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The Muppets Take Manhattan
If not for the third Muppet film, there’d be no…
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Although not as well known as The Muppet Movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan is an important part of Muppet history (I think I just set a record for the most amount of times “Muppet” is used in a single sentence). For one thing, the film introduces us to the Muppet Babies, which would later become Muppet Babies and run for 107 episodes on CBS from 1984-1990. Also, if not for Muppets Take Manhattan, there’d be no:
Mad Men—Kermit visits “Mad Ave. Advertising,” which is exactly like Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce—except it’s staffed by frogs (who can’t sell Ocean Breeze Soap). It made ad men/frogs cool.
Death at a Funeral—Muppets Take Manhattan is the first film directed solely by Frank “Yoda” Oz, who would later be behind the camera for films about a singing Venus Flytrap (Little Shop of Horrors) and a naked Alan Tudyk on a roof (Funeral).
Kermit in this adorable outfit:
Narration of The Muppet Christmas Carol—Although Rizzo the Rat appears in the second Muppet film, The Great Muppet Caper, he didn’t become an actual character until Muppets Take Manhattan. Rizzo was such a huge hit among fans in it that for Christmas Carol, writer Jerry Juhl made him the narrator alongside Charles Dickens, a.k.a. Gonzo. Just remember: Light the lamp, not the rat.
Step Up 3D—I’ll let Slant take it from here:
Luke is also, unfortunately, five months behind on his mortgage for the Vault, the artists’ commune his parents dreamed of but were never able to open—because they died. So, naturally, he has to lead the Pirates to win a dance competition to use its prize money to pay off his debt so that Natalie’s jealous, evil brother, Julien (Joe Slaughter), can’t buy the Vault just to spite Luke and keep him away from his sister. It’s like The Muppets Take Manhattan, but replace an amnesiac frog with a milquetoast artiste and a group of muppets with a post-racial group of seamlessly integrated metrosexuals.“
A Class Act—Lonny Price appears in the film as a Broadway producer. Years later, he would write A Class Act, based on the life of Ed Kleban. Kleban, of course, was the lyricist behind A Chorus Line. If Price had never played “Ronnie Crawford,” who knows if he would have written his musical.
Lucille Austero—It’s safe to assume Liza Minnelli didn’t have much of a sense of humor before The Muppets Take Manhattan, at least in terms of making fun of herself. But in the film, she’s really funny, and it’s also the beginning of her meta career, which Arrested Development would hilariously exploit with the vertigo-suffering Lucille 2.
The Muppets Take Manhattan screens at 8 p.m. tonight at the Elevated Acre (55 Water St.) as part of the River to River Festival. Tickets are required and will be available, two per person, at the street-level Water Street entrance to the Elevated Acre on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 6 p.m. More information can be found here.
(And 16 times using the word “Muppet” in all)