The Muppets’ big-screen venture The Muppet Movie was an ambitious outing in 1979, as banjo-playing Kermit heads out from his humble swamp to become a star in Hollywood. Along the way he meets up with a variety of now-familiar characters, like Fozzie, Gonzo, the Electric Mayhem, and of course, his longtime love Miss Piggy. Part of the movie’s appeal was getting to see the Muppets in rare full-body form (line from the trailer: “He never parted from his dream, or his friends… or his legs”): They drive cars, evade a frog-leg empire, and perhaps most impressively from a practical “how did they do that?” standpoint, ride bikes.
Now Muppets fans will get a chance to see the original film on the big screen in honor of its 40th anniversary this year. Fathom Events announced that “The Muppet Movie will play in more than 700 movie theaters on Thursday, July 25, and Tuesday, July 30, at 12:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. local time each day.” A list of participating theaters is available here, and tickets are currently available for purchase.
Parents should run, not walk, for the chance to see this on the big screen with their kids, and it wouldn’t hurt the rest of you to check it out either. The 1979 hit features a plethora of who’s who cameos—Mel Brooks, James Coburn, Bob Hope, Madeline Kahn, Richard Pryor, Orson Welles, and Steve Martin as an insolent waiter, to name a few—as well as lines like, “I may not be one of your fancy Hollywood frogs, but I deserve a chance.” We will try not to get choked up as soon as the banjo plunks of “Rainbow Connection” kick off the movie, but we’re pretty sure we will fail miserably.