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Jun 3, 2019 · June 3, 2019, 7:34 AM. 5:39. "The Muppet Movie" returns to theaters for its 40th anniversary. Henson/Disney. Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear are coming back to a theater near you. "The ...
- Overview
- Synopsis
- Behind the Scenes with the Fan Club
- Production notes
- Deleted and Alternate Scenes
- Edits
- Credits
- Cast
is the first of a series of live-action musical feature films starring the Muppets. The film is a movie-in-a-movie, as we see Kermit the Frog and the rest of the Muppets gathering for the first screening of "The Muppet Movie." Kermit notes to his nephew Robin as the lights dim that the movie is a somewhat fictionalized account of the true story of how the Muppets first got together.
The movie was a critical and commercial success. In 2009, the film was selected by the U.S. National Film Preservation Board for preservation in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.
As the story opens, Kermit is enjoying a relaxing afternoon in the swamp, singing a tune and strumming his banjo, when he is approached by an agent who recognizes his talents and encourages Kermit to pursue a career in Hollywood. Inspired by the idea of making millions of people happy, Kermit sets off on his trusty bicycle. Almost immediately, he is pursued by the conniving Doc Hopper (Charles Durning), owner of a struggling French-fried frog legs restaurant franchise who has set his sights on Kermit as a potential new mascot.
Kermit stops at the El Sleezo Cafe, where he meets Fozzie Bear working the place as a stand-up comedian. Kermit invites Fozzie to join him on his quest for stardom, and together they continue on their journey. They make several new friends along the way, including Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem rock band (whom they bring up to speed on current events by giving them a copy of the movie script); Gonzo the traveling plumber and Camilla, his chicken girlfriend; Sweetums, who works at a car dealership and tries to catch up with the gang throughout their trip; and the inimitable Miss Piggy, who leaps at the chance to accompany the group to Hollywood.
After Kermit manages to evade Doc Hopper's persuasive tactics a number of times, Doc Hopper responds by capturing Miss Piggy in order to lure Kermit into his clutches. Kermit is very nearly lobotomized by a mad scientist's electronic cerebrectomy device, intended to brainwash him into performing in Doc Hopper's TV commercials. Miss Piggy, after being insulted by the mad scientist, manages a last-minute rescue with some black belt karate maneuvers.
Refusing to run from a bully for the rest of his life, Kermit resolves to face Doc Hopper in a showdown. He gives an impassioned plea to allow him and his friends to continue on their way and make their dreams come true. Although the speech falls on deaf ears, Kermit and friends are saved at the last moment by Animal, who has gotten into Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's growth pills and successfully scares away Hopper and his henchmen.
A 1979 Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter (vol. 2, no. 1) featured an article with behind the scenes information about the movie:
"The Muppet Movie comes to your neighborhood theaters this summer. If you think it's a film version of The Muppet Show, you're in for a surprise. For one thing, it doesn't take place in the theater. The Muppet Movie is set in the real world -- it's like waiting in line at a gas station and looking up to find Fozzie and Kermit driving the next car over. After you've seen the movie, you'll ask, 'How did they do it?' -- Well, here is some inside information so that you can whisper to the person sitting next to you in the movie theater, 'I know how they did that.'
"How does Kermit sit on a log in the middle of a swamp? Simple. Jim Henson squeezed into a specially designed metal container complete with an air hose (to breathe), a rubber sleeve which came out of the top (to work Kermit) and a monitor (to see what Kermit was doing), and positioned himself under the water, under the log, under the Frog. Jim spent about five days in this bathysphere. (It's not easy...)
"How does Fozzie drive a car? He doesn't -- a midget drives the car by remote control from the trunk, using a television monitor to guide his steering. The puppeteers were lying on the seat or were scrunched on the floor and couldn't see a thing. The first time they tried 'driving', the television monitor went on the blink, and the driver had to be talked through the scene by an assistant director on a walkie-talkie. 'A little to the right, now, to the left... hold it...'
