YMMV / The Muppet Movie

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • This article posits that Doc Hopper isn't a Jerk with a Heart of Jerk so much as someone intended to be dark reflection of the Muppets and especially a Foil to Kermit. It notes that he has several of the same characteristics that the Muppets have and that ultimately he does briefly consider a better way before recognizing his own dream won't allow him close friends like Kermit has.
    • Basically, was he really not moved by Kermit's speech, or was he, but felt that he's come too far?
• And You Thought It Would Fail: Despite the success of The Muppet Show, there was a lot of hesitation early on over whether or not The Muppets' success on television would translate to success on the big screen. Given that the film would be released to widespread critical acclaim, become a box office hit at $65.2 million and amongst the top ten highest grossing films in 1979, get nominated for several awards (some of which it won, like the Grammy Award for best recording for children and the Saturn award for best fantasy film), and would go on to spawn a series of Muppet films, it's safe to say The Muppets' success translated well into film.
• Award Snub: "Rainbow Connection" lost the Academy Award for Best Original Song to the now-virtually-forgotten "It Goes Like It Goes" from Norma Rae.^note Which did indeed deserve quite a few awards, but "Best Song" was not among them. That's an even bigger snub than it appears because the Academy used to choose ten songs as finalists for Original Song, before announcing the nominations (1979 was the last year for that, but the Academy has revived the shortlist concept for songs in recent years). The Muppet Movie had four of the ten finalists ("Rainbow Connection", "Movin' Right Along", "Never Before, Never Again" and "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along") and still walked away empty-handed.
• Awesome Music:
  • Paul Williams' score is packed with this.
  • "Rainbow Connection" will hit you as either Narmtastic or one of the most inspiring songs you've ever heard. Or both.
  • "Moving Right Along" is an upbeat and humorous duet between Kermit and Fozzie that is perfect for any road-trip.
  • Gonzo's song, I'm Gonna Go Back There Someday is one of the movie's most beautiful and emotional tracks and it is surely gonna make you shed a tear or two. Dave Goelz' performance at Jim Henson's Memorial is even more of a Tear Jerker.
• Broken Base: "Rainbow Connection". While many will still agree it's a great song, a number of fans have gotten tired of the song's over-exposure in Muppet appearances during the 2010s (which renders the line "I've heard it too many times to ignore it" very ironic).
  • Even Brian Henson, Jim's son, was reported to have been heard saying, "I hate that f**king song" when it was performed by the Muppets at the Hollywood Bowl in 2017 (a sentiment which Brian denies ever expressing).
• First Installment Wins:
  • The Muppet features that followed have their fans and are certainly beloved in their own right, and while The Muppet Christmas Carol and The Muppets (2011) are often considered serious contenders, the one that started it all is almost universally considered the best.
  • Fans who are tired of "Rainbow Connection" being over-exposed (see Broken Base and Hype Backlash) tend to like it fine in this film, some preferring Kermit's version in the opening scene the best. On the other hand, while it's technically not the first scene (that would be the screening room scenes), Kermit playing a banjo while sitting on a log in the swamp is one of the most iconic images from any Muppet movie, with merchandise representing the scene.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Kermit imagines thousands of other frogs going around with tiny crutches. Real-life wild frog populations have suffered a decimating rash of leg deformities in the years since the film was made, some from pollution and others from natural parasites or predators.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight: This behind-the-scenes picture of Steve Whitmire goofing around with a Kermit puppet.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • It only took 40 years, but Western stars are finally making it big in Bollywood, making this exchange that much funnier.
  Gonzo: I always wanted to go to Bombay, India, and become a movie star.
  Fozzie: You don't go to Bombay to become a movie star. You go where we're going, Hollywood!
  Gonzo: Sure, if you want to do it the easy way.
  Fozzie: We've picked up a weirdo.
  • A draft of the script had a running gag in which Henry Kissinger keeps showing up wanting to be in the movie, only to be rejected each time. The running gag would not make it to the finished film (and was likely dropped before filming).
  • Kermit's reasoning for not doing the frog leg ad is because he can imagine frogs with tiny crutches. Years later, his nephew Robin plays the crutch-toting Tiny Tim in The Muppet Christmas Carol.
  • Kermit and Fozzie encounter Big Bird during their trip and offer him a ride, but he declines in favor of walking to New York. Just six years later, Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird would have Big Bird heading for New York by foot as the plot, but for different reasons (in 1979, he's trying to break into television; in 1985, he's trying to return after a disastrous adoption).
