Line #63 Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/25a59e02_d61d_492a_9ee2_bca68808ae70.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: ♫ ''Together Again. Oh it's good to be together again!''. ♫]]
3
4	->''"I'm staying! You hear that, New York? The frog is staying!"''
5	-->-- '''Kermit the Frog'''
6
7	''The Muppets Take Manhattan'' is the last of the original trilogy of [[Franchise/TheMuppets Muppet]] feature films made by Creator/JimHenson, released in 1984 and directed by Creator/FrankOz.
8
9	Another take on the origins of the Muppets, this has them having all known each other during college and making a musical together (''Manhattan Melodies''); upon graduation, they decide to go to New York City and try to put the show on Broadway rather than just split apart. But after countless failures in trying to sell the show, they do split up, going to different parts of the country to make ends meet. Kermit gets a job at a diner and continues pursuing the dream of getting the show produced. Just as he succeeds and calls all the others back, he is hit by a car; now amnesiac, he winds up getting a job in the advertising industry. With the show one week away, the Muppets have to try and find him or, failing that, press on without him.
10
11	One of the musical numbers, featuring baby versions of some of the characters, turned out to be the debut of the ''[[WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984 Muppet Babies]]''; their subsequent SaturdayMorningCartoon kicked off the SpinoffBabies craze.
12
13	Followed by ''Film/TheMuppetChristmasCarol''.
14	----
15	!!This film provides examples of:
16	* FourOneNineScam: In-person example. The first "producer" the Muppets pitch their show to is actually a con artist who fraudulently promises they can start working on the show the next day if they give him $300 each upfront. He is arrested soon after, identified by a previous victim.
17	* AccidentalMarriage: At least if you consider the original script, or the comic book adaptation. The movie itself never actually confirms this. Post-film, Kermit argued in interviews it wasn't real. Piggy insists it was real.
18	* TheAce: Baby Piggy's song has her planning to be a movie star/veterinarian/brain surgeon/pilot/mountain climber/model/lawyer/scuba diver/singer. Oh, and a stay-at-home mom when the kids are born.
19	* AnAesop: Achieving your dreams may be a long and difficult process, but it doesn’t hurt to keep trying.
20	* AllPartOfTheShow: It is made intentionally vague whether or not Kermit and Piggy's wedding was this or something that happened for real and took place after the show they were putting on. "Interviews" of Kermit and Piggy after the movie was released had Kermit stating it was all part of the show, while Piggy insisted it was ''real'', and Joan Lunden of ''Good Morning America'' even gave them a toaster.
21	* AlternateContinuity: Played with. The Muppets met in college instead of on a road trip to Hollywood, and many established Muppets such as Rizzo and Bunsen are given new “introductions”. Later productions treat this film as part of the official timeline.
22	* AmnesiacResonance: Kermit remembers the melody he wrote, even though he's amnesiac.
23	* AndIntroducing: Rizzo the Rat became a regular with this film. He didn't find his role as Gonzo's sidekick yet, however.
24	* {{Angrish}}: After Piggy spies on Kermit and Jenny hugging (again) while they are at Pete's, she's heard trashing whatever room she's in while screaming what can only be described as this.
25	* ArtisticLicenseBiology: The frog advertisers all have human ears.
26	* AuthorAvatar: As with ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'', this can be read as an allegory of Jim Henson's career. Like his creator, Kermit gains local popularity performing during his college years, decides to try his luck in New York, struggles, takes an unlikely detour into the world of advertising, then gets his big break.
27	* BackAlleyDoctor: Creator/LindaLavin's character, who abuses Kermit by twisting his arm, feeling his legs and forcing his mouth open.
28	-->'''Doctor:''' No doubt about it -- you have amnesia.
29	* BigApplesauce: The Muppets go to New York City to try and get their show on Platform/{{Broadway}}.
30	* BindleStick: Fozzie during his part in the "Saying Goodbye" number.
