It feels like it’s almost an impossibility to hate the Muppets, as even though they’ve had their up and downs in terms of some of their content, they have remained a treasured element of a lot of people’s childhood. The Jim Henson-created product that has been around as early as 1954, The Muppets evolved passed just being a unique self-referential sketch -comedy show with inventive puppet work and memorable characters, into becoming a media franchise that lasted decades and encompassed various different medias like film, tv, and music. They are a truly timeless element of pop culture, and one that can be appreciated by kids and adults from any time or place, and the 1979 film which essentially acted as the origin story for The Muppets, further proved this to the world. Starting by showing The Muppets watching a pastiche of how they all met (which is a little self-indulgent, but not entirely about of character), the story opens with Kermit the Frog (voiced by Jim Henson) who lives a simple life in the swamp, but is noticed by a talent agent named Bernie (played by Dom DeLuise) and after hearing Kermit sing, suggests that he could make it as a star in Hollywood. Motivated by his idea of ”making a million people happy” Kermit travels across America to achieve his dream and along the way comes across others who also wish to pursue a career in Hollywood, including a hapless stand-up comedian named Fozzie Bear (voiced by Frank Oz), an aspiring stunt performer named Gonzo (voiced by Dave Goelz), and a diva-esque performer with an eye for the camera named Miss Piggy (also voiced by Frank Oz), how Kermit is quite smitten with. This unique band of soon-to-be stars set out to make it big in Hollywood and learn along the way how great they work as a group, all the while an entrepreneur with a frog leg restaurant franchise named Doc Hopper (played by Charles Durning) and his assistant Max (played by Austin Pendleton) try to get Kermit to act as their spokesperson for the restaurants, and aren’t willing to take no for an answer. With such a simple setup, The Muppet Movie doesn’t make headlines for its original plot or variety of surprises, but instead wins people over with its great characters, lovable sense of humor, amazing effects, and its timeless nature. Though not reaching the same level of clever and enjoyable as some of their later film outings, this first attempt still results in a pretty pleasant experience.

The very concept of the plot is a punchline and that feels very in line with what the Muppets would do for their first movie. Starting off with a very standard ”follow-your-dreams” layout under the backdrop of a road trip movie, the film injects just enough wild scenarios, crazy characters, and absolutely ridiculous bumps-in-the-road to come across as self-aware of what it is and how to go about delivering itself (a movie with a villain who’s a frog-leg restaurant owner has to know what it’s doing). It’s made even funnier through how nonchalant the characters are with the situation, and this intentional level of under reaction does a good job recapturing the surreal tone of the show (which makes sense as the writers for this film, Jack Burns and Jerry Juhl, worked on the show), but also gives the film a very subdued and quaint atmosphere. The film knows it’s a silly product and through its fourth wall humor and multiple guest star appearances, you’d figure it’d be hard to keep a grounded sense of stability, but through its honest heart and moments of quiet contemplation, it does pull it off. It’s a chill and laid-back movie which allows its characters to thrive as themselves, essentially lead the narrative with their very defined and likeable personalities and goes at a slow enough pace that doesn’t drag and allows for blissful moments where they can just sit around a campfire and sing a song for no reason, and it feels just right. The Muppets actually work nicely within a road trip film, as the various oddities that are often found in these films just feel second nature to their usual antics, so it fits pretty nicely. Every once and awhile, a detour can last a hint too long and it doesn’t really have a strong feeling of rushed investment until maybe the last act, but it doesn’t distract from the true strengths of this film.

The characters were already very iconic by this point as the show was halfway through its third season when the film was produced. There’s always been this mature cynicism to the characters that is balanced out by their hopeful and often times naive nature that they’ll succeed at anything they believe they are capable of, which allows them to adhere to before kids and adults, and you can feel that energy here as well. They all have a nice dim-witted charm that makes them feel like outcasts, but they are able to bond over that connection and you do feel them growing as a unit the more time they spend together (even though it’s obvious as it’s an origin film where the end result is already obvious, it still builds well to it). There’s always a worry when leading a production filled with puppets that it won’t be able to grab the audience due to the illusion not fooling people into believing they’re alive, but through the amazing puppet work as well as the talented voice acting from both Henson and Oz, they always feel alive even if you can easily tell their puppets. The voice acting is very strong in this, being able to as usual differentiate each character so well despite their being like three or four voice actors in the entire film, and they pull off the comedic and even some of the emotional stuff pretty well.  The celebrities that are brought in feel very reminiscent of the show and all of them have good moments and create very memorable scenes, with examples like Steve Martin, Richard Pryor, Cloris Leachman, James Coburn, Edgar Burgen (in his final performance before his death) and especially Mel Brooks. The villain is competently played and acts as a weird antagonist for a movie of this kind, although he isn’t allowed to be very funny in a film submerged in goofy wacky characters, and even his limited screen time keep him from leaving too much of an impression, but his plan as well as the final confrontation is funny enough to make for it for the most part. Max is made to be very likeable as the side man to the big bad despite his limited screen time, no doubt assisted by Austin Pendleton solid delivery.

Being a Jim Henson production, the film’s technology is not only impressive, but feels like its showcasing even more groundbreaking effects than usual. They’ve shown that they can make this puppets feel alive and interact with humans without distracting people, but seeing scenes where Kermit is riding a bike on a road or Fozzie is just casually driving a car feel like the creators are actively trying to push themselves to achieve great feats of effects wizardry and they do it very well. Though it may be very old-fashion and later Muppet projects would take similar leaps in terms of how they showcase their puppets, there’s a great feeling of realism and honesty in the way the puppets look and move that just cements the time period it was made in and it’s always cool to go back and witness. While most of the locations they visit aren’t the most appealing of locales, mainly consisting of generic looking towns and cities with a harsh yellow presentation, it doesn’t take away from the film in any noticeable way. The film isn’t as jammed packed with jokes as you’d expect it to be and while it definitely as funny as their show or some of their later projects, it still knows how to make a scene entertaining and that comes from great talent in front of and behind the camera. The music, as usual for the Muppets, is very impressive and instantly stays with you once you’re heard it, with the musical score by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher and their song, “Rainbow Connection”, being nominated for Academy Awards. All the music numbers in this are well sung (when they are required to be), have good beats and likeable lyrics, and totally match the energy and attitude of the Muppet personality.

The Muppet Movie is a wholesome charming little picture that offers exactly what you’d expect a Muppet property to deliver; its innocent, it’s funny, it has great characters, the songs are nice, the puppetry is amazing, and it can be viewed at any time without getting old. Even though the filming process was apparently not a very pleasant cheery environment (as director, James Frawley, was very unhappy directing the film and it would be the last time a person other than Henson or oz would direct a Muppet movie), you wouldn’t feel it just from watching the movie. It has a few flaws in terms of its narrative and villain, no viewer coming to see the muppets are going to be bothered by these problems. Seeing them on the big screen is a sure-fire way to keep audiences smiling the whole way through and this film goes over the moon with its level of likability. It grounds itself in a nice balance where in one moment there can be driving through normal countryside, then the next, a giant muppet overlooking a western stand-off between a cowboy frog and a band of frog assassins can happen. Charming as anything with a great deal of heart and warmth, it’d get you looking for that perfect ray of light over the rainbow.

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