Musical Mondays Week 26 The Muppet Movie

[Cameron H. 23786]

“Life’s like a movie, write your own ending?” In that case, my life’s going to have a post-credits scene where Sam Jackson recruits me for The Avengers.

 

We watched...

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

So I just watched this for the first time and I noticed much like other good "children's" movies there are lots of jokes just for the grownups watching.

 

So my question is this, was there a joke/line/reference that you got on this rewatching that was over your on your first watch through?

[Cameron H. 23786]

So I just watched this for the first time and I noticed much like other good "children's" movies there are lots of jokes just for the grownups watching.

 

So my question is this, was there a joke/line/reference that you got on this rewatching that was over your on your first watch through?

 

I...didn’t catch any. Do you have an example?

[grudlian. 4725]

An example for me would be something like smelling the bottle cap. As a kid, I'm sure I didn't understand it or just laughed at the idea of smelling a bottle cap. Now I get the joke is that it's wine with a bottle cap instead of a cork.

 

But certainly all the cameos went over my head as a kid except maybe Richard Pryor or Steve Martin.

[grudlian. 4725]

God bless Jim Henson. The world is darker without you in it.

 

Maybe my favorite scene in movie history is Kermit riding a bike. I know Kermit rode a bike earlier in Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas (which, I think everyone should check out if you haven't seen it). I know the whole muppet gang rides bikes in The Great Muppet Caper. I even know Frank Oz lamented that Gonzo on the balloon was way more complicated to film and all people want to know about is kermit on a bike.

 

Well, Kermit riding a bike blows my fucking mind every time I see it. I've read how they planned to do it and how they eventually did it. But all I see is a frog riding a bicycle and I'm never going to see anything else.

 

Maybe this is veering to close to the old "CG is ruining movies" trope. Not since the T-1000 have I watched something that truly, completely blew me away. Instead of wondering how it was done, I always assume it's just a computer. Not to take anything away from the special effects artists working on computers, but "I bet it took a team of people a month to animate that scene" doesn't leave the impact that "KERMIT IS RIDING A BIKE!!!!" does.

 

So, Kermit riding a bicycle is, for me, the last piece of real, honest to god movie magic.

[Cam Bert 8145]

I...didn’t catch any. Do you have an example?

Well one thing was the the bit about being lost and trying hare krishna I'm sure would have been lost of most kids. Not necessarily adult as blue in nature but just a topic or a reference that was slightly lost on a younger you. A lot of the cameos while funny scenes are enhanced with knowledge who the people are like Orson Wells or Bob Hope.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

God bless Jim Henson. The world is darker without you in it.

 

Maybe my favorite scene in movie history is Kermit riding a bike. I know Kermit rode a bike earlier in Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas (which, I think everyone should check out if you haven't seen it). I know the whole muppet gang rides bikes in The Great Muppet Caper. I even know Frank Oz lamented that Gonzo on the balloon was way more complicated to film and all people want to know about is kermit on a bike.

 

Well, Kermit riding a bike blows my fucking mind every time I see it. I've read how they planned to do it and how they eventually did it. But all I see is a frog riding a bicycle and I'm never going to see anything else.

 

Maybe this is veering to close to the old "CG is ruining movies" trope. Not since the T-1000 have I watched something that truly, completely blew me away. Instead of wondering how it was done, I always assume it's just a computer. Not to take anything away from the special effects artists working on computers, but "I bet it took a team of people a month to animate that scene" doesn't leave the impact that "KERMIT IS RIDING A BIKE!!!!" does.

 

So, Kermit riding a bicycle is, for me, the last piece of real, honest to god movie magic.

I remember that as well. I'd heard about it before seeing the movie but actually seeing it on the big screen was mind-blowing. I know I saw a lot of Disney films as a kid and religious films at a church-run drive-in theater but The Muppet Movie may be the first one that really stuck with me.

[SaraK 1980]

Something about seeing Muppets with their legs weirds me out. I don't know if they're just normally shot waist high (I assume so) but Miss Piggy's legs freaked me out.

 

Also, in a world in which there are talking frogs apparently everywhere - if they're holding auditions, I assume this is the case - isn't having a restaurant they serve frog legs at akin to murdering people?

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I carry a jar of flies with me to the used car lot in case I can do the $11.95 trick.

 

Related

[tomspanks 9039]

I started watching the movie yesterday and I found out that in Spain, The Muppets are called Los Teleñecos. Miss Piggy is Peggy. Kermit is Gustavo (he is Rene in Latin America). That's loco.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Something about seeing Muppets with their legs weirds me out. I don't know if they're just normally shot waist high (I assume so) but Miss Piggy's legs freaked me out.

I am always uncomfortable when Fozzie takes his hat off. The pointedness of his head is just so off putting.

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

I am always uncomfortable when Fozzie takes his hat off. The pointedness of his head is just so off putting.

Just put these on whenever that happens.

[SaraK 1980]

I carry a jar of flies with me to the used car lot in case I can do the $11.95 trick.

 

Related

 

This reminds me how sad I felt for the giant muppet that got left behind. I was glad he showed up at the end but I was really bummed he didn't find them before then.

[kateacola 2440]

I am always uncomfortable when Fozzie takes his hat off. The pointedness of his head is just so off putting.

