Hitchcoc
This is a delight. After we watched these guys on their own show, they became a part of us. So this had to be good. Well, it was. First of all, the plot is interesting. Kermit is heading for Hollywood, not knowing what's in store for him. Along the way, he encounters other Muppet notables, including main squeeze, MIss Piggy. Of course, as they progress toward their destination, there are frequent adventures. Each has its own charms. In addition to the wonderful events, we get some great songs. "The Rainbow Connection" is an anthem for diversity. I can't really add too much to what others have said, but suffice it to say that this is pure delight. The Muppet animation is beyond the pale. Great movie. It's sad we have lost some of the people that brought this to us.
Benjamin Black
Of course I love this movie! What's not to love about it? It's funny, it's musical, it's entertaining, it's emotional, it's everything that embodies the Muppets!In this movie we see how the Muppets got their start to stardom and fame; it's sort of a very loose parody of Jim Henson's start to fame, if I understand it right. Kermit the Frog enjoys his life in the swamp, but begins riding his bike to Hollywood after an agent tells him he should go and "make millions of people happy." From there, he runs into a number of characters who have the same dream of making it big in Hollywood: Fozzie Bear, The Electric Mayhem, Scooter, The Great Gonzo, Camilla the Chicken, Miss Piggy, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Honeydew and Beaker, and others. Since this is the first Muppet movie, it began the tradition of including celebrity cameo appearances. We see Bob Hope, Richard Pryor, Steve Martin, Madeline Kahn, Carol Kane, Orson Wells, Jim Henson's wife, Jane, Edgar Bergen - the man who inspired Jim Henson to go into puppetry - and many other celebrities. My favorite cameo, though, is Big Bird! Yes, Big Bird is in this movie! "I'm on my way to New York City to try to break into public television." I love that line!So, why does this movie work so well? I think it goes back to the fact that the Muppets are giving us their own style of entertainment, rather than them trying to conform to something else. There are a lot of scenes in this movie that take place that, to be fair, don't really need to happen. They don't really move the story forward, but Jim Henson and his writers and producers knew just how to make this stuff work. Take the scene where Gonzo flies in the sky with the balloons. It's a nice scene, but does it get the gang to Hollywood any quicker? Not really. How about when they all get to Hollywood just to have the lady at the front desk tell them they can't come in? It lasts less than 2 minutes, and they get in anyway. Was it really worth it to have that moment there? Probably not. And with that, the ending is something straight out of a fairy tale. The Muppets go to Lew Lord and tell him they want to be rich and famous, and Lew Lord just grants their request just like that? There's nothing realistic about that! Had any of these scenes been done in any other movie by any other group of people or any other production studio, I would really hate them! But this talented group of people knew what to do to make it entertaining, delightful, and great. That's the magic of Jim Henson and his Muppets: he gives us something that normally wouldn't work, and makes it work so well that we'd come to love it! That takes a lot of great talent and creativity! The songs are other elements that don't add much to the simple plot of the movie, but, again, they're done so well here that we come to love and remember all of them! "Moving Right Along," "Can You Picture That," "Never Before," "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along," "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday," "The Magic Store/Finale," but, of course, everybody loves and remembers the Oscar-nominated classic, "The Rainbow Connection." They're beautiful, they're fun, and they're so very touching. They stay with us, in our souls! That is powerful! Everyone always talks about how funny the Muppets are, and that shows in this movie! But very rarely do you hear about the heartfelt moments as well. The Muppets remind you through the emotions they experience that they feel just like we feel. Kermit's overall objective in this movie is probably the best example of this. He doesn't want to go to Hollywood simply to become rich and famous, it's not as superficial as that. He wants to go to Hollywood because it's his dream. What Kermit wants more than anything is for his dream to come true. You really feel for him during the scene when he talks to his conscience. He actually begins doubting himself, saying he never promised he'd make it. I love his last line in that scene: "I guess I was wrong when I said I never promised anyone. I promised me." Kermit begins to believe in himself again, and is determined to make his dream come true. That's pretty deep! Again, it's not something as superficial as just making a lot of money. The magic of his dream comes from, as he shares with Doc Hopper, the fact that he shared his dreams with others and they shared the dream with him.With that, sidebar, was I the only one asking what's wrong with Doc Hopper? You're really going to spend time and energy tracking down one frog all over the country? Why not get another frog? Why not do something that doesn't harm frogs at all? This man is stupid.Once again we have great Muppet tricks that make us stop and ask how did they do that. If you look up the facts about this movie either on this website or on Wikipedia, you'll learn how the Muppets were able to drive. Everyone went crazy when they saw Kermit riding a bicycle for the first time! There's a lost episode of "The Jim Henson Hour" that explains it if you're still curious. It's called "Secret of the Muppets," look it up on YouTube.Final thoughts: "The Muppet Movie" is a great, fantastic film! It has everything you want a Muppet movie to have. This movie has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, and I still love it now! Check it out, you won't be disappointed, folks! BOOYIKA!
