The number one point to make while watching the movie is how well it embodies the story of Jim Henson: it is about a young man going out from the Mississippi area into the big world and meeting friends along the way, who help him realize his dream, and while there are people, who see the group as a way for them to make ads, they see their dreams as a lot bigger. It's basically how The Muppet Show was made (and Sesame Street before it).
Jim Henson really did put much of himself into everything he did and it pays off! There is so much heart and love in these projects prior to his death!
It’s really the “sort of approximately how it happened” origin story of the Muppets themselves! (Although I don’t think it’s ever quite specified where exactly Kermit’s swamp is to be fair!)!
The Muppet Movie was the very first Muppet film I saw, and one of my first exposures to the Muppets, and I hold it very close. I go back and forth between this and Muppet Treasure Island as my favorite.
It's been a while since I revisited Treasure Island, but in revisiting the original Muppet Movie I found how much I really do love it. It's such a sweet film and you can tell how much Jim Henson and his group loved their craft.
The reason why this movie works so well, IMO, is because it's incredibly spiritual. " Life's like a movie, right your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending, we've done just what we set out to do! Thanks to the lovers the dreamers and you!". It's a celebration of living life to it's fullest. That's what this film does so well! And I do believe Paul Williams added so so much to the movie!
I watched the movie for the first time yesterday and it feels like it took my soul and shook it around a little I was worried it was a little silly but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one
@@via3600 Gonzo is a very special character. Gonzo along with Miss Piggy, and Kermit are probably the most important characters of the Muppet brand. He's kind of the soul of the Muppets in a lot of ways.
I like how all great trilogy’s each one has a unique feel, and are extremely well done for instance the original is so sweet, but doesn’t have forced genuine characters the writers knew how to write for them without making them to sweet there’s a difference between sweet and cute. I prefer characters with actual personality’s, the fact that Jim even let someone else direct the first movie shows he was a team player, there were no egos with the muppet performers in there prime and the first movie is perfect and a reflection of that. The Great Muppet Caper Jim finally gets to direct because he was ready and learned a lot from the first movie. This one is perfect too with its jokey hilarious script, inventive camera shots, amazing puppeteering I mean the first film is nearly perfect when it comes to editing and puppeteering, but the climbing the roof, the piggy underwater sequence, all the muppets on bikes they knew they had to go bigger and still be perfectionist and they did that. It also has some great cameos and I love how they crammed in as many as they could and were clever about it. “What are you doing here?” “A very brief cameo” “me too!” Or how good the wall breaks were in the original trilogy even though now that I think of it 3 didn’t have much, but the scene where gonzo tells fozzie to try and stick his nose in the elevator and Fozzie just looks at the camera was intelligent humor that was years ahead of its time. Muppets take Manhattan is the trilogy capper they knew it be the last one and since Frank had experience directing Jim had total faith in him. The scene in the kitchen with Rizzo and the rats is some very impressive puppeteering, visual and camera work are near perfect and the out door shots with sunlight look so good, yea I may not be a fan of muppet babies or the fact they didn’t cram in as many cameos, but man does the film do a great job with character relationships and character development more then any other muppet movie. That’s why the original trilogy is nearly perfect egos didn’t get in the way, anybody could suggest something to Jim and not worry about backlash it’s when hard work and collaboration come together that makes the old show and the first 3 movies so endearing there also perfectionist everyone working for Jim was so the films are extremely well done and in my opinion this one gets the love it deserves, but Great Muppet Caper and Take Manhattan are masterpieces too, the 2011 one had so many issues starting with them breaking up and leaving, the humor wasn’t as funny and the characters are far to sweet the cameos also suck even if the message is in the right place it’s the fact that if the studio defies them it does have some interesting songs though and if you’ve never seen the originals you might like it, but the muppet characters act way to sweet and become annoying. Muppets Most Wanted was a better film and felt more like a muppet movie, but the plot was real dumb and the music sucked it also doesn’t have much of a message or very good humor to back it up. I will admit “The Muppets Christmas Carol” is nearly a perfect film even when it goes dark it works, it also has some of the most inventive gags it really was Disney trying there hardest to give a proper tribute to Jim and Richard Hunt, but at the end of the day the original trilogy will always be king and Christmas carol will forever be the best muppet movie Disney has ever made by far.
