Although it is over 50 years old in 2020,The Muppet Movieis still one of the most iconic films in history, both due to its groundbreaking approach to film making as well as the many technical hurdles that the team had to jump through to bring the Muppets to life on the big screen. With various degrees of meta-commentary on the nature of Hollywood as well as several standout musical numbers, there’s very little to hate about this film.
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The Muppet Moviemay be aged, but that doesn’t mean that every aspect of the film and the processes behind the scenes are well known to the audience, as many troubles that plagued the film during its creation didn’t come to light until well after the film had been released.
10Jim Henson Went Above And Beyond For The Opening Scene
In the opening scene ofThe Muppet Movie, Kermit the Frogsings The Rainbow Connectionwhile perched on a log in the middle of a swamp, which was much harder onJim Henson, both the creator of the Muppets and many of the character’s puppeteer, than would be expected for such a simple scene. to film this musical number, not only were several different Kermit puppets used, with some requiring mechanical arms to play the banjo, but Henson himself had to spend all day in a 50-gallon drum submerged underwater just to hide his presence from the camera.
9Kermit Was Responsible For Some Of The Most Difficult Scenes To Film
The panned out Rainbow Connection scene was difficult for Henson and his team to film, but that was only the tip of the iceberg. Later in the film, Kermit is seen riding a bicycle, a simple scene that was a huge technical problem at the time and required a combination of out of shot cranes and hidden wires to create. While Henson spent only one day inside a steel drum for the opening scene, filming every shot of Kermit playing thebanjotook a total of 5 days to film due to constantly changing out puppets for additional angles.
8Fozzie Was Driving The Studebaker Blind
During the scenes where Fozzie drives theiconic Studebaker, the idea behind filming was to have the puppeteers hiding out of view while a man drove the car while inside the engine compartment, watching the road through a miniature screen. However, the screen malfunctioned during filming and the driver had to be directed via walky-talky instead.
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These days, it would have been easy enough to control the car remotely, something that would have seemed like science fiction during the late 70s, and definitely wouldn’t have passed OSHA regulations.
In the climax of the film, the Muppets have anold fashioned western standoffwith Doc Hopper, who hadhired an assassinto kill Kermit and his friends. In the chaos, Animal accidentally eats several of Bunsen’s insta-grow pills and grows to an enormous size, though this scene wasn’t done with scaling tricks or green screens. Instead, a scale, working replica of Animal’s head was built for the scene and measured in at sixty feet.
6The Final Scene Only Took One Day To Film
In the closing scene of the film, Kermit and his fellow Muppets sing The Rainbow Connection once again, only this time, they are joined by nearly every Muppet from bothSesame StreetandThe Muppets. In order to achieve this, Henson needed to hire an additional 137 puppeteers on top of his normal crew so that all puppets could be used at once. What is most impressive about this isn’t the number of people present for this scene, but that despite the fact that it should have been one of the harder scenes to film, it only took one day on set to complete.
5It Was Groundbreaking For Its Time
The Muppet Moviewas groundbreaking in many respects, from how it handled puppetry to the many difficult scenes that had to be filmed, but one of the most impactful aspects of the film is also somewhat innocuous, especially by today’s standards. BeforeThe Muppet Movie, no hand puppet had ever been shown from the waist down, especially not one that appeared to be moving and working as if it were being controlled by a human hand and set a precedent for all future films that involved hand puppets in the future, such as every following Muppet film andThe Dark Crystal.
4The Error In Gonzo’s Dream To Be A Movie Star
When finding new friends on his journey to become a famous movie star, Kermit encounters Gonzo, whose wish is to move to Bombay to become a movie star is ridiculed by Fozzie. Gonzo claims that he wants to move there specifically because it isn’t the easy way to become a movie-star, unlike going to Hollywood like Fozzie and Kermit.
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In reality, the movie industry in India is significantly larger than in Hollywood, though, at the time, Jim Henson didn’t know this fact and was only made aware of it onceThe Muppet Moviehad been released.
3Jim Henson Didn’t Play Kermit For The Entire Film
For the most part, Jim Henson was the sole puppeteer for playing Kermit, which, aside from his attachment to the character, was largely because he also played the voice of Kermit until his death in1990. ForThe Muppet Movie, however, he played nearly every Kermit scene with the exception of the “I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along” duet with Rowlf, as Jim Henson normally plays both Kermit and Rowlf, he had to use another puppeteer for the scene and dubbed over the audio later.
2Is The Tenth Highest Grossing Film Of 1979
A movie about puppets trying to find a career as movie stars doesn’t seem like it would be a hit, especially in the late 70s, butThe Muppet Moviedid well enough that it was not only one of the best-received films of 1979, but was also the tenth highest-grossing film of the year alongside other massive movies likeMoonraker,Apocalypse Now,andKramer vs. Kramer.
1It Is Only The Third-Highest Grossing Muppet Movie
Despite how wellThe Muppet Movieperformed, both in revenue and critical reception, it isn’tthe highest-grossingMuppet film. Both 2011’sThe Muppetsand 2014’sMuppets Most Wantedmanaged to make back more and the box office than the original film, as well as both being the highest-rated Muppet films since the original, with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 95% and 80% respectfully, whileThe Muppet Moviescored 88%.