31	* BlandNameProduct: During his Phil amnesia phase, Kermit is briefly shown reading ''The New York Financial Journal'', which looks exactly like ''The Wall Street Journal''.
32	* BoringButPractical: During the scene of the rats working in the kitchen, some of the special effects were made using the most obvious solutions.
33	** When one of the rats is greasing the grill by skating on it with pats of butter on his feet, the effects crew tried several ways to get the proper sizzling effect. In the end, actual butter on a hot surface worked just fine.
34	** When another rat is mixing batter by using an eggbeater as an exercise bike, the effects crew mixed several chemicals together to resemble batter. [[EpicFail They somehow created a corrosive substance]] that was eating right through the mixing bowls and they feared was toxic. Finally one member of the crew made some actual pancake batter, which they used for the final scene.
35	* BottleEpisode: Because Jim Henson was juggling a bunch of other projects at the same time, he didn't want to go on location for a film shoot, so he came up with the idea of setting a film in New York, allowing him to stay close by the Muppet offices.
36	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Surprisingly, subverted. This is the only major Muppet movie where ''nobody'' breaks the fourth wall, even ''once.''
37	* BuyOrGetLost: Rizzo works at Pete's diner for no pay, living entirely on tips. So when the main cast sympathise with him by saying they don't have money either, his reaction is "Sorry, not my table."
38	* TheCameo: Not as many as the first two movies, but still.
39	** Creator/ArtCarney plays Ronnie Crawford's father, Bernard Crawford.
40	** Creator/JamesCoco leaves his dog "Snookie-ookums" with Rowlf at his doggie day care.
41	** Miss Piggy borrows Creator/GregoryHines' roller-skates to chase the purse snatcher.
42	** Creator/LindaLavin gives Mr. X (Kermit after amnesia) his checkup.
43	** Creator/JoanRivers works alongside Miss Piggy as a perfume saleswoman.
44	** Creator/ElliottGould, who had previously appeared in the first movie, portrays a cop.
45	** Creator/LizaMinnelli is confused why her caricature at Sardi's was replaced by that of a disguised Kermit, and questions Vincent Sardi (also playing himself) about it.
46	** Creator/BrookeShields gets questioned by Masterson about InterspeciesRomance.
47	** Mayor Ed Koch is asked by Gonzo if he's seen a frog who can sing and dance, and jokingly replies, "If he can also balance the budget, I'll hire him."
48	** Creator/JohnLandis plays the producer who is approached by a disguised Kermit trying desperately to be hip, even wearing an afro.
49	* ChekhovsGunman:
50	** In a "Blink And You'll Miss It" moment, Ronnie Crawford can be seen during the TravellingSalesmanMontage.
51	** One of the cops who comes to arrest the con artists also reappears, when Piggy borrows his skates.
52	* ClingyJealousGirl: Piggy; somewhat understandable since she and Kermit are supposed to be getting married soon.
53	* ComicBookAdaptation: A 68-page comic adaptation of this movie was featured in the 32nd issue of ''Marvel Super Special'', which was subsequently reprinted as a three-issue miniseries by Creator/MarvelComics' now defunct subsidiary Star Comics.
54	* CreatorCameo:
55	** Jim Henson is the hansom cab driver who takes Kermit and Piggy on a ride through Central Park.
56	** Producer David Lazer is seen escorting Liza Minelli to her table at Sardi's.
57	** One of the board members that Kermit pitches Ocean Breeze to is Frank Oz.
58	* DarkerAndEdgier: It's still a comedy, but compared to the two previous Muppet movies, ''Film/TheMuppetMovie'' and ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper,'' this is more subdued and naturalistic, with much less over-the-top silliness and even a few darker undertones. This was, apparently, because ''The Great Muppet Caper,'' by far the craziest and least serious Muppet movie, hadn't done particularly well in the box office, so they toned the wackiness down for this one.
