The Muppet Movie (1979)
Director: James Frawley
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
First of the big-screen spin-offs, this unwisely ignores the successful formula of the TV shows. The Muppets travel to Hollywood and stardom; aimless aerial and American location footage replace the tight studio format; and Kermit is no longer a stand-up comic but a star in the making. Numerous guest stars make brief appearances instead of contributing to whole sketches built around their willingness to be lampooned by a bunch of puppets. Slapstick chases and weak movie references look tired, while the attitude towards Miss Piggy and Camilla the Chicken is, well, less than progressive. Somewhere the film loses sight of its origins and its audience (mainly children, one presumes); Mel Brooks' sinister, crazed Jewish Nazi surgeon looks particularly out of place. Even adults will have difficulty following the murky soundtrack.Author: CPe
Cast & crew
Director: James Frawley
Producer: Jim Henson
Cast: Charles Durning, Austin Pendleton, Milton Berle, Mel Brooks, James Coburn, Dom DeLuise, Elliott Gould, Bob Hope, Madeline Kahn, Carol Kane, Cloris Leachman, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Orson Welles, Paul Williams full cast
Genre(s): Children's
Duration: 97 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Hippies who work for The Man
To celebrate George Clooney comedy 'The Men who Stare at Goats', we look back at six memorable onscreen hippies who fought the system from within
Roland Emmerich's guide to disaster movies
Ahead of the release of '2012', Roland Emmerich offers his ten tips on creating the perfect global catastrophe
Grant Heslov: interview
Grant Heslov, director of 'The Men who Stare at Goats' talks about his old pal George Clooney, his interest in the paranormal, and his fond memories of working on 'Happy Days'
The Coen brothers discuss 'A Serious Man'
Masters of contrary comedy, Joel and Ethan Coen have struck gold again with their latest, ‘A Serious Man’
Ten inspirations behind 'Avatar'?
Time Out ponders the influences behind James Cameron's anticipated space-opera on the basis of the trailer
Michael Jackson's This Is It: review
Kenny Ortega's posthumous concert film is a rousing eulogy for one of pop's great enigmas
Michael Haneke: The man behind the menace
From Cannes to Munich to London, Dave Calhoun tours Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner, 'The White Ribbon'
Lone Scherfig talks 'An Education'
Danish director Lone Scherfig was an unlikely choice for a very English affair like 'An Education'. Cath Clarke meets her
How Jane Campion brought John Keats back to life
Time Out gets Romantic with the ‘difficult’ New Zealander about her new film, 'Bright Star'
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations












What do you think?
Post your review now