Review of The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) by Angela M — 19 Sep 2007

Imagine, if you will, the folks at Pixar throwing a bash where every character they created showed up in one scene to celebrate basically themselves. Nemo, Buzz Lightyear, Woody, The Incredibles, Lightning McQueen, Sully... all showed up for a party. Well, that's what happens at the end of Muppet's Take Manhattan when the Seseme Street gang shows up at Kermit and Miss Piggy's wedding. This is Jim Henson Studio's company party. It's a little bit like what Disney Channel tries to do with "House of Mouse" i.e. they try to present a venue where all the beloved characters of a particular studio can retire and interact. Like a VFW for animated fictional characters that have earned their stripes. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" traded on the same nostalgia. Only this nostalgia - circa 1984 - was feeling like it was part of the current mythology. Why use the phrase "Mythology" with the Muppets? Well fuck you, and fuck them, and fuck us all. The Muppets DO foster a sence of their own mythology. And... (here it comes)... AND!... AND!!! ... ... and the mythology of the Muppets endures. The story goes like this: Deep in the heart of the 60's - once upon a time - there was a talented puppeteer. His name was Jim Henson. He did puppet acts on Ed Sullivan and later on Saturday Night Live and he was trying to be a new generation's Edgar Bergen. But then he hooked up with Public Television and he hooked up with Frank Oz and his mainstay character (kermit) became one of an ensamble cast that included Oz, and Jerry Juhel, and Carrol Spinney, and others. Well, an oppertunity came along in the 80's called "The Muppet Show" where Henson, Oz, and others could expand their characters, jump from G-Rated to PG-rated material (hey don't knock it), and perhaps even yes earn some extra $. Well they did. They did well enough that Hollywood came-a-knocking for a Major Motion Picture edition to the mythology. And it happened, and it spawned another 5-star movie called "The Muppet Movie". The Great Muppet Caper is an OK movie. Prabably a 3 1/2 star movie. But then The Muppets Take Manhattan came along and it was back up to 5 stars. And then Jim Henson died. He died. Some random fucking flu or something got him. I mean when Dr. Suess died around that same time, you thought "Well, he was 95 or something - it was his time." But when Jim Henson croaked, it was (for me) as tragic as when Princess Diana died. This really fucking sucked. He just did Labarynth and he just did Dark Crystal and he was goin' somewhere. And then he was gone and the last major motion picture he did was Muppets Take Manhattan. And now, I know I'm a fucking sap, but I get choked up at the end of this movie. When all the Seseme Street characters are there with the Muppet Show characters I think, this is a moment when the Henson Company was summing up its achievements (to be honest, a company would only combine all its big guns into one movie in the aspiration of profit - but still) as a point of pride. To boost company morale. To return a profit, sure. To keep the franchise vital. But-also importantly-to entertain and to earn its greater status honestly. Which it does. This is a great movie - on parr with "The Muppet Movie" and "Muppet Treasure Island" And lastly, the songs are really good. "Saying Goodbye" "The Muppet Babies Song" and "The Wedding Sequence Song" (i don't know the name of that one) "Because you share a love so big... I now pronounce you Frog and Pig." The songs are good.

This was Jim Henson's last movie - it earns five stars.