As a Fridge subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.
Fridge Brilliance
- Maybe that is a way of showing that they were actually just a dollar short. Fozzie didn't fix the display, he actually broke it.
- For the first time ever, a possible origin for where Muppets come from is given in the form of Walter: Walter is never implied to be adopted or anything other than Gary's actual biological brother. The implication? Muppets are biological anomalies, born to the normal versions of whatever species they resemble, but fully sentient and, well, obviously deformed. This is why they are sometimes still subject to persecution, threats to their life, etc. based on their species (Doc Hopper, the numerous instances of Muppet cannibalism). Some are more obviously members of their original species (Bobo and Fozzie are both bears, but the former actually LOOKS like one), and this can sometimes be traumatic (in addition to Walter's ongoing "man or Muppet" angst in the new movie, this could also explain Piggy's obsession with beauty, fame, and glamour, considering she would've LITERALLY been raised in a barn and be originally intended for the butcher shop, thus prompting her to pull a Wilbur to try and keep from ending up someone's dinner). This just leaves the question of where the Muppet monsters come from...
- The quick gag with Wayne and Wanda making out when the power goes down seems like a standard, fairly amusing stock gag...until you remember that Sam the Eagle was always trying to promote their act as the last bastion of class, integrity, and decency. Then it becomes a Funny Moment.
- 80s Robot announced when Tex Richman backed the car into the phone pole that he was contacting the authorities. So while it looked like getting hit by Gonzo's bowling ball is what made him sign the rights back over, it was the fact that he was revealed to have been sabotaging the telethon for his own gain. So even if his head injury wasn't involved, his lawyers would've had to have cut a deal to keep him out of jail and the story out of the papers.
- The film opens with the Paul Simon song "Me and Julio Down by the School Yard." It seems out of place but it's subtle foreshadowing, The song has a whistling solo, which is what Walter did for his talent on the telethon.
- At first, it seemed silly that the Muppets couldn't get a guest celebrity to host the show and raise the money, given how many celebrities cameoed in the movie. No one said no to being in that movie! In reality, the Muppets are loved by all because of how funny and fantastic they are. It's not about the money; it's about that love that we've had for years and years, the love that had so many famous actors get into ridiculous cameo spots on-camera, just to be with the Muppets.
- There are celebrity Muppet fans who could finance/host the show, but they're all modern. Kermit doesn't know any of them because he hasn't been keeping up.
- Why didn't someone throw a dollar bill on stage?
- Walter has a point when he says, "Mary, it's Kermit the Frog!" An electric fence doesn't seem like something Kermit would have. But when you keep in mind that Piggy actually had the house built, as is revealed in a later conversation, it makes perfect sense.
- Tex's inability to laugh is the result of malfunctions he's always had. That bowling ball didn't inflict any brain damage, it repaired it. When you think about this, it makes Tex seem LESS of a Karma Houdini as he figures out that there was something wrong with him the whole time, not the muppets. The repairs to his head cause him to see the error of his ways. One is not a Karma Houdini when they realize the errors of their ways and actively try to make amends for them (so long as they did not go too far).
- The Irony in "Party of One" being a duet.
- Camilla and the chickens singing "Fuck You" is just a neat Parental Bonus, right? Listen to the song again. It's all about being passed over because you've got no money. Camilla chose it for its thematic appropriateness!
- You'd think that serious drama between a puppet frog and pig would be alarmingly inconsistent with the bright humor they are remembered for. ... but just watch the Loretta Swit episode of The Muppet Show, and tell me the break-up in this movie seems out-of-place! Kermit and Piggy CAN FIGHT, and fight very effectively too! A break-up is more plausible than you realize.
- So, one of the only things that sort of disappoint me about the film is the fact that Rizzo and Gonzo do not interact at ALL during the film. Until I remembered that it's pretty heavily implied that The Muppets Take Manhattan was the last Muppets project in the alternate universe it takes place in. Gonzo and Rizzo aren't best friends here because The Muppet Christmas Carol was never made.
- From the moment Kermit announces the beginning of the Muppet Telethon to the end of the film is approximately 22 minutes, includes every Couch Gag from the old show's intro, and takes place in or immediately around the Muppet Theater. The plot of the movie is present in microcosm, and makes sense in the context of this final act. 30 years later and nearly at the movie's end, the filmmakers give the audience the gift of a brand new episode of The Muppet Show.
- In the 70s, Fozzie's idea of comedy was twenty or thirty years out of date... and it's still twenty or thirty years out of date! (Think back - it was the era of Roseanne Barr, Howard Stern, Ren & Stimpy...)
- More Fridge Brilliance for the Muppets in general, but: the changes some Muppets have undergone through the decades makes perfect sense.
- Miss Piggy's hairstyle is always in style for the decade. On the original show, which aired in the 1970s, her hair is straight, dark-blond, and natural-looking. In the '80s, it's large and curly. In the 90s, it's straight, platinum blonde, and layered. As for the subtle differences in her facial structure, well, if anyone from the Muppets would be open to the idea of plastic surgery, it would be Miss Piggy.
