The Muppets Take Manhattan took Home Video Today in 1985, after a July 13th, 1984 theatrical release.
But this is all about the Muppet Babies.
The film did fairly ok with both critics and audiences, but I’ve always been fascinated with its legacy, which stepped far beyond the movie itself. If you were the right age in 1984, you were on the ground floor for one of the greatest and most pervasive brands to ever hit the 80s Saturday Morning cartoon block. No, not the Colgate Pump. I’m speaking of course about Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, Animal, Scooter, Skeeter, Rowlf and the rest – those adorable Muppet Babies. And this is all thanks to one short fantasy sequence that was shoehorned into the movie by the visionary Jim Henson.
For about 5 years, they were simply everywhere – from happy meal toys to clothing apparel – and despite being kiddie versions of well-established characters, they took on a life of their own (thanks in part to the awesome voice acting and Marvel Productions-led animation). In spite of (or maybe because of) its vaguely 50’s preschool pastel aesthetic, the show came off as being pretty darn cool. It was way ahead of its time in terms of integrating modern pop-cultural references – from celebrities (like name-dropping Mary Lou Retton) to music and movie clips of Indiana Jones and Star Wars. Unfortunately that’s something that’s led the show into copyright limbo these days.
I loved the Muppets, and I might have casually gotten around to seeing Take Manhattan a year or so after it’s home video release – but by that time I was already a dyed-in-the-flannel fan of its offspring. Even after I’d outgrown my target demographic status.
It was about leaning into your overactive imagination rather than fighting against it. It was a show for daydreamers, and that just spoke to me. In much the same way UHF did a few years later.
Because sometimes your room looked kinda weird. And you wished you weren’t there.