59	* DeadpanSnarker:
60	** Rizzo the Rat, here in his first major film role and seriously starting his career as the resident cynical wiseguy.
61	** Also, Floyd Pepper, as usual. Upon learning his waiter is a rat:
62	-->'''Rizzo:''' Okay, what'll you have?
63	-->'''Floyd:''' The number for the board of health.
64	* DeconReconSwitch: For ''Film/TheMuppetMovie''. In both films, the Muppets come to the big city expecting to become stars. Only this time, they find out it's not so simple as just showing up and asking, especially for a bunch of nobodies fresh out of college. Instead of giving them a contract, producer after producer rejects them, thinking ItWillNeverCatchOn, until the Muppets run out of money and end up taking less-than-stellar jobs. Afterwards, the movie shows that even though it's not easy, you can still make your dreams come true if you keep trying and find the right opening. The Empire State Building scene is basically Kermit's resolve to find the second half of this trope.
65	* DemotedToExtra: Sam Eagle, Crazy Harry, The Newsman, Pops, Bert, Ernie, and Cookie Monster who appear nowhere else in the movie until the wedding of Miss Piggy and Kermit. Unlike the other Muppets present however, they are the only few out of many to have lines of dialogue.
66	* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: A jealous Miss Piggy accuses Kermit of doing things with a "girl of the opposite gender."
67	* {{Determinator}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eozzCVBzMWY Kermit.]]
68	-->''(from atop the Empire State Building)'' I'm gonna sell that show, and we're all gonna be on Broadway! You hear me, New York?! We're gonna be on Broadway! Because... because...I'm not giving up! I'm still here and I'm staying! '''YOU HEAR THAT, NEW YORK?! I'M STAYING HERE! THE FROG IS STAYING!'''
69	* DiabolusExMachina: Kermit has ''finally'' managed to successfully sell ''Manhattan Melodies'' and is ready to tell his friends, only to be hit by a car and left with amnesia.
70	* DigitalDestruction: Of all the original Muppet movies, this one probably is the worst victim of it. The current version of the movie has far too much contrast, making the movie look incredibly dark (it's also odd in a scene where Kermit is at the top of the Empire State Building at night, and his tongue appears to be glowing), there are a number of cropping inconsistencies from widescreen to 4:3 from previous versions, slight music alterations, among others.
71	** The scene where Martin Price is exposed as Murray [[MeaningfulName Plotski]], there are two current edits, both of which remove almost all of Animals, "BAD MAN!" chants. Current TV broadcasts of the movie omit ''all'' of Animal's, "BAD MAN! BAD MAN!" chants, while the current DVD release (specifically, the one included with the Blu-ray) leaves at least Animal's first two, "Bad man!" as Martin/Murray tries to slip away from the cops.
72	* {{Dissimile}}: "Ocean Breeze Soap: It's just like taking an ocean cruise, only there's no boat and you don't actually go anywhere." Kermit instead suggests ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin, "Ocean Breeze Soap will get you clean." Brilliant!
73	* EarlyBirdCameo: In the scene where Kermit tells the assorted characters that they can all be in the show, check out the bear standing in the back of the group. That's [[Series/MuppetsTonight Bobo Bear]], although he wouldn't actually ''be'' Bobo for 12 more years.
74	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: For the Muppet Babies in Piggy's fantasy sequence compared to their portrayal in ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984.'' Apart from singing an elaborate doo-wop song, they're more baby-like here: they sometimes crawl instead of walking, the song's backup scatting includes the words [[BabyTalk "Mama, gaga.."]], Rowlf has ElmuhFuddSyndwome, Piggy sucks her thumb, and the nursery includes a diaper changing table. In the cartoon series, except for Animal, they're all fully verbal and ambulant, seeming more like preschoolers than babies despite the title. Nor do Animal or [[CanonForeigner Skeeter]] appear in Piggy's fantasy.
