The Muppet Movie is a 1979 musical road comedy film, directed by James Frawley and produced by Jim Henson, and the first theatrical film to feature the Muppets. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the film was written by The Muppet Show writers Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns. Produced during the third season of The Muppet Show, the film tells the origin story of the Muppets, as Kermit the Frog embarks on a cross-country trip to Los Angeles, encountering several of the Muppets—who all share the same ambition of finding success in professional show business—along the way while being pursued by Doc Hopper, a greedy restaurateur with intentions of recruiting Kermit to promote his frog legs business.
The film stars Muppet performers Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, and Dave Goelz, as well as Charles Durning and Austin Pendleton, and it features cameo appearances by Bob Hope, Dom DeLuise, James Coburn, Cloris Leachman, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Edgar Bergen (in his final film appearance before his death), Orson Welles, Madeline Kahn, Milton Berle, Carol Kane, Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, Elliott Gould, and Paul Williams. Notable for its surreal humour, meta-references and prolific use of cameos, The Muppet Movie was distributed by Associated Film Distribution in the United Kingdom on May 31, 1979, and in the United States on June 22, 1979.
The film received critical praise, including two Academy Award nominations for Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher's musical score and their song "Rainbow Connection". The film grossed $76.7 million worldwide against an $8 million budget. The Muppet Movie was followed by seven feature films starring the Muppets as well as several more television series and media. In 2009, the film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Plot
The story opens with the Muppets sitting down for a private screening of a movie that acts as an origin story of how they all met.
Kermit the Frog lives a simple life in a Florida swamp. After he plays his banjo and sings "Rainbow Connection", he is approached by Bernie, a talent agent who encourages him to pursue a career in show business. Inspired, Kermit sets off on a cross-country trip to Hollywood.
He meets Fozzie Bear, who is working as a hapless stand-up comedian, and invites him on his journey. The two set out in Fozzie's 1951 Studebaker but are pursued by entrepreneur Doc Hopper and his assistant Max, who try to convince Kermit to be the new spokesfrog of Hopper's struggling French-fried frog legs restaurant franchise. Horrified, Kermit refuses, and he and Fozzie drive away. Unwilling to accept Kermit's refusal, Hopper follows the pair and resorts to increasingly forceful means of persuasion. In an old church, Kermit and Fozzie meet the rock band Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, and their manager Scooter, who help them disguise their car. Driving on, they meet and are joined by Gonzo and his girlfriend Camilla the Chicken, who are also interested in becoming movie stars. They trade in their failing vehicle at a used car lot, where they meet Sweetums. They invite Sweetums to come with them, but he runs away. The others drive away, only for Sweetums to emerge and reveal that he had only gone to pack his things.
The group meets Miss Piggy at a county fair and she and Kermit become love-stricken with each other. When they meet for dinner that night, Hopper and Max abduct Miss Piggy as bait to lure Kermit. When they capture Kermit, Hopper orders mad scientist Professor Krassman to give Kermit an electric lobotomy so that he would willingly perform in Hopper's advertisements, but Miss Piggy knocks out Hopper's henchmen and causes Krassman to have his brain fried by his own device. Immediately after the fight, however, Miss Piggy receives a job offer and abandons a devastated Kermit.
Joined by Rowlf the Dog, the Muppets pick up Miss Piggy – who is hitchhiking on the side of the road – and continue their journey; but their car breaks down in the desert. Sitting at a campfire, the group realizes that they will likely miss the auditions the next day. Kermit wanders off, ashamed for bringing his friends on a fruitless journey, but personal reflection restores his commitment. He returns to camp, where he discovers that the Electric Mayhem have come to their rescue, having learned of their plight by reading ahead in the film's script. The Mayhem offer to drive the group the rest of the way in their bus.
The group is warned by a reformed Max that Hopper has hired an assassin, Snake Walker, to kill Kermit. Kermit decides to face his aggressor and proposes a Western-style showdown in a nearby ghost town. There, they find inventor Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker. Kermit and his friends are saved when one of Dr. Honeydew's inventions, "insta-grow" pills, enlarges Mayhem drummer Animal, who frightens away Hopper and his henchmen.
Once the Muppets reach the Hollywood studio, they meet executive Lew Lord, who signs them to a "standard 'rich and famous' contract". The first take in their attempt to perform the script goes awry when Gonzo crashes into the prop rainbow, which knocks the scenery down and an explosion blows a hole in the roof of the studio, but a real rainbow shines through the hole and illuminates all the Muppets. Joined by characters from other Henson productions – including Sesame Street, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, and The Land of Gorch – the Muppets sing the final verse in a reprise of "Rainbow Connection". As the film ends, Sweetums tears through the screen, elated that he caught up with them.
