🎬 Movie🎬 Tweens · Ages 11–13Comedy

The Muppet Movie (1979)

Name: The Muppet Movie
Released: 1979

About This Movie

Kermit the Frog sets out from his swamp to make it in Hollywood and picks up a growing troupe of fellow dreamers along the way, including a bear comedian, a piano-playing dog, and a daredevil stunt performer named Gonzo. The movie is joyful, silly, and frequently breaks the fourth wall with a wink. Beneath the felt and foam rubber, there's a genuine story about believing in yourself and finding your people.

Why It's a Classic

Jim Henson and his team achieved something technically extraordinary by taking puppets out of the studio and into the real world, filming on location with custom rigs that kept puppeteers hidden in trenches, beneath water, and inside specially built vehicles. The opening shot of Kermit sitting on a log in an actual swamp, playing banjo and singing "Rainbow Connection," required Henson to operate the puppet while submerged in a sealed container underwater. Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher's songwriting is genuinely beautiful, and "Rainbow Connection" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. The film's gentle, self-aware humor allows it to be simultaneously a kids' movie, a road comedy, and a meditation on the courage required to pursue creative dreams. The celebrity cameos, from Steve Martin to Mel Brooks to Orson Welles, are woven in with surprising grace rather than feeling like stunt casting.

Fun Fact

Jim Henson operated Kermit from inside a specially constructed steel and fiberglass chamber submerged beneath the swamp set for the opening scene, controlling the puppet through a small opening while watching himself on a tiny monitor. The banjo was rigged with a mechanical strumming device. Henson was so committed to the technical challenge that he spent five hours in the submerged container. The famous scene of Kermit riding a bicycle used a marionette version of the character controlled by nearly invisible wires, a technique that took months to perfect.

Parent Note

One of the gentlest movies ever made, appropriate for all ages. The villain, Doc Hopper, wants to use Kermit as a spokesfrog for his frog legs restaurant, which involves a comic threat of violence played entirely for laughs. There are a few mildly scary moments involving a mad scientist character. The humor operates on multiple levels, keeping adults engaged while kids enjoy the characters and songs.