75	* EasyAmnesia: Happens to Kermit. After getting hit by a taxi, he remembers nothing. His reaction to news of his relationship with Miss Piggy is priceless. [[spoiler:Ironically this is what gets his memory back.]]
76	-->'''Kermit:''' With you? In love with a pig? Oh, wait 'til I tell the guys in marketing! Ha ha! Maybe you expect me to go HOG-wild? Maybe, perhaps you could bring home the BACON! Ahhh... the sounds of love, ''SU-EEEEE!'' Oink, oink!
77	-->'''Miss Piggy:''' Cancel the show! ''Hi-yah!''
78	* EightiesHair: Miss Piggy's perm, as seen in the page image.
79	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: "Phillip's" big success in advertising is creating mottos like this: "Ocean Breeze Soap will get you clean."
80	* FailureMontage: The "You Can't Take No For An Answer" song, during which the Kermit's group visiting a pleathora of Broadway producers and get rejected by each one.
81	* GallowsHumor: Right before they walk into Pete's, knowing they have no money to pay and will have to beg:
82	-->'''Kermit:''' Well, we've got to eat.
83	-->'''Gonzo:''' Why start now?
84	* GenreThrowback: Not the movie as a whole, but the song in the Muppet Babies number. As with a number of productions at the time, the song is a throwback to 1950s doo-wop.
85	* GetTheSensation
86	* GreasySpoon: Pete's Luncheonette.
87	* HashHouseLingo: "Two zeros on a trampoline with a side of Joan of Arc", which means 2 fried eggs on toast with steak fries.
88	* IceCreamKoan: Pete is always ready to give people advice and reassurance in troubling times, but nothing he says makes any sense.
89	* IntercontinuityCrossover: The cast of ''Series/SesameStreet'' show up in the audience of the Frog-Piggy wedding in ''[[ShowWithinAShow Manhattan Melodies]]''. In addition, Baby Rowlf has [[CelebrityParadox a Big Bird doll]].
90	** If you look closely, you can see [[Series/FraggleRock Uncle Travelling Matt]] in the audience (in the chapel) during the wedding scene.
91	* InterspeciesRomance: Pig and frog, of course, plus chicken and... whatever. Also, at one point:
92	-->'''Masterson Rat:''' Do you believe in interspecies dating?\
93	'''Brooke Shields:''' Well, I've gone out with some rats before if that's what you mean. ''[Masterson faints]''
94	** An amnesiac Kermit even lampshades the absurdity of a romance between a frog and a pig.
95	* JokeAndReceive: Pete does this in the scene where Kermit and the rats are applying for jobs.
96	-->'''Pete:''' Rats want job. Frog want job. What next, penguins?\
97	''(A group of penguins enters the room.)''\
98	'''Penguin:''' Do you have any jobs available?\
99	'''Pete, Kermit, and the rats:''' NO!
100	* KissingDiscretionShot: The final moment of the bridal couple kissing is concealed by Miss Piggy's head.
101	* LapPillow: At the end of the Muppet Babies fantasy sequence, Baby Piggy lies with her head in Baby Kermit's lap, sucking her thumb. CuttingBackToReality, the adult Piggy is revealed to be ActingOutADaydream with her head in Kermit's lap during their carriage ride, also sucking her thumb.
102	* LineOfSightAlias: Kermit does this, going by the name of "Phillip Phil" after an ad that says "Fill 'er up" because he doesn't know his real name when asked by the frogs in marketing.
103	* MetaphoricallyTrue: When Ronnie Crawford sees Kermit at the door to Bernard Crawford's office and Kermit asks for Mr. Crawford, Ronnie, not yet ready to reveal that he wrote the letter and signed his father's name, responds by saying that he is Mr. Crawford. Of course, he admits the truth a few seconds later.
104	* MinskyPickup: Janice plucks one out before the opening number as the gang shops around their show.