Fun fact: according to the Muppet encyclopedia, the events of the film are not cannon, for example, the book reveals that Kermit met the Electric Mayhem band at a laundromat where they were washing Animal, not in a church
Yes!!! One of my favorite (not sci-fi or fantasy) films!!! It’s been a bit since I watched it so I’m going to have to pop this in when I get home! Ps, how’d you like that video about the Disney guitars I sent your way a couple weeks ago, Josh?
I enjoy watching your videos, especially the Muppetology series! I hope you might make some more Muppet videos in the future. I see you've made videos about the different eras of Disney movies. Do you think you may ever make videos like that for the different eras of Muppet movies or rank the Muppet movies?
Glad you love the Muppet videos I do. I actually hadn't thought of ranking or doing an eras video for the Muppets but now that you've said something it has me thinking. I'll definitely put this in my calendar for something upcoming. Not sure when, but thank you for the suggestions!
I haven’t seen this film however I love so much The Muppets 2011, I enjoy that film so much, then Univ is fabulous and it brings me so much joy whenever I watch it. The las time I did I watch it right after Sister Act, and then after Muppets I watched Home Alone. So yeah I had a great watching all those memorable films.
I highly recommend the original Muppet Movie. It's currently on Disney Plus so its easy to access. If you like the 2011 film I think you'll like this one.
@@ModernMouse So I watched the movie, it’s a good film but to my liking it doesn’t have the same magic of the 2011 film, neither the music nor the story holds a candle to the 2011.
Another great video essay by you ofc Josh I honestly didn't watch The Muppet Movie til a few years ago but it was just as great as the other Muppet movies I've seen and grown up with. It has the same optimistic and lighthearted energy as the others. The 1979 Muppet Movie really has held up very well
I'm old enough. (Full stop.) But I'm also old enough to have first seen the Muppets on Sesame Street. To see them transition to "The Muppet Show" took some recalibration. I still remember seeing the show being presented on a television interview, before it even began to be broadcast. That there was aways a single "celebrity" in a show of Muppets just seemed weird. But I quickly began to adore the show because it was just so fun and gleefully weird. As noted elsewhere, I picked up on the "stoner comedy" vibe without even being aware of it. So when the Muppet Movie came out, there was a similar sense of disorientation; of having my mind expanded. (See what I did there?) What really sticks with me is the music, and the collector glasses I accumulated when I worked at McDonald's. This was such an exciting time in my life. So maybe this is part of why I can't get through "The Rainbow Connection" without a manly tear or two.
I dont think people appreciate the weirdness and how much it pulled an audience at that time. Puppets gad strictly been children's entertainment up to that point and they were striving for sonething different.
Speaking of Muppets, are you excited for Muppets Mayhem? It just started filming this week, and if the Barretta Brother’s episode they did about it is any indication, it looks like it will be amazing. What makes me particularly optimistic about where the property is going, is honestly, just how happy Bill seems to be about the new management brought in from Imagineering, and the overall new direction the studio is going in.
I had the opportunity to listen to Kirk Thatcher speak about directing Muppets Haunted Mansion. He was enthusiastic about the future. Muppets Haunted Mansion was not what they exactly wanted to do. They lacked a budget and the film was cut short, but I think there are foundations being built with Imagineering that could be beneficial. I'm keeping my expectations low for Muppets Mayhem, but I'm always ecstatic to see these characters in new material.
Honestly, I think Imagineering tends to get Muppets in a way that nobody else really seems too. Even back when Jim was working with them on Muppet-Vision, they were the one department that he always loved working with. And even before they took over, the stuff they would do in collaboration with Imagineering, like "Great Moments in history" were always excellent.
And according to Matt in an episode of Below the Frame, the new management actually has a long term vision for where they want to take the Muppets, which I'm actually super excited about. I always got the sense that Disney's approach to the Muppets had always been just kind of just throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks, without any sort of overall creative vision or plan, which is why they've just kind of felt aimless.
When I went to Walt Disney World in October, because of the pandemic, the "Great Moments" show had been canceled and I was heartbroken. It was a wonderful addition to the Magic Kingdom and also the rare Muppets "attraction" beyond Muppet-Vision. I hope it comes back with time. Also, I agree that it is good to hear about long term plans since it feels like there hasn't been any since Disney has owned them properly. Recently I was able to visit the Jim Henson studio and I met Brian. He was very nice and he seems to have a good working relationship with Disney. Hopefully that means that collaborations outside of just the Muppet characters will be part of the future. His involvement, or the rest of the Henson family, would be nice to see.
