The Muppet Movie – Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition: Blu-ray Review
The Movie:
Kermit the Frog is persuaded by agent Dom DeLuise to pursue a career in Hollywood. Along the way, Kermit picks up Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, ‘The Great Gonzo’ , and a motley crew of other Muppets with similar aspirations. Meanwhile, Kermit must elude the grasp of a frog-leg restaurant magnate.
Finally we get to see the Original Muppet movie get the hi-def blu-ray treatment and it doesn’t disappoint one bit. I grew up on all of Jim Henson’s creations and The Muppets have to be my favorites! Adults and kids alike as far back as I can remember have enjoyed the silliness of these amazing puppets. Henson and his crew have created characters that will live forever and thanks to this film future generations will be able to experience all of the magic. The voice cast (Henson included) were so phenomenal and so talented. Many of them voiced multiple puppets and along with moving them around it can be quite the task. Probably one of the astonishing (yet miniscule) scenes to me was how they showed Kermit peddling on a bike all by himself, FEET AND ALL! This was before the time of CGI and was most likely done with lots or wire work but even to this day it blows my mind. The story itself was one with a message which is extremely good but also serves as an origin story for the crew. The film tackles the theme of success and how even the most successful people can fail. It really is an important lesson to learn that it doesn’t just come overnight and if you fail then you pick back up and continue on. The other thing that the film brought to the table was the abundance of guest stars. We saw the likes of Mel Brooks, Bob Hope, Carol Kane, Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Telly Savalas, Orson Welles among many others which looking back at it now was amazing to get legends like that together in one film. This is pretty much a must have for any lover of The Muppets and a definite for your film collection.
Special Features:
Jim Frawley’s Extended Camera Test – This is the director’s initial camera test for the use of puppets in the film and how they were going to look in “real life” environments.
Frog-E-Oke Sing-Along – This is a cool little feature that allows you to sing along with the songs from the film.
Pepe Profiles Present Kermit: A Frog’s Life – Pretty much a “Behind The Music-esque” type feature that investigates Kermit’s life.
Disney Intermission – I love this feature on some of the more recent blu-ray releases. When you pause the film a video plays along with a few songs.
Doc Hopper’s Commercial – A quick commercial for the fictional restaurant in the film.