105	* NiceJobBreakingItHero: During Kermit’s whisper campaign plan, things look like they were going to work. Unfortunately, Rizzo and the other rats blew their own cover when they tried to sneak some of the food due to hunger. They get caught and wind up starting a panic in the restaurant.
106	* NoAntagonist: This is the only Muppet movie not to have any sort of central antagonist (the closest that comes along to any sort of villain is the con artist Dabney Coleman plays early on in the film, and even then he's mainly for a throwaway gag more than anything else), with the problem instead being all the trouble Kermit has to go through trying to sell his show. Disregarding Dabney, you've got the producers who all immediately reject the musical pitch, though they're under the belief that "Manhattan Melodies" [[ItWillNeverCatchOn just won't work out]] rather than deliberately trying to cause trouble for the gang.
107	* NoodleImplements: Some of the contents of Piggy's purse are... interesting.
108	* OurSloganIsTerrible: Kermit gets an Advertising job by cutting through the overly long and kinda-gross taglines of the soap the Advertising department is trying to use by simply stating what it does. [[TakeThat The advertising agency declares it brilliant and original - no one in advertising has done that before!]]
109	* OutOfFocus: With the exception of Kermit and Piggy, most of the Muppets are PutOnABus (literally, in some cases) fairly early and aside from some brief scenes devoted to them where Kermit's reading their mail they don't return until the last 25 minutes.
110	* PetTheDog: For someone as self-centered as she is, Miss Piggy has a rare early-movie moment of compassion when she asks Gonzo if Camilla's alright after the incident with the alleged producer.
111	* PluckyComicRelief: The rats, most notably Rizzo.
112	* PoorlyDisguisedPilot: The Muppet staff had been working on the Muppet Babies concept separate to the film, and Creator/JimHenson was eager to launch it as a franchise, so he talked Creator/FrankOz into including them in the film to give them exposure (the Babies had actually debuted a few months earlier in the ''Muppets'' ComicStrip).
113	* QuirkyGirlQuirkyTux: Janice wears a tux to Kermit and Piggy's wedding. While Janice has some feminine habits (the color pink, make-up, hats with flowers and peacock feathers) she's not as "froofy" as Piggy and expresses her offbeat nature by wearing a tux.
114	* RageBreakingPoint: [[FailureMontage After one too many failed attempts to sell their show]], the gang as one start asking Kermit how they should improve their act, causing the frog to snap:
115	-->'''Kermit:''' [[SuddenlyShouting I don't know! How should I know?!]] [[HoldingOutForAHero Why are you always asking me anyway?]] ''[[ArmorPiercingQuestion Can't you take care of yourselves?!]]'' [[NowWhat I... I don't know what to do next!]] [[BrutalHonesty We failed, okay! We tried and we failed.]]
116	* RealFakeWedding: At the end of the movie, Piggy and Kermit are supposed to get "married" at the climax of the big musical. Gonzo was supposed to play the minister, but Piggy replaces him with a real minister.
117	** The comic book adaptation has a scene where Miss Piggy asked Gonzo if he'd found a doctor to look at Kermit's amnesia, but Gonzo replies that he found a minister, with no hint that Miss Piggy asked for one.
118	* RetailTherapy: Miss Piggy is given a cheer-up makeover.
119	* SanitySlippage: Creator/JoanRivers and Piggy suffer one during the aforementioned RetailTherapy.
120	* SawStarWarsTwentySevenTimes: Lew Zealand has seen the InUniverse [=3D=] film ''Attack Of The Killer Fish'' ninety-seven times. His favorite part is when the fish attack, at which point he tosses boomerang fish around the movie theater to add to the excitement (the other moviegoers think it's AllPartOfTheShow).
121	* SevenMinuteLull: Reprising a joke from ''Film/TheGreatMuppetCaper'', when Miss Piggy gets everyone's attention after getting everyone back, Janice once again gets caught recounting some [[NoodleIncident vague past incident involving nudity]].
