The Muppets Go to the Movies

NR 7.1
1981 0 hr 49 min Comedy , Music , Family , TV Movie

In this one-hour special taped between March 9-17, 1981, Lily Tomlin and Dudley Moore join the Muppets in a tribute to film classics. Kermit the Frog hosts the program, which begins with an all-cast rendition of "Hey a Movie!" from The Great Muppet Caper.

  • Cast:
    Dudley Moore , Lily Tomlin , Jim Henson , Frank Oz , Jerry Nelson , Dave Goelz , Steve Whitmire

Similar titles

The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz
Young Dorothy finds herself in a magical world where she makes friends with a lion, a scarecrow and a tin man as they make their way along the yellow brick road to talk with the Wizard and ask for the things they miss most in their lives. The Wicked Witch of the West is the only thing that could stop them.
The Wizard of Oz 1949
The Heat Is On: The Making of Miss Saigon
The Heat Is On: The Making of Miss Saigon
A behind-the-scenes look at the putting on of the successful West End stage musical, including footage of the cast rehearsing and the triumphant first night.
The Heat Is On: The Making of Miss Saigon 1989
Babar: The Movie
Babar: The Movie
Children's book authors Jean and Laurent de Brunhoff's most beloved elephant comes to the big screen in this animated family tale. Elephant monarch King Babar tells the tale, that unfolds via flashback, of how a much-younger Barbar and his girlfriend Celeste save her village from the pugnacious rhinoceroses that have come to raid it.
Babar: The Movie 1989
Sarafina!
Sarafina!
The plot centers on students involved in the Soweto Riots, in opposition to the implementation of Afrikaans as the language of instruction in schools. The stage version presents a school uprising similar to the Soweto uprising on June 16, 1976. A narrator introduces several characters among them the school girl activist Sarafina. Things get out of control when a policeman shoots several pupils in a classroom. Nevertheless, the musical ends with a cheerful farewell show of pupils leaving school, which takes most of act two. In the movie version Sarafina feels shame at her mother's (played by Miriam Makeba in the film) acceptance of her role as domestic servant in a white household in apartheid South Africa, and inspires her peers to rise up in protest, especially after her inspirational teacher, Mary Masombuka (played by Whoopi Goldberg in the film version) is imprisoned.
Sarafina! 1992
Ripped!
Ripped!
It's 1967 and British pop sensations Norman's Normans have accidentally blasted off a rocket from the British Space Agency and landed on a planet of all women. When the princess falls for lead singer Norman, the queen imprisons the British invaders. Can they use their catchy rhythms to win over the girls of Hormone and help them make peace with the neighboring planet of men, all the while finding a way back home to Earth?
Ripped! 2014
The Broken Melody
The Broken Melody
A composer goes to Devil's Island for killing his wife's lover, then writes an opera about it.
The Broken Melody 1934
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: Babies, Dogs & More!
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: Babies, Dogs & More!
With his pet goldfish, Dorothy, and friend Mister Noodle, join Elmo as he explores the world of babies, dogs, and life on the farm.
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: Babies, Dogs & More! 2002
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: The Great Outdoors!
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: The Great Outdoors!
Get ready to explore the great outdoors with Elmo and learn all about Fish, Weather and Wild Animals! Wild Animals, Fish and Weather! With a dancing shade, a mischievous drawer, a frisky television and a playful computer, "Elmo's World" is the perfect place for preschoolers to learn all about the world around them. So if you want to know what to wear in the rain, where a fish lives or which animals are wild, it's time to visit "Elmo's World".
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: The Great Outdoors! 2003

Reviews

Stometer
1981/05/20

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

... more
SpunkySelfTwitter
1981/05/21

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

... more
Chirphymium
1981/05/22

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

... more
Deanna
1981/05/23

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

... more
lotr54hi
1981/05/24

Why doesn't this get as much recognition as "The Muppet Movie"? I think it's just as good! This and "The Frog Prince" are the two most underrated Muppet features ever. If you can, see it! It's awesome!Basically it plays out like an episode of "The Muppet Show". With special guest stars Dudley Moore and Lily Tomlin, the Muppets do their own versions of such movies as "The Wizard of Oz", "Casablanca", and "The Three Musketeers". It's very funny!Both Dudley Moore and Lily Tomlin have their moments. Dudley's best is when he plays Ceasar. Lily's best is when she plays four or five people in a parody of a war movie (I don't know which).Like I said before, if you can see it, do so. If you like the Muppets, see it. You won't be disappointed.

... more
wermuth601
1981/05/25

This was a great special. It is similar to The Muppet Show, since it took place at the same theater, but all of the segments had to do with movies, there were two guest stars instead of one (only a small number of Muppet Show episodes had multiple guests, and those were either married celebrity couples or special groups of entertainers), and there didn't seem to be any backstage plot.This was made in 1981, around the time that The Muppet Show was ending, and it seems to be a promotion for The great Muppet Caper disguised as a regular special, as it features three clips from The Great Muppet Caper as well as a new version of the song Hey, a Movie! However, it is really good.Dudley Moore and Lily Tomlin are the guest stars, and some of the segments include a medley of Wizard of Oz songs (Long before The Muppets Wizard of Oz) with Miss Piggy as Dorthy, Scooter as the Scarecrow, Gonzo as The Tin Man, Fozzie as The Cowardly Lion, and Foo Foo as Toto. There is also a Casablanca parody with Kermit and Miss Piggy, a Tarzan parody with Gonzo and Lily Tomplin, a Muppet version of The Three Muskateers (with Gonzo, Scooter, and Link Hogthrob), and a foreign film translated by Sam The Eagle and starring The Swedish Chef and Beaker.All in all, a great special, and I sure hope that it becomes available on DVD some day.

... more
Nozz
1981/05/26

Partly a promotion for the Muppets' MANHATTAN movie and partly an extended onstage-backstage Muppet Show, this TV production features a fair number of reasonably clever, unpredictable gag lines along with the usual stuff. Once or twice the program lags when a musical number has little special to offer aside from the merits of the music itself and the novelty of being performed by Muppets, for example "Act Naturally" by Floyd and Janis. I guess this is reasonable, as on the regular Muppet Show, because the songs may not be very familiar yet to the young audience. On the other hand, quite a bit of the GO TO THE MOVIES humor is pitched to an audience old enough to recognize references to Ingmar and Ingrid Bergman.

... more
Snake-666
1981/05/27

Those loveable Muppets, including Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy and all the other favourites, come together to produce send-up's and parodies of some of the greatest movies of yesteryear.'The Muppets Go to the Movies' plays out as an episode from 'The Muppet Show' but the typical zany sketches are replaced with equally zany movie parodies, including riotous send-up's of 'The Wizard of Oz', 'Casablanca', 'Frankenstein' and 'Wild Strawberries'. Fans of the movies that are parodied may occasionally find the Muppets take on the films as somewhat insulting to the source material; however, the whole show is all in good fun and is targeted at children and light-hearted adults. There is no real way that one could seriously condemn the way that these classic films are portrayed as the whole show is all in good fun. 'The Muppets Go to the Movies' even features short, amusing and enjoyable appearances from Dudley Moore and Lily Tomlin.There is not much that one can say about this little piece of Muppet history. If you are a fan of the Muppets and appreciate their humour then this is worth watching should you ever come across it. Similarly, I believe that children may love this and it may even work as a possible introduction to the classic films that are parodied throughout the show. 'The Muppets Go to the Movies' is not up to the standard of the majority of Muppet films, but is nonetheless an enjoyable and entertaining watch. My rating for 'The Muppets Go to the Movies' - 7/10.

... more