lotr54hi
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.
wermuth601
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.
Nozz
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.
Snake-666
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.