122	-->'''Janice''': "Look, buddy, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, [[ItsNotPornItsArt even if it is]] ''artistic''."
123	* ShoutOut:
124	** WordOfGod states that the entire movie is an {{Homage}} to the old Creator/JudyGarland[=/=]Mickey Rooney HeyLetsPutOnAShow films.
125	** [[Film/MidnightCowboy Rizzo]]. He was already named before this movie, but the New York setting highlights the reference.
126	* SmallRoleBigImpact: The Swedish Chef, Lew Zealand, Bunsen, Beaker, Beauregard, various bears, and Beth Bear who accompany Scooter, Dr. Teeth, and Fozzie respectively to New York.
127	* TheSongRemainsTheSame: In both of the Japanese dubs of the film, the songs remain in their original English versions with subtitles on screen.
128	* StealthPun: Rizzo the rat starts singing scat.
129	** One of the rats Rizzo brings is named "Masterson".[[note]]a pun on Western series Bat Masterson[[/note]] Another one is named "Tattooey".[[note]]ratatouille[[/note]]
130	* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: When the Muppets come to New York fresh out of college to pitch their musical for Broadway, they expect the producers to jump at the chance. But since they have no professional experience, and no one has heard of them, everyone turns them down. It takes months before Kermit even gets an offer, and even then, he just got lucky because the producer just happened to be looking for that kind of show.
131	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial:
132	-->'''Kermit:''' Piggy? I thought Gonzo was going to play the minister.
133	-->''(Piggy's only response: a guilty, nervous chuckle.)''
134	* TakeMeInstead: Gonzo's plea when a villain has grabbed Camilla. And he takes them ''both'' instead.
135	* TrainStationGoodbye: Piggy has one with Kermit when she leaves.
136	* TravellingSalesmanMontage: It's really no surprise that it fails, however. You can't have twenty pairs of eyes staring through a cafeteria window ''watching someone take a bite out of a sandwich'' and expect that you're going to endear yourself to that person.
137	* {{Understatement}}
138	--> '''Rowlf:''' [Getting the show on Broadway] is turning out to be tougher than we thought.
139	** Said after a whole ''montage'' of the Muppets' Broadway musical being rejected by producer after producer after producer (slamming door after door after door in their faces)!
140	* TheUnintelligible: Pete, sort of. His analogy that the city is not a single entity, but a sum of its components: the people living and working in it. It could be considered profound if he were a bit more clear.
141	-->'''Pete:''' Hey, I tell you what is. Big city, hmm? Live, work, huh? But, not city open. Only peoples. Peoples is peoples. No is buildings. Is tomatoes, huh? Is peoples, is dancing, is music, is potatoes. So, peoples is peoples. Okay?
142	-->'''Kermit:''' ''(blankly)'' Uh, yeah.
143	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Kermit's nurse points out it was unusual that Kermit was found wearing no clothing, seemingly unable to notice that Kermit is a frog. And while she seems to find it odd that he wasn't wearing any clothing, she doesn't judge him harshly and just assumes that he's a nudist who somehow lost his memory.
144	* WeddingFinale: The film ends with Kermit and Miss Piggy walking down the aisle together. Kermit had assumed it was just a fake [[NoFourthWall staged for the film]], but Piggy swapped Gonzo for a real minister behind his back. WordOfGod has it that the subsequent argument over whether or not the ceremony counted was why frog and pig are estranged at the start of ''Film/TheMuppets2011''.
145	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: In-universe: Miss Piggy wonders what it would be like if they've known each other since they were babies. Cue PoorlyDisguisedPilot for ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies1984''.
146	* WhosWatchingTheStore: They must have closed Pete's for the musical, because everyone is there.
147	* {{Yandere}}: Miss Piggy more than ever. She reacts violently to Jenny hugging Kermit while she spies on him, not knowing Kermit and Jenny are JustFriends.

Context Film / TheMuppetsTakeManhattan