- Gonzo simply seems to grow up. He starts off on The Muppet Show with a smaller body, larger eyes, a higher voice and a more spazzy, one-dimensional personality. He eventually becomes larger in size, his eyes shrink, and his voice lowers. He begins to show great intelligence and common sense (his strange hobbies notwithstanding), and is able to put a lid on his weirdness when it's time to act professional.
- Directly invoked with Fozzie's gray eyebrows in the two newest movies, perhaps to explain his noticeably different voice.
- Pepe's accent is more subtle than when he first debuted on Muppets Tonight. Of course it is; he's had years to improve his English.
- The line from Kermit that precipitates Animal joining in the song on his drums: "It's something that I'm supposed to be..." Animal is supposed to be a drummer! Works doubly well with the preceding line: "I've heard it too many times to ignore it..." as Animal has freaked out many times during the movie when somebody says his trigger word, "drum" - each time he heard that word he was being tempted to return to his old life of frenzied drumming which he'd since abandoned for inner peace. Kermit's line doesn't simply apply to Animal, but to the Muppet family as a whole! The nature of that continuous shot says it all: with this final act of Animal returning to his role as the Muppets' drummer, the 3 decades of decay to the troupe is finally, completely, repaired - we zoom out to see that the Muppet family is complete once again, performing on their stage before a packed house. They are, once again, what they're supposed to be. Top this off with a touching moment where Kermit secures a commitment from Miss Piggy to remain with him - and the team - indefinitely.
- Walter's amazing whistling ability is foreshadowed by his prolonged scream when he found out that the Muppet Theater was going to be torn down.
- Mixed with Fridge Tearjerker, at the beginning, one of the tourists asks if the rundown Muppet Studio is Universal Studios. The tour guide downheartedly says it is. He knows that if he said otherwise, the tourist (and her husband) would leave.
- Each Muppet being met seems to reflect how Kermit first met the gang in the original movie, or reflect their origins
- Fozzie: In the original film, Fozzie was working as a stand-up comedian in a local tavern. Here, Fozzie is working as a side-act to the Moopets in a regional tavern.
- Gonzo and Camilla: When Kermit and Fozzie first meet the two, Gonzo was starting to begin his short-lived career as a plumber. When he is met by Kermit, Fozzie, Walter, Mary, and Gary, Gonzo is now the head of a successful plumbing company with Camilla as his assistant.
- Rowlf: Although not one to the original movie, Rowlf's brief appearance in the montage sleeping in a hammock on a ranch seems to reflect his first appearance on the Jimmy Dean Show. This is also present in the 2015 series has Rowlf still has a picture of Jimmy in his tavern.
- Piggy: When she first met Kermit, she ha just won a fashion contest and was smitten by Kermit. When they finally reunite in Paris, she is now part of a fashion company and is frustrated with Kermit.
- Structurally, the head of the Walter puppet is built very much like the head of early versions of the Kermit puppet. Walter, in this film, takes over Kermit's role from the original film as the naive young viewpoint-character who means well and is determined to see his dream come true.
Fridge Horror
- Fridge Horror: Muppet Man. Fozzie gets the idea for them to steal the outfit of a tall Frenchman in order to see Miss Piggy. All well and funny, until you realize you have no idea what happened that man if the Muppets stole his clothes! They never show him naked and comically running away! What if they had to beat him up or knock him out?? Kermit seems fine with it too! This is the same Kermit who was vocally against kidnapping a celebrity!
- Swedish Chef roasts the fridge full of food that had become sentient. Did he really just burn to death a bunch of... singing food beings? I thought this was supposed to be a kids movie!!
- After the screen calculating the donations is corrected, it may take a while for you to realize that the family we first saw who donated actually only gave twenty-five cents.
- $10 million is a lot, but it isn't that much. Why wouldn't the Muppets' many celebrity friends, most of whom are rich and in one case (James Carville) politically connected, be able to raise that simply by themselves donating and getting some of their celebrity/politician friends to pitch in? (The real reason, of course, is that it wouldn't be a movie, then.)
- For that matter, why wasn't Gonzo, the world's biggest plumbing magnate, able to liquidate $10 million in assets from his company?
- Fridge Logic: They got Honeydew and Beaker in the montage from the CERN facility somewhere between Switzerland and France... why did they make such a big deal about going to Miss Piggy in Paris?
- To be honest, the entire concept of the film is just one big Mind Screw, as its sole purpose was, in fact to do for the Muppets in real life the exact thing they were trying to do in the movie. Mission accomplished.
- So, The Muppets have severely declined in popularity, and this (combined with their location in Reno) implies that The Moopets aren't particularly successful as a tribute group. Which means the only logical reason they would be a tribute group is out of respect and goodwill towards The Muppets. So... why exactly do they disrespect the only actual Muppet they know, and help the person attempting to totally bulldoze their legacy, exactly?
- Could be they started up while the Muppets were still popular, and tried to ride that wave of fame. Once the Muppets went under and the Moopets became the only singing puppet game in town, their popularity went up by just enough of a bump that they don't want to be shunted into the background again.
- The point ends up moot, but when they (and everyone else) think they are one dollar short of their goal, no one in the theater happens to have a dollar to spare?
- Subverted in the novelization: After Walter’s whistling act, Statler decides to donate the last dollar, only for it to blow out the window.
