Film Forum

U.S., 1979
Directed by James Frawley
Starring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Camilla the Chicken, Orson Welles  
Approx. 95 min.

“Jolson sang, Barrymore spoke, Garbo laughed, and now Kermit the Frog rides a bicycle. THE MUPPET MOVIE not only stars the Muppets but, for the first time, shows us their feet. He’s pedaling on his way to Hollywood, and THE MUPPET MOVIE itself is one of those origin stories so beloved by comic books. We’ve learned how Spiderman came into his extraordinary powers, and now here are the earliest days of the Muppets. The format makes absolutely no distinction between the Muppets and other forms of life, so we meet such humans as Mel Brooks, Bob Hope, Carol Kane, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Orson Welles, and, in their last film appearance before their deaths, Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy. We also meet, of course, Miss Piggy, who falls instantly and incurably in love with Kermit. And we get to know all the Muppets better than we could on their television show. They turn out, somehow, to have many of the same emotions and motivations that we do. They are vain and hopeful, selfish and generous, complicated and true. They mirror ourselves, except that they’re a little nicer.” – Roger Ebert

Reviews

“As do the other actors in the movie, we very quickly come to accept the Muppets as real people who just happen to be made largely of felt.”
– The New York Times