The Muppet Movie: The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray + Digital Copy)

OK to clear up some confusion about the latest incarnation of "The Muppet Movie" this edition is celebrating the fact that Kermit always a bit green around the gills is 50 years old. That said I'm completely unimpressed with this edition of a classic family movie. I'll get to the reasons why in just a bit in the meantime here's a recap of the plot for those of you who have forgotten what its about.

Discovered by a big time agent (Dom DeLuise) playing his banjo among the reeds and lilly pads, Kermit (Jim Henson) moves to Hollywood for fame and fortune. Along the way he hooks up with Miss Piggy (Frank Oz), Fozzie Bear (Frank Oz) and other Muppets who are looking for their road to the big time. Kermit is pursued by Doc Hopper (Charles Durning) who wants to open a chain of fast food frog leg restaurants. He hopes to make Kermit his company mascot. Along the way Kermit and his friends meet a who's who of Hollywood's funniest comedians along the way. Featuring a who's who list of top notch celebrity talent including Mel Brooks, Madeline Kahnm Richard Pryor, Edgar Bergen, Steve Martin and others, "The Muppet Movie" provided the early template for family films that could also be adult friendly as well.

With bright vivid colors "The Muppet Movie" looks solid in this DVD transfer but the film could have used a bit of restoration. Image clarity and sharpness are not what they could have been as well with an occasional softness that surprised me. Granted, this edition looks better than the Tri-Star release of four years ago but the film really needs to be carefully restored improving the overall image and sound quality. The 5.1 Dolby Digital mix presents dialogue with nice clarity but the music score and just about everything else in the movie's soundtrack comes across sounding tightly compressed. Again, an overall disappointment even when compared to the previous edition of this movie from four years ago.

I would have thought that a great movie would deserve great extras. Instead, the best extra from the previous edition (Frawley's test footage) is missing from this edition. Instead of that we get an underwhelming five minute featurette about Kermit. It's a waste of money and space on the DVD. We also get the usual assortment of Disney previews at the beginning although you can skip them. A note to Disney--including a full screen version of the same movie no longer counts as a special feature

About the only good thing about this DVD release are the chapters placed throughout the film. It makes navigating to a particular scene pretty easy overall but that's not saying much in an age where "The Wizard of Oz" gets a deluxe three DVD edition or even the recent "War of the Worlds" a two disc edition. Honestly, it feels like Disney blew it here. I'm not sure they knew what they wanted to put on the disc and this smells suspiciously like a double dip down the line. Considering the deluxe treatment that Disney recently gave "The Muppet Show" on DVD, I'm really surprised at how shabbily they treated this classic film.

A classic that receives truly pedestrian treatment, I'd recommend waiting to see if a deluxe edition of this film is coming out before buying. If you don't have the very good previous edition of this film on DVD and feel you must have it now by all means feel free to pick it up. I have the distinct feeling you'll be kicking yourself later however and suggest renting and then taking a wait and see attitude about buying this feeble "Special Edition". Man talk about being green, watching the treatment this classic received on DVD made me sick to my stomach.

Let's clear up some confusion here....the "grasshopper" comment was on the movie soundtrack ONLY. It was NOT in the film. If you listen to the song "I hope that something better comes along" from the soundtrack recording, MOST of the dialog exchange between Rowlf and Kermit prior to the beginning of the song, is DIFFERENT than the movie (not just the "grasshopper" line). The different dialog on the soundtrack was to help make sense of the scene in which the song takes place, for those who hadn't seen the film.

I have an old VHS tape of The Muppet Movie from 1984, and the "grasshopper" line isn't on that either. Nothing was censored for the DVD.

I agree that the Muppets' 1979 TV special "The Muppets Go Hollywood" (which promoted the film's release), SHOULD have been included on this DVD. I'm deducting one star for that ridiculous omission.

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Mini review of one of my alltime 10 favorite films.

Many people question why this is on my top 10. I think the question is why is it not on theirs? This is pure entertainment for the whole family. It is a movie that works on all levels. The story is enchanting. The music is charming and whimsical. The muppetry is fantastic. It is hard to imagine a better opening to a movie than the rainbow connection sequence.

The movie is a cornucopia of awesome quotes. I think my favorite still remains: If frog's couldn't hop, I'd be gone with the Schwinn.

The cameo roles are excellent as well. Steve Martin excels as a put upon waiter. Dom Delouise is impressive as a hollywood agent adrift in a swamp and Mel Brooks steals the show as a german mad scientist.

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The original classic Muppet Movie has finally arrived on DVD. Unfortunately, it did not get the treatment it deserves. The only special feature of note is "Jim Frawley's camera test" (which I found pretty entertaining). The so-called "Muppetisms" are just a couple of very brief jokes from Kermit and Miss Piggy. The picture, for whatever reason, is very grainy most of the time...but at least the colors are bright and vivid. The sound is low when the characters are talking and louder during musical numbers, requiring frequent volume adjustments. The disc contains the preferred widescreen version of the film on one side, and a completely unnecessary pan-and-scan version on the other. Folks, I ask you, wouldn't you rather have a plethora of special features on that second side? How about 2 or 3 episodes of The Muppet Show? Why not some sort of a commentary on the film? Perhaps a biography of Jim Henson? The Muppets (and Jim Henson) deserve a Special Edition, and this disc is far from it.

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This movie was truly the work of the Genius that Jim Henson and Frank Oz created along with the many Muppet Performers and Writers of this film. However, Columbia/Tri-Star has made a terrible mistake in not giving this DVD the clean up or detail that it truly deserves. I bought this and Tootsie on the same day, and Tootsie looks and sounds beautiful. This film looks like I pulled out an old video. What happened to the art of remastering? There was virtually no audio or video cleanup, and I was truly disappointed. Such a brilliant film deserves more. Yes, I too would like bonuses, but want a cleanup more than anything else. The DVD version was a waste. Movie = 5 Stars! DVD = 1 Star Film Test = 5 stars, but so little in the bonus area. Aren't there more bonuses out there?

I sincerely hope the folks at the DVD company will work with the Folks at Jim Henson Productions on getting a quality product out there, with bonuses it deserves. Here's some: Clean the movie (remaster audio and video) Outtakes? Early short films? Audio commentary by Frank Oz and other Muppet performers? Documentary? Muppet Show episode? Muppets 30th Anniversary TV special (CBS) Muppets Tribute To Jim Henson (NBC Disney)

So many possibilities... Hey JH Productions, let's get the complete Muppet Show DVD collection out there!

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