The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)

Director:

Frank Oz

Writers:

Tom Patchett (story) &
Jay Tarses (story) ...

Release Date:

13 July 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Family | Musical

Plot:

Kermit and his friends go to New York to get their musical on Broadway only to find it's a more difficult task than they anticipated.

Plot Keywords:

Behind The Scenes | Misfortune | Fish Out Of Water | Whimsical | Urban

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 2 nominations

Cast

Jim Henson	...	Kermit the Frog / Rowlf / Dr. Teeth / Waldorf / Swedish Chef / Ernie / Granny / Horse & Carriage Rider / Link Hogthrob / The Newsman (voice)
Frank Oz	...	Miss Piggy / Fozzie / Animal / Bert / Cookie Monster / Ocean Breeze Soap Board Member / Sam the Eagle (voice)
Dave Goelz	...	Gonzo / Chester - Rat / Bill - Frog / Zoot / Beauregard / Dog / Dr. Bunsen Honeydew / Penguin (voice)
Steve Whitmire	...	Rizzo the Rat / Gill - Frog / Baby Kermit / Chicken / College Student in Audience / Dog / Lew Zealand (voice)
Richard Hunt	...	Scooter / Statler / Janice / Beaker / Dog (voice)
Jerry Nelson	...	Camilla / Lew Zealand / Floyd / Bear / Chicken / Crazy Harry / Dog / Dr. Strangepork / Granny / Penguin / Pops / The Count (voice)
Juliana Donald	...	Jenny
Lonny Price	...	Ronnie
Louis Zorich	...	Pete
Art Carney	...	Bernard Crawford
James Coco	...	Mr. Skeffington
Dabney Coleman	...	Martin Price
Gregory Hines	...	Roller skater
Linda Lavin	...	Kermit's doctor
Joan Rivers	...	Perfume saleswoman

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

South Korea:All | Portugal:M/6 | Iceland:L | Netherlands:6 | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:6

Filming Locations:

Empire Stages of New York, Long Island City, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

TriStar Pictures

Trivia:

The scene where Kermit graduates from college was filmed at Vassar College in New York. The director wanted it shot in front of the most academic looking building on the campus: the dining hall.

Goofs:

Continuity: The gum Miss Piggy inadvertently gets her hand stuck to just before getting her purse snatched was clearly not there when she first came up to the lamppost.

Quotes:

Baby Kermit: [Muppet Babies, singing] She's gonna be a movie star. And she wants to learn to drive a car; gonna be a vet'rinarian, too.
[to Kermit]
Miss Piggy: And I'm gonna always love you-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh!
Fozzie Bear: Well, she's gonna be a singer, whoa whoa whoa!
Scooter: And she's gonna learn to fly a plane!
Rowlf: She'll be a doctor of diseases and help you with your sneezes...
Gonzo: ...and practice neurosurgery on your brain!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Muppet Family Christmas (1987) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Rat Scat (Something Cookin')

Enjoyable enough Muppet vehicle.

This is a rather enjoyable and harmless entertaining Muppet movie, featuring most of the well known Muppets. It really isn't their best or most memorable one though.

Lets face it and be honest here, this movie really isn't the greatest made or best written one. The only real reason that the movie still works out is thanks to the Muppets. The humor actually isn't that much good, since its mostly simply written and the events are predictable. Nevertheless the movie still manages to become funny because of the humorous and well known characters, that need no introduction.

For me it really was in this case Miss Piggy that makes the movie work out. Her character features by far the most humorous and enjoyable situations. Miss Piggy is basically a Muppet-favorite of every one! She is such a great and comical character. Also the idea alone that a grown up man, such as Frank Oz, is with his hand inside a silly looking pig and doing a very feminine voice is reason enough already to crack me up. I really respect the Muppet-performers and their timing and handling is always just great, especially Frank Oz who always is subtle and handles the most enjoyable Muppet characters. Besides acting, Frank Oz also was the person who directed and wrote the movie.

The movie concentrates a bit too much on just the two main characters of the movie; Kermit and Miss Piggy. Also the human cast gets wasted because of that but of course also most of the Muppet characters. They put (too) many Muppets in the movie but doesn't provide them with enough room to let them shine, or their characters speak out. They tried to do so by putting in some extra solo sequences, featuring some of the Muppet characters, which felt like a last minute addition but was amusing, though distracting, nevertheless. The movie also features Rizzo the Rat in his first big movie role but it's too bad that he didn't teamed up with Gonzo yet in this on. The movie could had really used another and distracting from the main plot, comical duo, besides Kermit and Miss Piggy.

The movie yet again features many cameo from well known actors and other celebrities. Celebrities and Muppets always have been a great combination. Not only well known (at the time) celebrities make a cameo but also the "Sesame Street" characters do so, toward the ending.

It's obvious that they used this movie as a vehicle to also use some new puppet techniques, that in my opinion however don't work out and are redundant. Showing the Muppet's legs when they walk, bad idea! Putting someone in a Miss Piggy suit when she is on roller-blades, bad idea!

Though the movie is mostly forgettable it of course still features some great sequences such as the one with the Muppet babies. It also of course features some good comedy moments and it obviously makes this an enjoyable simple movie to watch but it's all not quite enough for this movie to really make a lasting impression. Out of all the Muppet movies this is probably the one with the most less re-playability factor.

6/10