I just wish Disney would trust the performers more. In an ideal situation, the performers would be more heavily involved in the writing process of these characters.
I loved the movie when I saw it in '79. It really succeeded in bushels bringing the Muppets into the real world. That was the big risk, that this could totally fail. But it worked and it was magic, and even today at the age of 50 I find it hysterically funny and charming.
To be fair, Kermit never actually convinces Doc Hopper to leave him alone. Sure, Doc pauses and thinks about it, but his very next words were, "Kill him." Luckily, Animal ate Dr. Honeydew's growth pills and became a giant, scaring Doc Hopper and his goons away.
Anyway Modern Mouse as soon as you give us your new Pixar Era Explained video that’s up to date it will require next year’s Pixar Film Eternals on it by just using its title if we still wouldn’t have received an official poster for the film yet!
While still not all films during the Covid Pandemic went to Disney+ as still some countries received only in Cinema as they didn’t have a cinema yet while releasing Soul, Luca and Turning Red but still Onward went to cinema before going straight to Disney+ because of Covid
What are the characteristics and values of the Muppets that you love most?
See more Muppet videos ---> tinyurl.com/3vad84wm
The number one point to make while watching the movie is how well it embodies the story of Jim Henson: it is about a young man going out from the Mississippi area into the big world and meeting friends along the way, who help him realize his dream, and while there are people, who see the group as a way for them to make ads, they see their dreams as a lot bigger. It's basically how The Muppet Show was made (and Sesame Street before it).
Jim Henson really did put much of himself into everything he did and it pays off! There is so much heart and love in these projects prior to his death!
It’s really the “sort of approximately how it happened” origin story of the Muppets themselves! (Although I don’t think it’s ever quite specified where exactly Kermit’s swamp is to be fair!)!
I love that I am doing a project on this movie in my music theory class because now I have an excuse to watch all these videos.
So glad to be part of your "research"
The Muppet Movie was the very first Muppet film I saw, and one of my first exposures to the Muppets, and I hold it very close. I go back and forth between this and Muppet Treasure Island as my favorite.
It's been a while since I revisited Treasure Island, but in revisiting the original Muppet Movie I found how much I really do love it. It's such a sweet film and you can tell how much Jim Henson and his group loved their craft.
Thank you! What a wonderful vid to watch before going to sleep. You really captured the heart and the essence of the film and the muppets. Bless you!
Thank you for watching! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
The reason why this movie works so well, IMO, is because it's incredibly spiritual. " Life's like a movie, right your own ending, keep believing, keep pretending, we've done just what we set out to do! Thanks to the lovers the dreamers and you!". It's a celebration of living life to it's fullest. That's what this film does so well! And I do believe Paul Williams added so so much to the movie!
Paul Williams and his music never stops amazing me. The songs and score are just so great.
I watched the movie for the first time yesterday and it feels like it took my soul and shook it around a little
I was worried it was a little silly but I'm glad to see I'm not the only one
@@via3600 The opening helicopter shot of rainbow connection has to be one of the most gorgeous openings in film history.
@@patrickmanway290 A gorgeous shot for a gorgeous song
Gonzo's song also had me holding back tears, my god
@@via3600 Gonzo is a very special character. Gonzo along with Miss Piggy, and Kermit are probably the most important characters of the Muppet brand. He's kind of the soul of the Muppets in a lot of ways.
I like how all great trilogy’s each one has a unique feel, and are extremely well done for instance the original is so sweet, but doesn’t have forced genuine characters the writers knew how to write for them without making them to sweet there’s a difference between sweet and cute. I prefer characters with actual personality’s, the fact that Jim even let someone else direct the first movie shows he was a team player, there were no egos with the muppet performers in there prime and the first movie is perfect and a reflection of that.
The Great Muppet Caper Jim finally gets to direct because he was ready and learned a lot from the first movie. This one is perfect too with its jokey hilarious script, inventive camera shots, amazing puppeteering I mean the first film is nearly perfect when it comes to editing and puppeteering, but the climbing the roof, the piggy underwater sequence, all the muppets on bikes they knew they had to go bigger and still be perfectionist and they did that. It also has some great cameos and I love how they crammed in as many as they could and were clever about it. “What are you doing here?” “A very brief cameo” “me too!” Or how good the wall breaks were in the original trilogy even though now that I think of it 3 didn’t have much, but the scene where gonzo tells fozzie to try and stick his nose in the elevator and Fozzie just looks at the camera was intelligent humor that was years ahead of its time.
