Creativity as seen in ‘The Muppet Movie’

I do not think what I am about to say will be surprising. I am a massive Muppets fan. In more recent years, I have started to appreciate this ragtag group of anthropomorphic cloth beings for the staying power they have had in pop culture for 70 years. 

The piece of media,to me, that shows why they have been such a staple of pop culture for seven decades is their first foray into the silver screen, 1979’s “The Muppet Movie.” To give some background information on the movie, it was made during the third season of “The Muppet Show” (1976-1981). The film would become both a critical and commercial success. This success paved the way for seven more movies featuring the Muppets. The song “Rainbow Connection” was nominated for Best Original Song at the 52nd Academy Awards. 

In 2009, the movie was chosen by the Library of Congress for being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant,” with it being preserved by the National Film Registry. “Rainbow Connection,” in 2020, was selected by the Library of Congress for similar reasons and is preserved by the National Recording Registry. 

“The Muppet Movie” follows the more or less true story of everyone’s favorite banjo playing frog, Kermit, and how he meets the rest of the Muppet gang (Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear and Animal just to name a few) on his journey to Los Angeles to try to break into show business. However, conflict arises quickly when restaurant owner Doc Hopper attempts to get Kermit as the spokefrog for a franchised restaurant that specializes in French-fried frog legs. Kermit refuses to be the spokes frog and hijinks ensue to try to convince Kermit to work for Doc Hopper.

To me, the Muppets have many things in common with The Gorillaz. Both have huge fan bases and even though both are fictional groups, they do blur the lines between being fake, operating within the real world. For example, the Muppets give interviews and have an extensive history. In “The Muppet Movie,” there are many references to them being in a movie. 

While watching the film, I observed two ways of seeing how one achieves a dream. The first way is through being true to yourself and collaborating with the friends you make along the way,while the second way is taking the first opportunity you see that can get you to your goal quickly abandoning being your true self. 

Kermit does not set out to meet other dreamers like himself, but he does. Multiple times in the film, he is given the opportunity to achieve instant fame but sees the value of working with others.  To me, this dispels the myth that to make any type of art, one has to isolate themselves or become a “sell-out” to make art. Kermit, at one point, doubts himself and questions why he decided to take this journey and in turn his new friends believe they can achieve more. 

However, at the end of this self doubt, he concludes that even though he thinks he did not promise anyone a dream in show business, he did promise one person and he says, “Well then I guess I was wrong when I said I never promised anyone. I promised me.” In my own life, I believe I am my best creative self when I am around people that encourage me to think outside the box. They know that I have more to say and create. 

Both “Rainbow Connection” and the final song “Finale:The Magic Store” iterate the theme of the movie of taking control of your own life and believing in the dream. “Rainbow Connection” says, “Somebody thought of that/And someone believed it/Look what it’s done so far.” While “Finale:The Magic Store” brings it full circle by comparing someone taking control of their life to a movie, “Life’s like a movie/Write your own ending/Keep believing/Keep pretending/We’ve done just what we’ve set out to do.”

The late film critic Roger Ebert, in his 1979 review of the film, summarizes perfectly why the Muppets have had such a lasting legacy. Ebert writes at the end of his review, “They turn out, somehow, to have many of the same emotions and motivations that we do. They are vain and hopeful, selfish and generous, complicated and true. They mirror ourselves, except that they’re a little nicer.” 

Kermit and the gang show us what can happen when we find a group of people who encourage our weirdness and to achieve the dreams maybe we were too scared to achieve.