"There are 250 puppets in the last shot of the film, and they're all moving. How? 150 puppeteers in a 6' deep, 17' wide pit, that's how. They were recruited through the Los Angeles Guild of The Puppeteers of America, and almost every puppeteer west of the Rockies reported for pit duty.
"Several of the characters are shown as full figures for the first time. Think -- have you ever seen Fozzie, Dr. Teeth, Scooter, Floyd or Zoot below the waist on television? No. And yes, their legs aren't half bad.
•The Muppet Movie began filming on July 5, 1978, and proceeded over 87 days in the summer and fall of that year, during a production break partway through the taping of the third season of The Muppet Show (between Helen Reddy and Harry Belafonte).
•The closing song, known as "The Magic Store/Rainbow Connection Reprise" featured a crowd of more than 250 Muppet characters from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, and The Land of Gortch sketches on Saturday Night Live. Notable exceptions include Sweetums (for plot reasons), Mr. Snuffleupagus, Sam the Robot, and most of the Muppets created for Sam and Friends and other early Henson productions. 137 puppeteers were enlisted from the Puppeteers of America to help the regular Muppet performers film this scene. The crowd sequence took one day to film.
•The film was scored by Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher, and their song "Rainbow Connection" received an Academy Award nomination.
•The movie is dedicated to ventriloquist Edgar Bergen, who made his final film appearance in this movie.
•One of the two specially-painted 1951 Studebaker Commanders used in the film resides in the Studebaker National Museum in South Bend, Indiana.
•One version of the movie's one-sheet featured Kermit and Miss Piggy in period costume with the quote "Frankly, Miss Piggy, I don't give a hoot," a reference to Gone With the Wind.
•A 1987 home video release of this film in the United Kingdom lasted a few minutes longer than in America. Some of the extra scenes included a slightly longer comedy club performance from Fozzie including a longer dance number with Kermit, a short opening and closing speech from Doc Hopper on his French Fried Frogs Legs commercial, a longer conversation between Doc Hopper and Max before they encountered Kermit and Fozzie in the rainbow-painted Studebaker, Dr. Teeth giving a more in-depth reading from the script, and an extra verse of "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along." Also in this version of the film, a different instrumental track is used for Never Before, and the Muppets' conversations during the end credits can be heard more clearly over a quieter, and different closing theme. These extra scenes were also available for the German dub Muppet Movie when it first aired on TV in the mid-1990s, but were later removed when the movie was released on VHS and DVD.
•The DVD release features an English-language audio track and a French audio track. In the French version, an alternate version of the musical track for the closing credits can be heard (in which the piece written for the credits is heard in its entirety instead of the music being looped). The French version also has the music edited differently during the "Rainbow Connection" finale (after the sound stage is destroyed and the rainbow starts to creep through the hole in the ceiling).
•When the film aired on ABC Family in January 2014, the following scenes were edited:
•The first of Statler and Waldorf's criticisms ("Private screening?" "Yeah, they're afraid to show it in public.")
•Lew Zealand's interaction with Kermit at the screening.
•A few seconds of the El Sleezo scene, including Fozzie's line "Go, go, on the house" after he tricks the bar clients.
•Some of the Electric Mayhem's goodbyes as Kermit and Fozzie drive away.
•The "Mad Man Mooney's" scene has several minor edits; including some of the Muppets' arrival, Mooney's line "Get out here!", and a bit of Sweetums moving the car.
•Director: James Frawley
•Writers: Jack Burns and Jerry Juhl
•Executive Producers: Lew Grade and Martin Starger
•Producer: Jim Henson
•Co-Producer: David Lazer
•Original Music: Paul Williams
Charles Durning as Doc Hopper
Austin Pendleton as Max
Scott Walker as Frog Killer
Lawrence Gabriel, Jr. as Sailor
Ira F. Grubman as Bartender
H.B. Haggerty as Lumberjack
Jul 20, 2019 · The Muppet Movie will screen in more than 700 movie theaters nationwide on Thursday, July 25, and Tuesday, July 30 at 12:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (local time) each day. Visit fathomevents.com for more info.
