Movie Type: Showbiz Comedy, Family-Oriented Comedy
Themes: Fish Out of Water, Underdogs, Amnesia
Main Cast: Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Frank Oz, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Dave Goelz, Dave Goelz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Richard Hunt, Dabney Coleman, Gregory Hines, Art Carney, Linda Lavin
Release Year: 1984
Country: US
Run Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: G
Plot
Jim Henson's Muppets find themselves in Manhattan yearning to get a musical on Broadway in this charming film that also chides show business and its foibles. Kermit the Frog has just put together a successful variety show at Danhurst college (probably somewhere between Amherst and Dartmouth), and although he would like to mount it on Broadway so he would have a hit and be able to marry Miss Piggy, he cannot find backers. The Muppets are then forced to take jobs to support themselves, and it is while working as a waiter that Kermit meets the friendly Jennie (Juliana Donald). Jennie is the daughter of the owner of the restaurant and a source of great jealousy for Miss Piggy, who does not like competition. With stunning musical numbers involving a hundred or so Muppets and on-scene locations in New York City, the film is impressive in its merging of technical achievements and acting. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
The third entry in the original Muppet movie trilogy and the first to be directed by Frank Oz, The Muppets Take Manhattan is not as memorable as its predecessors, but still manages to entertain on the same levels. The similar story line is present here as in the first two, as Kermit and the Muppet gang struggle to make it big and put on a show. This time, the group is striving for success in New York, rather than Hollywood or London. Some of the plot drags when Kermit gets amnesia and is separated from the others, as well as when the group gets depressed about the lack of funding for their Broadway show. For the most part, however, all the familiar elements are there, including the constant flux of celebrity cameos such as Joan Rivers, Dabney Coleman, and Gregory Hines. This was the last Muppet movie to feature the late creator Jim Henson; his son, Brian Henson, would later continue the series with The Muppet Christmas Carol in 1992. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
Juliana Donald - Jenny; Jerry Nelson - Lew Zealand; Lonny Price - Ronnie; Louis Zorich - Pete; Karen Prell - Yolanda Rat; Brian Muehl - Tatooey Rat; Bruce Edward Hall - Masterson/Beth; David Rudman - Additional Muppet Performer; Glenngo King; John Bentley - Train Conductor; Graham Brown - Mr. Wrightson; Ron Foster - Man in Winesop's Office; Richard Hunt - Sweetums/Beaker; Joe Jamrog - Cop in Central Park; Gates McFadden - Mr. Price's Secretary; Kathryn Mullen - Jill the Frog; Vic Polizos - Construction Worker; Alice Spivak - Pete's Customer; Gary Tacon - Thief in Central Park; Sandra Bernhard; Jim Henson - Waldorf; Jane Hunt - Sardi's Customer; Wade Barnes - Customer at Sardi's; Don Quigley - Man in Bleachers; Milton Seaman - Customer at Sardi's; Norman Bush - Cop; Hector Troy - Cop; John McGuire - Elevator Passenger; Michael Hirsch - Man in Winesop's Office
Credit
Paul Bryan Eads - Art Director, W. Steven Graham - Art Director, Jim Henson - Choreography, Polly Smith - Costume Designer, Calista Hendrickson - Costume Designer, Timothy M. Bourne - First Assistant Director, Ronald M. Bozman - First Assistant Director, Tony Gittleson - First Assistant Director, Frank Oz - Director, Evan Lottman - Editor, Jim Henson - Executive Producer, Ralph Burns - Composer (Music Score), Jeff Moss - Songwriter, Fern Buchner - Makeup, Richard C. Kratina - Camera Operator, Paul Bryan Eads - Production Designer, Stephen Hendrickson - Production Designer, Robert Paynter - Cinematographer, Ezra Swerdlow - Production Manager, Jim Henson - Producer, David Lazer - Producer, Robert Drumheller - Set Designer, Justin Scoppa, Jr. - Set Designer, Polly Smith - Set Designer, Edward Drohan - Special Effects, Les Lazarowitz - Sound/Sound Designer, Vic Magnotta - Stunts Coordinator, Jay Tarses - Screen Story, Tom Patchett - Screen Story, Jay Tarses - Screenwriter, Frank Oz - Screenwriter, Tom Patchett - Screenwriter, Peter Norman - Second Unit Camera
The film introduced the Muppet Babies, as toddler versions of the Muppet characters in a fantasy sequence. The Muppet Babies later received their own Saturday morning animated television series, which aired from 1984 until 1992.
As the film opens, Kermit and many 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 (due to the fact that the local producers refused to produce their show, except for Murray Plotsky, who agreed to produce their show (but only for the money), but he's arrested for tricking an elderly woman into giving him her life savings and impersonating producer Martin Price) 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. She has just been accepted to a college in fashion design.
Complications arise in the form of unsavory jobs for Kermit's friends (Scooter becomes an usher at a movie theater in Cleveland, Ohio, Fozzie hibernates in Maine, Dr. Teeth and the gang work as a party band outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Gonzo works as a daredevil in Michigan, Rowlf runs the desk at a dog kennel in Delaware), a jealous Miss Piggy who secretly 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 Phil when he sees an advertisement with similar diction, and eventually falls in with a group of fellow frogs who write ad campaign slogans. Kermit, as "Phil", then begins to work as an advertising executive.
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 literally knock him back to his senses. The show is a tremendous hit, and during the finale, Piggy slyly hires a real minister for the wedding scene and Kermit is confused and says "I thought Gonzo was supposed to play the minister". When it is time to say "I do", Kermit is hesitant at first but forces himself to say "I do" and he and Piggy are wed.
Closing Medley: Overture/Saying Goodbye/Together Again (Everyone)
Reception
The Muppets Take Manhattan opened on July 13, 1984 to mostly positive reviews. As of July 6, 2009, the film holds a 79% "Certified Fresh" rating on the website, Rotten Tomatoes. Although the film didn't outgross its predecessors, it did gross $25,534,703.
