The Muppets Take Manhattan

Frank Oz, USA, 1984, 90 minutes

Another quality production from Jim Henson's workshop. The Muppets are "Together Again" and they're heading for Broadway. Fresh from graduating from drama school and armed with an original musical script, Kermit and co. are hitting the Big Apple with full force in search of their big break.

"Well, it's all about life in the big city"

"The big city? Cops? Shootings? Car chases? That kind of thing?"

"Well no. No shooting stuff. It's more like songs and dances"

"Songs AND dances? That could be interesting, nobody cares about shootings anyway"

Directed by Frank Oz (the man behind Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear and so many more of our favourite characters) and staring Kermit the Frog and Juliana Donald... *ahem* and Miss Piggy, The Muppets Take Manhattan combines a great musical score, with the wacky antics of those loveable weirdoes.

It's riddled with cameo performances with some of the showbiz world's greats, and not so greats. Brook Shields drops by for a coffee, Gregory Hines consoles a distraught Miss Piggy and even Elliot Gould puts in a shorter than short, blink and you'll misses it, appearance.

Some other things to look out for would be (without a doubt) the world's greatest chicken strangling scene, the obligatory appearance of the Sesame Street gang (which no self-respecting Muppet movie would be without) and a singing minister... after all "Somebody's getting married!". There is also an utterly random and in no way connected to the plot (but still very sweet) number by The Muppet Babies – to quote a different Muppet production "Even weirdoes are cute when they're little".

"I smell something" *sniffs*

"Why does everyone always blame the dogs?"

"No, no. What I smell is a hit!"

"A what?"

"A hit!"

Review by Jane Birch
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2003