Muppets take Manhattan is the trilogy capper they knew it be the last one and since Frank had experience directing Jim had total faith in him. The scene in the kitchen with Rizzo and the rats is some very impressive puppeteering, visual and camera work are near perfect and the out door shots with sunlight look so good, yea I may not be a fan of muppet babies or the fact they didn’t cram in as many cameos, but man does the film do a great job with character relationships and character development more then any other muppet movie.
That’s why the original trilogy is nearly perfect egos didn’t get in the way, anybody could suggest something to Jim and not worry about backlash it’s when hard work and collaboration come together that makes the old show and the first 3 movies so endearing there also perfectionist everyone working for Jim was so the films are extremely well done and in my opinion this one gets the love it deserves, but Great Muppet Caper and Take Manhattan are masterpieces too, the 2011 one had so many issues starting with them breaking up and leaving, the humor wasn’t as funny and the characters are far to sweet the cameos also suck even if the message is in the right place it’s the fact that if the studio defies them it does have some interesting songs though and if you’ve never seen the originals you might like it, but the muppet characters act way to sweet and become annoying. Muppets Most Wanted was a better film and felt more like a muppet movie, but the plot was real dumb and the music sucked it also doesn’t have much of a message or very good humor to back it up. I will admit “The Muppets Christmas Carol” is nearly a perfect film even when it goes dark it works, it also has some of the most inventive gags it really was Disney trying there hardest to give a proper tribute to Jim and Richard Hunt, but at the end of the day the original trilogy will always be king and Christmas carol will forever be the best muppet movie Disney has ever made by far.
Great video by the way, but I wanted to leave my thoughts on why I’ll always tell people why old Muppet Movies are very good.
Fun fact: according to the Muppet encyclopedia, the events of the film are not cannon, for example, the book reveals that Kermit met the Electric Mayhem band at a laundromat where they were washing Animal, not in a church
doesn't the line 'it's sort of approximately how they did [the way the muppets started]" already say that it's how they started?
I have feeling that's probably due to wanting to remove any religious elements on Disney's end.
I hope I one day love something as much as this dude loves the Muppets.
Whatever it is I hope it’s even half as wholesome as the Muppets
My Muppets experience comes almost entirely from the 70s TV program, not the movies
I wish this for you as well!
Yes!!! One of my favorite (not sci-fi or fantasy) films!!! It’s been a bit since I watched it so I’m going to have to pop this in when I get home! Ps, how’d you like that video about the Disney guitars I sent your way a couple weeks ago, Josh?
That video was awesome! Thank you for having shared it man!
It isn't easy being Green.
I enjoy watching your videos, especially the Muppetology series! I hope you might make some more Muppet videos in the future. I see you've made videos about the different eras of Disney movies. Do you think you may ever make videos like that for the different eras of Muppet movies or rank the Muppet movies?
Glad you love the Muppet videos I do. I actually hadn't thought of ranking or doing an eras video for the Muppets but now that you've said something it has me thinking. I'll definitely put this in my calendar for something upcoming. Not sure when, but thank you for the suggestions!
I haven’t seen this film however I love so much The Muppets 2011, I enjoy that film so much, then Univ is fabulous and it brings me so much joy whenever I watch it. The las time I did I watch it right after Sister Act, and then after Muppets I watched Home Alone. So yeah I had a great watching all those memorable films.
I highly recommend the original Muppet Movie. It's currently on Disney Plus so its easy to access. If you like the 2011 film I think you'll like this one.
@@ModernMouse Yeah actually I might watch it today.
Leave a comment and let me know what you think after! I'd love to hear about it.
@@ModernMouse of course, thanks for your video
@@ModernMouse So I watched the movie, it’s a good film but to my liking it doesn’t have the same magic of the 2011 film, neither the music nor the story holds a candle to the 2011.
