The Muppets Take Manhattan is the third of a series of live-action musical feature films starring Jim Henson's Muppets. This film was produced by Henson Associates, ITC Entertainment and TriStar Pictures, and originally released in movie theatres in 1984. It was the first film directed by Frank Oz, who also performs Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy, and Animal.

The film introduced the Muppet Babies (toddler versions of the Muppet characters in a flashback/dream sequence). The Muppet Babies later received their own Saturday morning animated television series, which aired from 1984 until 1991.

Plot summary

As the film opens, Kermit and ten of his friends are graduating from college and are performing in a variety show on campus. Instead of splitting up and going their separate ways after graduation, the gang decides to try to take their act to New York and try to make it on Broadway. Kermit and the others are so confident in the show that they anticipate becoming instant stars, but as the months pass and their funds run dry, they are forced to go their separate ways and find jobs. Kermit remains in New York and gets a job at a local diner, befriending the owner, Pete (Louis Zorich), and his daughter Jenny (Juliana Donald) who works there as a waitress.

Complications arise in the form of unsavory jobs for Kermit's friends (Scooter becomes a bellhop at a movie theater; Rowlf runs the desk at a dog kennel), a jealous Miss Piggy who remains behind to keep an eye on Kermit and Jenny, and Kermit's additional failed attempts to break into stardom. After finally finding a producer who is willing to fund the show, however, Kermit is so excited that he unknowingly steps into the path of an oncoming vehicle and is knocked unconscious. He awakens with no memory, decides his name is Phillip Phil when he sees an advertisement with similar diction, and eventually falls in with a group of fellow frogs who write ad campaign slogans.

After Kermit's companions are reunited in New York (along with the many friends they've each met along the way), despite the fact that Kermit is missing, they decide the best thing to do is to go on with the show in his honor. After the amnesiac Kermit visits the diner and his friends recognize him, they recover him and Miss Piggy manages to knock him back to his senses. The show is a tremendous hit and, during the finale, Miss Piggy and Kermit are joined together in marriage.

Trivia

• The opening flyby in the movie is over the Vassar College campus, in particular, Strong House. Kermit graduates from “Muppet University” on the steps of the Vassar dining hall.
• The film was thought by many to be the first appearance of Rizzo the Rat (performed by Steve Whitmire). It is actually his second (or third depending on whether or not he was one of the rats that appeared in one episode of The Muppet Show). The character definitively known as "Rizzo" first appeared in The Great Muppet Caper (he was one of the bellhops).
• Instead of being traditional hand puppets, the tiny rats are controlled with rods to operate their heads and mouths.
• As was done with The Great Muppet Caper, Miss Piggy had a live action "stunt double," who was used in the long shots during the roller skating sequence.
• Numerous Sesame Street characters appear in the background during the wedding scene, including Ernie and Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird, Grover, Count Von Count, Sully and Biff, and the Two-Headed Monster. (The Muppet Babies can also be seen "operating" on a plush Big Bird toy during the dream sequence.) There's even Traveling Matt from Fraggle Rock.
• The only Muppet Babies who appear in this film are Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, and Rowlf. (The baby versions of Animal, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, etc. weren't introduced until the animated series.)
• As mentioned above, the film concludes with the finale of Manhattan Melodies, in which the characters played by Miss Piggy and Kermit are married. As they approach the altar Kermit hisses "I thought Gonzo was playing the minister!", the implication being that Piggy has substituted a real minister. Dr Cyril Jenkins, who played the role, is a real minister in New York, which may imply that there is a "meta-story" in which Piggy does the same thing during the making of the film.
• Unlike the previous two Muppet movies, which were produced independently, this one was produced by TriStar Pictures rather than merely distributed. As a result, TriStar, who later merged with Columbia, and is now part of Sony, retained the rights to this movie when The Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets (the film is now owned by Sony as a whole). That's why this film was not among the "Kermit's 50th Anniversary Edition" DVDs that Disney released in late 2005.

Soundtrack album track listing

1. Together Again (Kermit and Friends)
2. You Can't Take No For An Answer (Dr. Teeth)
3. Saying Goodbye (Everyone)
4. Something's Cooking (Rizzo and the Rats)
5. I'm Gonna Always Love You (The Muppet Babies)
6. Right Where We Belong (Everyone)
7. Somebody's Getting Married (Everyone)
8. Waiting for the Wedding (Everyone)
9. She'll Make Me Happy (Miss Piggy and Kermit)
10. The Ceremony (Everyone)
11. Closing Medley: Saying Goodbye/Together Again (Everyone)

External links

• Muppet Wiki: The Muppets Take Manhattan
• Muppet Movies Lyric Archive

1984 films | Henson films | Muppet films | Comedy films | Musical films | ITC Distributions

The Muppets Take Manhattan | Маппеты завоёвывают Манхэттэн (фильм)