The Muppet Movie (1979)

I didn’t grow up watching The Muppets. My first introduction to them came from “The Muppet Babies” which I barely remember. The first time they made an impact was in “Muppets: Most Wanted” which I watched only because Tom Hiddleston made a cameo. 

“The Muppet Movie” is the origin story of these creatures. While things starring the Muppets are hit or miss for me, I thought this one to be a hit.

The film opens on Kermit. He was just a frog living in the swamp. Well, a simple frog who could play the ukulele. He’s sitting on a log playing the ukulele and singing.

A man rows up to him. He’s a big Hollywood agent. The agent hands Kermit a magazine with an ad looking for singing frogs. Upon seeing the ad, Kermit decides to leave the swamp and set out for Hollywood to audition. 

During the entirety of his journey, Kermit Is pursued by a fast food magnate (Charles Durning) who wants to make Kermit’s legs the face of his company. Along the way, Kermit finds other Muppets who join him on the journey and help him foil the plans of the fast food magnate.

As is commonplace in Muppet movies, there are plenty of celebrity cameos. Though I honestly only recognized Madeline Kahn out of all of them.

We also see the moment Miss Piggy sees Kermit for the first time and falls for him. This was a fun flick. The muppets are of course whacky. The humans all seem to be having a great time. I enjoyed the time I spent watching this.