Appropriate for ages: 0 – 176
Who will most enjoy it: anyone born before 1985, with an appreciation for sarcasm and a healthy love of hand puppets
On the date of publication could be streamed on: Netflix
I remember watching this as a kid (much more than once) and just being in love with the characters and the music. Kermit, Fozzie and all the fun characters going on a cross-country adventure, meeting all their friends in unexpected ways, and saving Kermit from the evil Doc Hopper (really, how could he think any self-respecting frog would be the spokes-frog for a chain of fried frog leg restaurants, sheesh!). I would sing along with every song (mostly the choruses, but almost all of “Rainbow Connection”) and laugh at some of the jokes (my parents always laughed in different places than I did). I don’t remember how aware I was of the puppetry aspect of the Muppets, but I loved what I saw on the screen and I cared about the characters.
Watching The Muppet Movie now makes me smile. I still love the songs and love loudly singing along with the choruses. Now though, I find myself really listening to the rest of the lyrics and understanding so much more why the songs are a part of the story. I notice all the famous actors (Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahn, Bob Hope and so many more) and realize what an amazing creation the Muppets were for all those people to want to be in their movie. I get now why my parents were laughing when I wasn’t, because the movie was made for the enjoyment of the whole family and Jim Henson and his team wrote a lot of it only for the parents. I love the self-awareness (telling Dr. Teeth to read the screenplay to learn how Kermit and Fozzie got to the church), the self-deprecating humor and the sarcasm (see below). It is a different movie than I remember, but I love it.
So if I loved the movie as a kid and I still love it now, it begs the question “Why only recommend it to those thirty and up?” The answer has to do with my kids and how they were less than thrilled to sit through the 95-minute film. My youngest (he’s three) loved seeing Kermit and all the rest, and loved the music. The five year old was fidgety and grumpy (though she was grumpy before the movie started, so her input should probably be disallowed). And the soon-to-be nine year old left the room about half way through. I am not taking their reaction at face value, but it did make me wonder if the rambling story and real-world setting is somehow foreign and boring to today’s kids. A true scientist would seek out a wider field of test subjects, monitor their current viewing habits for a month, divide the field into five groups each with representatives of all ages and viewing preferences and then screen The Muppet Movie for each group at a different time of day, monitoring their physical reactions while watching the film and polling their opinions afterwards, ensuring, of course, that all subjects had eaten and slept appropriately leading up to the viewing…I am not that scientist.
What I know, from my unscientific, unique experience, is that anyone born before 1990, who ever had any affection for the Muppets, will not regret watching The Muppet Movie. And if said person happened to have a child or two in their home and those children happened to be in the room while the movie was playing I’m sure they would most likely stick around to see if Kermit ever makes it to Hollywood, but don’t expect them to be happy about it. Happy Streaming!
For more about the Muppets in all their iterations visit the amazing Muppet Wiki. Devoted fans be there.
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