(Photo by Henson Associates/courtesy Everett Collection)
Muppet Movies Ranked by Tomatometer
The Muppet Movie celebrates its 45th anniversary!
With their bright, soft textures and cue ball eyes attractive to kids, stitched to irreverent humor and meta run-ins with the rich and famous that’s appealing to adults, the Muppets have been a part of the American pop culture fabric since Jim Henson first stuck his hand out there in 1955. The family of fine felt friends — including optimist Kermit the Frog, clout-chaser Miss Piggy, slapsticky Gonzo, dad-joke dispenser Fozzie Bear plus over a dozen more — got their start on TV, with appearances on late-night talk shows and commercials, and a close collaboration with Sesame Street. 1976’s The Muppet Show launched in syndication as a meta variety show, a congeries of classic comedy theater, surreal sketches, and behind-the-scenes chaos with a long line of celebrity guest eager to join.
In the middle of Show‘s five-season run, Kermit and company hit the road on the big screen for 1979’s The Muppet Movie. A road comedy and origin story, the film’s finale features over 200 Muppets in a song and dance rendition of “Rainbow Connection“, nominated for the Best Song Oscar that year. In 2009, The Muppet Movie was added to the National Film Registry. The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) create a loose trilogy, establishing the formula of setting the Muppets at different occupations (in this case, newspaper reporters and theater geeks, respectively) on zany adventures with plenty of human help.
A third trilogy was made in the ’90s, starting with the now holiday classic Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), cult classic Muppet Treasure Island (1996), and Muppets from Space (1999), a box office bomb that heralded their old-fashioned and earnest comedy falling out of fashion.
Henson’s creations entered a fallow period that saw Disney purchasing his company in 2004, a hint of the acquisition marathon to come with Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and 20th Century Fox. A Muppet rendition of “Bohemian Rhapsody” was a viral hit in 2008. This return to the spotlight led to 2011’s The Muppets, a box office comeback that worked showbiz satire and all-ages comedy for the modern day. After 2014’s Muppets Most Wanted, the puppeteers have been mostly working the TV circuit again, a congeries of shows (mockumentary The Muppets, Muppets Now, and the upcoming Muppets Mayhem) and a special, 2021’s Muppets Haunted Mansion.
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