit of a road trip (the bulk of the story) to romance (embodied in Kermit and Piggy&#8217;s infatuation) to mad scientist (the scene with Brooks) to western (the climactic finale). A couple of catchy tunes by Paul Williams &#8212; most notably the Oscar-winning tune &#8220;The Rainbow Connection&#8221; &#8212; and some impressive Muppeteering (check out Kermit on a bike!) make this an enjoyable flick for both adults and (older) kids to visit every now and then. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A fun storyline featuring the beloved Muppet clan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Still.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Still.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"843\" height=\"475\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-29386\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Still.jpg 843w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Still-128x72.jpg 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Muppet-Movie-Still-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 843px) 100vw, 843px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nYes, as a cult favorite. Listed as a Personal Recommendation in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Categories<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Cult Movie<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p> (<span style=\"color:red;font-weight:bold;\">Listed in <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-static\/1001Movies.htm\"><em>1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die<\/em><\/a><\/span>) <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0079588\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1979\/06\/22\/archives\/the-screen-muppets-go-to-hollywoodroadiest-road-picture.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.moriareviews.com\/fantasy\/muppet-movie-1979.htm\">Moria Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.combustiblecelluloid.com\/classic\/muppetmovie.shtml\">Combustible Celluloid Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thespinningimage.co.uk\/cultfilms\/displaycultfilm.asp?reviewid=1440&#038;aff=13\">Spinning Image Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/the-muppet-movie\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;All I can see is a million frogs on tiny crutches.&#8221; Synopsis: A talent agent (Dom DeLuise) convinces Kermit the Frog (Jim Henson) to leave his Mississippi home and pursue a career in Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit encounters a host of Muppet friends eager to join him on his trip, and tries to evade capture by the nefarious owner (Charles Durning) of a frog leg-serving restaurant chain. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Aspiring Stars Carol Kane Films Madeline Kahn&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29377\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29377","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29377"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29377\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88641,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29377\/revisions\/88641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29377"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29377"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29377"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}