I feel the same way. This would bother me in Hey Arnold with Grandpa--he had a weird point on his head.

 

 

Think Fozzie and Grandpa's heads bothered me because in cartoons when characters would get hit in the head and get a big pointy bump. And then usually they'd hit the bump again or push it down to go away.

 

I think it bothers me cause I want them to push on their pointy heads to get rid of the bump, lol.

[DanEngler 5249]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci9gPZnqiGY

Since (I assume) most of you watched the movie digitally, check out this camera test footage from the "Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition" DVD. Henson & co. were great even when they were just goofing around.

[Cameron H. 23786]

What was everyone's favorite song? I think they'r all great, but I'm giving the edge to:

 

[Cinco DeNio 5290]

What was everyone's favorite song? I think they'r all great, but I'm giving the edge to:

For years I had the poster of Fozzie and Kermit singing Movin' Right Along on my wall.

 

However, this was mine because it spoke to me when things were down. I especially love the line "A skunk was badgered. The results were strong."

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[Cinco DeNio 5290]

For years I had the poster of Fozzie and Kermit singing Movin' Right Along on my wall.

 

However, this was mine because it spoke to me when things were down. I especially love the line "A skunk was badgered. The results were strong."

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Speaking of the parts that flew over our head, the line "I'm no Heifetz but I get by." just hit me. Jascha Heifetz was a violinist. Were there no famous pianists (Cliburn, Horowitz, just to name two) they thought people would get?

[kateacola 2440]

What was everyone's favorite song? I think they'r all great, but I'm giving the edge to:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoKFBjd5-F8

Rainbow Connection always gets me in the feels.

[SaraK 1980]

For years I had the poster of Fozzie and Kermit singing Movin' Right Along on my wall.

 

However, this was mine because it spoke to me when things were down. I especially love the line "A skunk was badgered. The results were strong."

[media='']

[/media]

 

I had forgotten about Rowlf and was completely delighted by him. He should be a more popular Muppet.

 

I enjoyed most of the music, I think the 'Moving Right Along' one was my favorite. Someone recently ruined the Rainbow Connection for me, so that started this movie off on the wrong foot. I work at an aerial studio, and at our student showcase, a woman did a very odd dance with a Lyra and a hula hoop to that song. It popped into my head immediately as the song started.

[JammerLea 2070]

Yaay, I watched this last night! It was fun to revisit, though some parts were a little slow, I definitely appreciate all the effort and creativity that went into its production.

 

Favorite song is probably Rainbow Connection, but Moving Right Along gets stuck in my head too.

 

I pretty much see The Muppets as kind of adult entertainment, but at a level that kids can appreciate. Again with this, and the original Muppet Show, I never really knew who the human guest stars were until I was older, but The Muppets definitely gave me an appreciation for them early on. I don't think there was anything particularly adult in this movie that I recall, aside from a few obscure references as mentioned above.

 

I wish there was more Sam the Eagle in the movie lol. Also I wish that Max had completely defected from Doc Hopper after the showdown and just gone to Hollywood with them. He deserved better.

[JammerLea 2070]

Since (I assume) most of you watched the movie digitally, check out this camera test footage from the "Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition" DVD. Henson & co. were great even when they were just goofing around.

This was another thing I love about the Muppet performers, is how they can just goof around completely in character. It's very silly and endearing. My favorite still is the outtakes video from when John Oliver and Cookie Monster did a parody news show.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H916EVndP_A

[tomspanks 9039]

Rainbow Connection always gets me in the feels.

 

Same. It makes me tear up.

[Cam Bert 8145]

What was everyone's favorite song? I think they'r all great, but I'm giving the edge to:

This is hard because almost all of them are good songs. For me though I'd say Movin' Right Along because it is fun and catchy. Plus it rhymes Saskatchewan!

[Quasar Sniffer 4174]

If Paul Williams did nothing else but the music and lyrics to the songs in this movie, he (along with Kenneth Ascher) deserves to be in the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Of course, he has a whole other host of brilliant moments, including God damn Phantom of the Paradise. What a delightful little sprite of a composer. Or is he...?

 

 

Also, I kind of backed my way into loving this movie. I never watched it growing up. In fact, my first exposure to the Muppets as a kid outside of Sesame Street (which I loved as a child) was Muppet Babies, which I also loved, but certainly doesn't hold up the way the Sesame Street or the Muppet Films do. I'm pretty sure the fist Muppet film I saw was Muppet Christmas Carol, which I remember seeing in theaters. I would have been eight, which was probably too young to know who Michael Caine was, but I did take delight in my parents obviously knowing who he was and being entertained by him singing with the Muppets.

 

ANYWAY, I didn't sit down and watch this through until I was in college because... teenagers are terrible, I guess? It doesn't make sense as to why I waited a decade, considering how much I loved my first exposures to Henson's creations. I dunno. I saw it, I was in love, and I quickly obtained all the other Muppet movies. I have never looked back. I read and loved Henson's biography and I will defend the recent Muppets TV show on ABC until I die (COME AT ME!), even when other Muppet fans told me it sucked (they are wrong).

 

But God, the one-liners and cheesy jokes in this thing. I love it.

 

Kermit: Where did you learn to drive?

Fozzie: I took a correspondence course.