Review of The Muppet Movie (1979) by Jlherisse94 — 15 May 2015

“Life’s like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep Believing. Keep Pretending”.

- Jim Henson.

Do not judge this film by the title. This is not strictly a children’s movie. This is a film that has a message for all of those who have a dream“Life’s like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep Believing. Keep Pretending”.

- Jim Henson.

Do not judge this film by the title. This is not strictly a children’s movie. This is a film that has a message for all of those who have a dream to achieve.

The film is a movie within a movie, with all of the muppets attending a screening of a movie that tells how they all met and became a family. The actual movie begins with Kermit in a swamp singing what would become one of the iconic songs ever created, “The Rainbow Connection”. When the song ends, an agent named Bernie comes in a boat explaining to Kermit that he is able to reach his dream, which is “singing, dancing, and making millions of people happy” by traveling to Hollywood, Los Angeles. Along the way, he meets an entrepreneur named Doc Hopper, and his assistant Max, who wants to convince Kermit to become the new spokesman of his French-fried frog legs restaurant. Kermit refuses, and as the film goes on, Hopper increasingly becomes more aggressive to make Kermit become part of the struggling restaurant.

As Kermit makes his journey to Los Angeles, he meets Fozzie Bear, a jolly bear who struggles as a stand-up comedian in a sleazy bar. Feeling sorry for him, Kermit invites Fozzie to come with him along the ride and they soon experience misadventures where they meet the rest of the muppet characters, including Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, their manager Scooter and their pet Animal, The Great Gonzo and his girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, Sweetums, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker, and Miss Piggy, who would become Kermit’s love interest, and chaos soon ensues while also doing everything they possibly can to avoid Doc Hopper.

These characters become so believable and lovable that you actually begin to feel for them as the film goes on. And by the time comes when the muppets finally arrive at Hollywood and are hired by studio executive Lew Lord, you will end up cheering for Kermit when he realizes that he had finally achieved his dream and developed a new family at the same time.

What makes this film so significant is the inspiring story, music, and the development of these "puppet" characters. At first the all consider each other as just “weird”, but as they move along in their journey, they all put their differences aside and learn about each other, developing as a colorful family, and Kermit finding the “Rainbow Connection”.

Out of all the muppet films, I can honestly say that this is the film that truly has the perfect balance of comedy along with heart and charm. Furthermore, the way the characters are portrayed in this film is very strong and actually allows them to connect with the audience, and with Paul Williams' beautiful score, the emotional core goes above and beyond, especially during the grand finale.

In short, 'The Muppet Movie' is a great film that represents the Muppets at their greatest with great humor and a lot of heart.