  • Be honest, how many of you already guessed Gonzo's origins (he's an alien) just by listening to him sing this song? In fact, the song was to have been featured in Muppets from Space and made it as far as a new recording that was ultimately relegated to the soundtrack album.
  • All the lengths Doc Hopper goes to to try and capture Kermit become this in It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie where, in the world where Kermit was never born, Doc Hopper's Frog Legs Restaurant has become an extremely popular franchise without Kermit's aid.
  • "Who said that every wish would be heard and answered when wished on a morning star?" The company that will soon own you did, Kermit.
• Hype Backlash: Song example. While "Rainbow Connection" is still largely considered to be a great song, as aforementioned, many Muppet fans have become sick of how acclaimed, popular and exposed it is in contrast to the movie's other songs and even Muppet songs in general.
• Moral Event Horizon: Crossed by Doc Hopper during the climax. "All right, boys... kill 'im."
  • Jim Henson actually wanted Hopper to be redeemed at the end, but Oz overruled him.
• Older Than They Think: The use of famous actors in small roles here is quite reminiscent of the 1965 Black Comedy The Loved One. In fact, James Coburn, Milton Berle and Paul Williams appear in both films.
• Once Original, Now Common:
  • Many of the jokes and wackiness have been copied by countless followers (both Gremlins 2: The New Batch and The Spongebob Squarepants Movie have done meta gags about their films being watched in theaters, for example) that, to anyone watching the film for the first time, it might seem less remarkable.
  • This film was the first time a Muppets production had been filmed on location instead of being filmed on a soundstage like The Muppet Show, so seeing the Muppets interacting with real places outside of the confines of the Muppet theatre was incredibly novel back in 1979. Nowadays, given that almost every Muppet production following this film has been filmed on location to some extent, the novelty of seeing them in real life locations here is lost.
• One-Scene Wonder: Numerous examples (Steve Martin's waiter, Mel Brooks' Krassman, Big Bird's big bird, etc.) but the highlight is Orson Welles' cameo as Lew Lord, who's not only in just one scene but has exactly one line, yet manages to be one of the most memorable characters in the film.
• Retroactive Recognition:
  • Of the Muppeteer sort: one behind-the-scenes photo sees Brian Henson, son of Jim, assisting Frank Oz in performing Fozzie Bear in the Studebaker.
  • A then-newly hired Steve Whitmire has a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo at the Bogen County Fair standing behind Kermit and Fozzie when Piggy's eyes zooms in on Kermit.
  • During the "Rainbow Connection Finale", animator Earl Kress and director Tim Burton perform Ernie and Sam Eagle, respectively. On that note, John Landis, an already established director, performed Grover in that same scene.
• Signature Scene:
  • The opening scene with Kermit in the swamp, playing the banjo, and singing the song "Rainbow Connection".
  • The entirety of the "Movin' Right Along" number with Kermit and Fozzie driving through various places throughout North America.
  • The final scene of the movie that ends with a crowd shot of nearly every Muppet that had been created up to that point.
• So Bad, It's Good: Doc Hopper's ad.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: "Someday, we'll find it/The rainbow connection/The lovers, the dreamers/And me..."
• Unintentional Period Piece: The “Have you tried Hare Krishna?” Running Gag was a lot funnier when this movie was first released in the late '70s, which was when the organization was at the height of notoriety, mainly for their aggressive recruitment tactics, such as preaching to people at airports. People these days are more likely familiar with them by the fact that George Harrison was a member, or ironically, from jokes this movie and others from the same period make about them.
• Visual Effects of Awesome:
  • Kermit riding a bike near the beginning. Don't wonder how they did it, just accept it. According to Frank Oz, the effect was relatively easy to do,^note Essentially, the Kermit riding the bike was a marionette, with the bike pulled along by an invisible wire compared to the monstrous effort required to get Gonzo to float along on his balloons. But since the bike was the effect everyone kept gawking over, they included an entire parade of Muppets on bikes in the next movie. Just because, and the fact that it was a much simpler feat of puppetry: the characters' bicycles are simply sharing axles so they can stand together.
  • Kermit in the swamp, which was created by the 6'1" Jim Henson cramming himself into a diving bell for a whole day.
• What Do You Mean, It's Not for Kids?: While it's by no means too vulgar or inappropriate for children or families, it's otherwise meant to be viewed as any other Hollywood feature which just happens to star puppets (indeed, Jim Henson himself always saw the Muppets as more adult or all-ages rather than just for children). As such, it was not an easy pitch to sell.

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