History Trivia / TheMuppetMovie

* LoopingLines: Sam's line to Kermit at the beginning of the film asking if it had any "Socially redeeming values" which was already pre-rerecorded due to Oz being busy performing Piggy for the screening room scene, had to be redone after the scene was filmed due to an unplanned blooper of Sam getting a paper plane stuck in his wing, to which the ADR'd version added him reacting to it with a gasp.

* TroubledProduction: Downplayed, with most of the problems stemming from its then-rare StarringSpecialEffects nature.
** Despite the phenomenal success of ''The Muppet Show'', it was not easy to get financing for a movie that was to feature puppet characters as the leads, especially in a decade when most A-list films were aimed strictly at adult audiences, leaving Disney and independent outfits to pick up the slack of films appropriate for children/families with modest-to-low-budget (and mostly critically-disregarded) productions. In the end U.K. company Creator/ITCEntertainment, which backed ''The Muppet Show'' in the first place, bankrolled the film, which was released through Associated Film Distribution, which was formed to release ITC and EMI's movies State-side (see CreatorKiller for what happened to them).

* InMemoriam: The movie is "dedicated to the memory and magic of Creator/EdgarBergen", who had died shortly after filming his cameo appearance in 1978, and who was a major influence on Jim's early work. (Bergen, with his dummies Charlie [=McCarthy=] and Mortimer Snerd, also appeared as guests on''Series/TheMuppetShow'' prior to the film.)

** The rainbow during the iconic finale shot was originally to appear on-set during filming via a scrim sheet (as mentioned above, and evidenced by some behind the scenes and publicity photos of the scene). However, it was decided to remove it entirely and add the rainbow in post because they thought the scrim muted the colors of the Muppets too much.

** "Never Before, Never Again" was originally supposed to have been sung by Music/JohnnyMathis. After Mathis recorded the song, Jim Henson figured it would be much funnier if Miss Piggy sang it. But Mathis' version of the song wouldn't go to waste -- it was featured in the television special ''The Muppets Go Hollywood''.

** One of the biggest one to note is the recurring appearance of '''Henry Kissinger''', whose entire schtick is that he's not cast in the film, not even for the Framing Device. HilariousInHindsight again?

** Director [[Series/TheMonkees James Frawley]] had no prior Muppet experience; Henson and co. hired him because he ''did'' have feature film experience and they were new to that particular medium, but it did mean that he was an outsider to the tight-knit group and this led to on-set disagreements and tension. Austin Pendleton, who as Max was one of only two actors around for a significant chunk of the shoot (the other being Charles Durning as Doc Hopper), [[http://www.avclub.com/article/austin-pendleton-31009 didn't find it a happy experience]] as a result (save for working with Durning).

** Despite the phenomenal success of ''The Muppet Show'', it was not easy to get financing for a movie that was to feature puppet characters as the leads, especially in a decade when most A-list films were aimed strictly at adult audiences, leaving Disney and independent outfits to pick up the slack of films appropriate for children/families with modest-to-low-budget, mostly critically-disregarded productions. In the end U.K. company Creator/ITCEntertainment, which backed ''The Muppet Show'' in the first place, bankrolled the film, which was released through Associated Film Distribution, which was formed to release ITC and EMI's movies State-side (see CreatorKiller for what happened to them).

* ThrowItIn: Kermit's response to Sam getting a paper airplane stuck in his wing ("I'm sorry about that") during the opening scene in the screening room was ad-libbed by Jim due to the aforementioned action being an unplanned blooper that was left in the final film.

** Creator/{{Universal}}, which owns the theatrical distribution rights to AFD's library, partnered up with The Jim Henson Company for the film's 40th anniversary for a limited re-release that July.

** Creator/{{Universal}}, who owns the theatrical rights to AFD's library, partnered up with The Jim Henson Company for the film's 40th anniversary for a limited re-release that July.

** The film was produced by Creator/ITCEntertainment and released through its then-new US distribution arm, Associated Film Distribution. Its original UsefulNotes/{{home video|distributors}} release came from Magnetic Video in 1980. Due to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox buying Magnetic Video and the reorganization of that unit, the next home release was from CBS/Fox Video. Then, in 1993, it was released by Jim Henson Video through Creator/{{Disney}}, then in 1999 by Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Video, who also handled the first DVD of the film in 2001, and finally, back to Disney in 2005 after they recently brought the Muppets, this time through their own label.

** The film was produced by Creator/ITCEntertainment, and went through its then-new US distribution arm, Associated Film Distribution. Its original UsefulNotes/{{home video|distributors}} release came from Magnetic Video in 1980. Due to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox buying Magnetic Video and the reorganization of that unit, the next home release was from CBS/Fox Video. Then, in 1993, it was released by Jim Henson Video through Creator/{{Disney}}, then in 1999 by Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Video, who also handled the first DVD of the film in 2001, and finally, back to Disney in 2005 after they recently brought the Muppets, this time through their own label.

** The film was produced by Creator/ITCEntertainment, and went through its then-new American distribution arm, Associated Film Distribution. Its original UsefulNotes/{{home video|distributors}} release came from Magnetic Video in 1980. Due to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox buying Magnetic Video and the reorganization of that unit, the next home release was from CBS/Fox Video. Then, in 1993, it was released by Jim Henson Video through Creator/{{Disney}}, then in 1999 by Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Video, who also handled the first DVD of the film in 2001, and finally, back to Disney in 2005 after they recently brought the Muppets, this time through their own label.

** The film was produced by Creator/ITCEntertainment, and went through its' then-new American distribution firm, Associated Film Distribution. Its original UsefulNotes/{{home video|distributors}} release came from Magnetic Video in 1980. Due to Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox buying Magnetic Video and the reorganization of that unit, the next home release was from CBS/Fox Video. Then, in 1993, it was released by Jim Henson Video through Creator/{{Disney}}, then in 1999 by Columbia [=TriStar=] Home Video, who also handled the first DVD of the film in 2001, and finally, back to Disney in 2005 after they recently brought the Muppets, this time through their own label.