Cast
Charles Durning as Doc Hopper, a businessman, entrepreneur, and restaurateur. Austin Pendleton as Max, Doc Hopper's shy right-hand man and sidekick. Scott Walker as Snake Walker, an assassin who specializes in killing frogs. H.B. Haggerty as Lumberjack Bruce Kirby as Gate Guard James Frawley as a Waiter at El Sleezo Café where Fozzie is doing his act
Muppet performers
Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Waldorf and The Swedish Chef Frank Oz as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Sam Eagle and Marvin Suggs Jerry Nelson as Floyd Pepper, Crazy Harry, Robin the Frog, Lew Zealand and Camilla the Chicken Richard Hunt as Scooter, Statler, Janice, Sweetums and Beaker Dave Goelz as The Great Gonzo, Zoot, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Doglion Caroll Spinney as Big Bird
Oz appears in a cameo as a biker who beats up Fozzie Bear while Steve Whitmire appears as a man in the Bogen County Fair.
Special guest stars (in order of appearance) Dom DeLuise as Bernie, a Hollywood agent who meets Kermit in the swamp. The character's name alludes to Bernie Brillstein, talent agent and producer of the original Muppet Show. James Coburn as the El Sleezo Café Owner Madeline Kahn as an El Sleezo Patron with the same rhotacism and personality Kahn used for Lili von Shtupp in Blazing Saddles Telly Savalas as El Sleezo Tough Carol Kane as the lisping "miss" (summoned by the word “myth”) Paul Williams as the El Sleezo Pianist. Milton Berle as Mad Man Mooney, a used car salesman who employs Sweetums as a jack. Elliott Gould as the Compère who announces Miss Piggy as the winner of the Bogen County Beauty Pageant. Edgar Bergen as himself and Charlie McCarthy playing judges at the County Fair. This appearance marks Bergen's last film; he died soon after. The film was dedicated in his memory. Bob Hope as an Ice Cream Vendor serving cones to Fozzie at the County Fair. Richard Pryor as a Balloon Vendor selling balloons to Gonzo at the County Fair. Steve Martin as an insolent waiter working at the restaurant where Rowlf plays piano. Mel Brooks as Professor Krassman, a mad scientist hired by Doc Hopper. Cloris Leachman as Miss Tracy, Lew Lord's secretary who is allergic to animals. Orson Welles as Lew Lord, a Hollywood producer and studio executive. The character's name alludes to Sir Lew Grade, head of ATV, the British company that co-produced The Muppet Show.
Production Development After the popularity of the Muppets had grown following the success of The Muppet Show, Lew Grade agreed to finance the production of the film and signed the deal with his company ITC Entertainment, which helped Jim Henson finance the film. After the film's production greenlit, Jim Henson and selected team members traveled to California various times to develop the script, music, and infrastructure in Hollywood to shoot the film. James Frawley was hired to direct the movie due to the film's challenges.
During Frawley and Henson's first meeting in London, they were concerned that the Muppets would not blend well in real life. Along with Frank Oz and the team, they filmed and tested how the characters would appear in real-world locations during the first few days of June 1978 in a UK meadow. During filming tests, a cow was ambled near Fozzie for an unexpected rear look at a comparison between fake and natural fur hair. The camera tests attracted the investment of ITC Entertainment. On July 3, 1978, Henson flew to Los Angeles again to begin shooting for the film.
Filming Principal photography began on July 5, 1978, and continued for 87 days during summer and fall of that year.The Muppet Show Fan Club newsletter (vol. 2, no. 1) Each minute took a day to be filmed. Filming locations included Albuquerque, New Mexico as well as various parts of Los Angeles and Northern California, including the San Fernando Valley. The Western street scenes were filmed on the former Columbia Ranch, then known as The Burbank Studios. Additionally, the interior shots were filmed at CBS-MTM Studios. All the sets were elevated by five feet to allow the puppeteers to perform. According to Henson, the principal photography of the film was slower than in television. No effects were added after filming concluded.
Austin Pendleton recalled that the film was shot on "a very unhappy set, because Jim [Frawley] was very unhappy directing that movie. And I noticed that was the only time the Muppet people used an outside person to direct a Muppet movie. They never did that again. After that, it was either Jim Henson or Frank Oz. And I would have liked to have been in one of those, because those sets were very harmonious. But this was not."
Several shots required Muppets standing and acting in a full-body shot. To perform Kermit sitting on a log, 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 perform Kermit and a monitor to see his performance, and placed himself under the water, log, and the Kermit puppet. He was also assisted in this operation by Kathryn Mullen and Steve Whitmire. During breaks, cups of ice tea were given to Henson through the rubber sleeve since he could not easily leave the tank. Rescuers had to stand by the tank to pull Henson out if the tank leaked or the air supply had difficulties. The scene took five days to be filmed.
In order for Kermit to ride a bicycle in a full-body shot, a Kermit puppet with legs was posed onto the seat and his legs and arms were attached to the pedals and handlebars. An overhead crane with a marionette system held the bicycle through strong strings invisible to the camera, guiding the bicycle forward. The crane and system were out of the camera's frame of vision. Specially made, remote-controlled puppets were placed on the set and controlled by puppeteers out of the frame. A dancing Kermit and Fozzie Bear were operated by Henson and Oz in front of a blue screen, and they were composited onto a separate reel of the stage. For scenes involving Fozzie driving a Studebaker, cables, TV monitors, puppeteers, and its Muppets were filled in. A dwarf would sit in the trunk and control via remote control. A television monitor showed what was ahead.