Remembering the Rainbow Connection

The Muppets, My Family, and Me

Everyone has a movie that they hold onto with love, a movie that takes us back to a specific time and place or awakens a certain feeling. 

I would bet money that, as you’re reading this, you can recall a movie that does that for you.

Mine just turned forty-four this week.

Get those banjos tuned and round up all the weirdos from here to Hollywood because I’m here to talk about The Muppet Movie.

When it opened in 1979, Jim Henson’s comedy was met with great acclaim: two Oscar nominations, was one of the ten highest-grossing movies of the year, and was later selected for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” 

And what’s not to like? 

It’s a movie that’s filled with ambition, humor, adventure, mayhem, and more celebrity cameos than you can imagine.

It was a big deal at the time. After all, it was the first instance where Henson’s famous Muppets, who had dominated television for a decade by that point, were seen on the big screen. 

Not only that but it’s influenced millions of people around the world for decades.

Take me, for instance: When I was shown The Muppet Movie on VHS for the first time, I was entranced. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing!

And it’s remained a source of joy ever since. In a world that sometimes feels like it’s gone mad, The Muppet Movie reminds me that it’s okay to laugh. 

When my family and I would go to my grandma’s house in Kent, Ohio, I would always head to the toy basket and pick out three things: the 1977 Fisher-Price Kermit the Frog doll, the 1978 Fisher-Price Animal puppet, and The Muppet Movie storybook. 

At the time, I had no idea what they were. 

I just saw them as toys and a book.

But as I’ve grown older, I have found that the connection with The Muppet Movie is more than felt and film.

It’s a bridge to loved ones, some of whom have been gone for a long time.

You see, The Muppet Movie storybook, which was technically the first time I saw this group of crazies we call the Muppets, was my Aunt Laurel’s. 

She died at the height of COVID in the summer of 2020.

Obviously, at the time, I was too young to read, but the pictures I saw of the Muppets felt magical. Now, it’s a reminder of her creativity.

My grandpa died in 1995 — four years before I was born. 

Growing up, my mom always told me that my grandpa really enjoyed watching the Muppets and that his favorite character was Animal. 

When I was much older and cleaning out my aunt’s house after she passed, I saw a picture of my grandpa smiling and holding up an Animal puppet to show off to the camera.

He looked so happy in that picture.

And what was one of the three things I ran to the toy box at my grandma’s to play with? 

An Animal puppet. 

That’s right. It was my grandpa’s.

There are lots of reasons to love a movie, whether it’s personal, technical, or cultural. 

And few movies can be all of those things for one person. 

The Muppet Movie has been that for me. 

It has made me laugh, helped me remember loved ones, and informed me what I want to do with my life and how I want to live it.

---

Reader, who's your favorite Muppet character? When do you remember watching one of their movies for the first time? Let us know in the comments below!

---