Another great video essay by you ofc Josh I honestly didn't watch The Muppet Movie til a few years ago but it was just as great as the other Muppet movies I've seen and grown up with. It has the same optimistic and lighthearted energy as the others. The 1979 Muppet Movie really has held up very well
I'm old enough. (Full stop.) But I'm also old enough to have first seen the Muppets on Sesame Street. To see them transition to "The Muppet Show" took some recalibration. I still remember seeing the show being presented on a television interview, before it even began to be broadcast. That there was aways a single "celebrity" in a show of Muppets just seemed weird. But I quickly began to adore the show because it was just so fun and gleefully weird. As noted elsewhere, I picked up on the "stoner comedy" vibe without even being aware of it. So when the Muppet Movie came out, there was a similar sense of disorientation; of having my mind expanded. (See what I did there?) What really sticks with me is the music, and the collector glasses I accumulated when I worked at McDonald's. This was such an exciting time in my life. So maybe this is part of why I can't get through "The Rainbow Connection" without a manly tear or two.
I dont think people appreciate the weirdness and how much it pulled an audience at that time. Puppets gad strictly been children's entertainment up to that point and they were striving for sonething different.
Speaking of Muppets, are you excited for Muppets Mayhem? It just started filming this week, and if the Barretta Brother’s episode they did about it is any indication, it looks like it will be amazing.
What makes me particularly optimistic about where the property is going, is honestly, just how happy Bill seems to be about the new management brought in from Imagineering, and the overall new direction the studio is going in.
I had the opportunity to listen to Kirk Thatcher speak about directing Muppets Haunted Mansion. He was enthusiastic about the future. Muppets Haunted Mansion was not what they exactly wanted to do. They lacked a budget and the film was cut short, but I think there are foundations being built with Imagineering that could be beneficial. I'm keeping my expectations low for Muppets Mayhem, but I'm always ecstatic to see these characters in new material.
Honestly, I think Imagineering tends to get Muppets in a way that nobody else really seems too. Even back when Jim was working with them on Muppet-Vision, they were the one department that he always loved working with. And even before they took over, the stuff they would do in collaboration with Imagineering, like "Great Moments in history" were always excellent.
And according to Matt in an episode of Below the Frame, the new management actually has a long term vision for where they want to take the Muppets, which I'm actually super excited about. I always got the sense that Disney's approach to the Muppets had always been just kind of just throwing stuff at the wall and see what sticks, without any sort of overall creative vision or plan, which is why they've just kind of felt aimless.
When I went to Walt Disney World in October, because of the pandemic, the "Great Moments" show had been canceled and I was heartbroken. It was a wonderful addition to the Magic Kingdom and also the rare Muppets "attraction" beyond Muppet-Vision. I hope it comes back with time. Also, I agree that it is good to hear about long term plans since it feels like there hasn't been any since Disney has owned them properly.
Recently I was able to visit the Jim Henson studio and I met Brian. He was very nice and he seems to have a good working relationship with Disney. Hopefully that means that collaborations outside of just the Muppet characters will be part of the future. His involvement, or the rest of the Henson family, would be nice to see.
I just wish Disney would trust the performers more. In an ideal situation, the performers would be more heavily involved in the writing process of these characters.
I knew there was a reason I liked Rowlf- book, beer, walk & bed! What more do you need?
And he’s apparently the one most like Jim himself!
In rewatching this movie I thought the same thing.
I loved the movie when I saw it in '79. It really succeeded in bushels bringing the Muppets into the real world. That was the big risk, that this could totally fail. But it worked and it was magic, and even today at the age of 50 I find it hysterically funny and charming.
To be fair, Kermit never actually convinces Doc Hopper to leave him alone. Sure, Doc pauses and thinks about it, but his very next words were, "Kill him." Luckily, Animal ate Dr. Honeydew's growth pills and became a giant, scaring Doc Hopper and his goons away.
Anyway Modern Mouse as soon as you give us your new Pixar Era Explained video that’s up to date it will require next year’s Pixar Film Eternals on it by just using its title if we still wouldn’t have received an official poster for the film yet!
While still not all films during the Covid Pandemic went to Disney+ as still some countries received only in Cinema as they didn’t have a cinema yet while releasing Soul, Luca and Turning Red but still Onward went to cinema before going straight to Disney+ because of Covid
I wish Disney would make Jason Segal the Kevin Feige of Muppets! He totally gets how the Muppets work!
I think that he has said he isn't interested in that otherwise I'd be right there with you.
Cool
Thank you!