Do you realize how many diverse people it takes working together to produce a movie? That’s a lot of talents, skills, and backgrounds all coming together to create something that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.
How do you tell that story to children? Jim Henson’s answer was the Muppets. The Muppet Show was about a diverse group working together to put on a variety show in a theatre. The Muppet Movie tells the story of Kermit the Frog deciding to leave the swamp where he grew up to pursue his musical ambitions in Hollywood. He soon teams up with Fozzie Bear, a comedian.
In course of their adventures across the country together in Fozzie’s car, they meet the rest of the main cast of The Muppet Show. They also meet Doc Hopper, a businessman who wants to open a chain of French restaurants specializing in frog legs. When Doc Hopper finds out that Kermit is a musician, he offers him a job as the spokesperson in the commercials for his restaurants. When Kermit turns down the offer, Doc Hopper and his crew try to catch Kermit and force him to make the commercials.
At one point, after driving all day, Kermit and Fozzie stop outside an old church and hear music coming from inside…
This lesson in diversity goes way beyond what the Muppets look like. On one level this is a story for 6 year olds, based on their combination of imagination and understanding of the world. But on another level it’s a story for adults, where everyone involved, every step of the way, makes the best decisions they can think of in the situations they’re in for themselves and the people and things they care about. That means as children grow up and their understanding of the world changes, they can keep watching and relating to this movie, and feel it take on new meanings.
A children’s song about imagination, with a video of brightly colored Muppets painting Fozzie’s car bright colors, embodies a lot of what Jim Henson devoted his life to.
