YMMV / Tales from Muppetland: The Frog Prince

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Is Sweetums really a mean ogre, or is he magically under Taminella's control? He's seen in the crowd at the end, and doesn't seem so intimidating there, did Robin's defeat of him make him nicer or did Taminella also have him under a spell that broke after the climax?
  • After Sweetums woke up after being tricked into letting Robin go, did he realize he was tricked, or did he think Taminella really did tell him to "let frog go" but wanted to eat Robin so badly, possibly even turning against her?
  • Did Taminella just put Melora in a backwards-talking spell to keep her from telling King Rupert the truth about her, or was it always part of a plan to eventually be crowned Queen instead (and maybe even purposely let Melora find out so at first she'll think it's just to keep her from telling before later getting her hopes up)?
  • King Rupert wanted to talk with Taminella about the coronation (and Taminella also wanted to talk with him about it), during which time they decided Melora should not rule the kingdom when she can't be understood. Did Taminella convince him to let her be the Queen, or did he actually have that in mind and ask her to be the Queen instead?
• Angst? What Angst?: In the flashback, Sweetums decides he wants to have Robin for breakfast, but he seems to take it well when he immediately escapes. Rather than chase after him as he hops away, Sweetums just stands there and waves goodbye in a sad tone.
• Growing the Beard:
  • Jim Henson felt this special marked the point where Kermit the Frog was finally a fully-developed character. Henson sometimes mistakenly said this was the first time Kermit was identified as a frog (that was actually around 1965), but Kermit as portrayed here is no longer the Deadpan Snarker hipster or Slapstick Comedy foil of previous years. He's now recognizably the intelligent, good-natured, mild-mannered Everyfrog that became so familiar.
  • Muppet fans have also said this special was a big turning point in the history of the Muppet franchise. After the more overtly comedic Hey Cinderella!, The Frog Prince used more serious storytelling, along with whimsical moments and good production values, with the mix of humor and heart that would become the Henson trademark. Especially, Jerry Nelson's performance as Robin is praised as an early example of a Muppet with great emotional depth and complexity.
• Hilarious in Hindsight: Sir Robin the Brave
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Have a popover, froggy!"
  • "Stay asleep, and let frog go."
• Retroactive Recognition: Gordon Thomson (the human Sir Robin) went on to play the villainous Adam Carrington in the original run of Dynasty1981. Trudy Young (Princess Melora) co-starred in the Cult Classic 1971 "Canadian hockey romance film" Face-Off as a hippie rock singer who strikes up a romance with a hockey star (a film that was later parodied on SCTV as Power Play).

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