The Muppets Take Manhattan Turns 40: The Movie That Launched Frank Oz’s Directing Career

It’s time for us to collectively Beaker “Meep!” at the realization that The Muppets Take Manhattan, the third theatrical Muppets feature film, turns 40 on July 13. Aside from introducing audiences to the Muppet Babies, the instant tear-jerker song “Saying Goodbye,” a perm-haired agent Kermit, and a frog and pig wedding, it perhaps most importantly launched Frank Oz’s incredible solo directing career. 

As the third Muppets film in five years, The Muppets Take Manhattan marked a sea change in the creative makeup of Muppet films going forward. Coming into this project, Jim Henson—the creator of the Muppets with his wife Jane Henson (née Nebel)—had sustained an unprecedented span of non-stop creation and performance. Executive producing The Muppet Show for five seasons transitioned into his back-to-back directing of The Great Muppet Caper (1981) and The Dark Crystal (1982), and then the creation of Fraggle Rock (1983). Henson was ready to hand over the theatrical directing reins to one of his team, and for The Muppets Take Manhattan that was his The Dark Crystal co-director, Frank Oz. 

Having joined The Jim Henson Company as a performer in 1963, Oz spent two decades being mentored on the job, honing his skills in comedic timing, writing, improv, performance, and visual storytelling. But it was the ambition of Crystal, and the sheer volume of work on that puppet-only original fantasy, that prompted Henson to enlist Oz to co-direct it with him. Henson knew Oz was ready and that opened the door for his solo direction of The Muppets Take Manhattan.

Originally drafted as The Muppets: The Legend Continues by comedy writers Jay Tarses and Tom Patchett, Oz was vocal about not loving the “wakka wakka” vibes of the film so he did his own screenplay pass. In what would become The Muppets Take Manhattan, Oz dismantled the traditional “let’s put on a show” goal so synonymous with a Muppets production, and leans into the emotional break up of the gang when they can’t find funding for their Manhattan Melodies show. The weirdos scatter to find new gigs, while Kermit stays behind (stealthily observed by a concerned Miss Piggy). The frog’s Manhattan inspired dark night of the soul has him seeking funding on his own, which he achieves—and then gets amnesia when he’s hit by a cab in his excitement. 

Aside from just being a very fun Muppet feature film outing, The Muppets Take Manhattan also foreshadows the brilliant comedic work Oz would do in his directing career. It’s plenty clear that Manhattan lays some creative seeds for what Oz would continue to explore in some of his greatest comedic creations like Little Shop of Horrors (1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988), and Bowfinger (1999). 

As a piece, Manhattan is a rock solid baton pass as Oz inventively carries on Henson’s tradition of glorious, cinematic ambition, even for the Muppet-led movies. Under Oz’s direction, we get a Muppet-eye perspective of all facets of New York City at that time. From the razzle dazzle of Broadway to the mangy realism of Pete’s Diner, and even the noir existentialism of Kermit’s depression expressed in the shadow of the Empire State Building, Oz gives us a city just as tough on felt as it is on humans. 

And yet Oz manages to keep a tight rein on that signature Muppet optimism that remains resilient throughout, even when the gang hits their ennui stride in this adventure. No doubt about it, the first act of Manhattan is sad. Kermit can’t get over the hump of failure in finding financing and a home for their little show, which is a new space for Oz to explore. He wrings out some of the most emotional blocking and vocal performances from his Muppeteers, especially within the heartbreaking “Saying Goodbye” number. From Richard Hunt’s woeful Scooter verses to the gentle sadness of Dave Goelz’s Gonzo laments, Oz lingers on the gang separating from one another in a montage that carries the emotional weight of a Douglas Sirk weeper. As a kid watching that in a movie theater, I couldn’t see from the tears pouring down my face. 

Just a year later, Oz would build upon that sense of hopeless hope in the Skid Row setting of his musical adaptation of Little Shop of Horrors. You can call me nuts, but the palpable longing between star-crossed Seymour (Rick Moranis) and Audrey (Ellen Greene) has a throughline that points directly at the angst so perfectly achieved between Piggy and Kermit when they separate at Grand Central.

Of course, Oz also lands his comedic beats with just as much precision. He has no fear of going over-the-top when it’s needed, like in the classic scene where Joan Rivers ends up slapping makeup on Miss Piggy at a makeup counter. And tell me the sequence of Kermit posing as a perm-wigged agent hustling for a walk-up appointment to sell Manhattan Melodies doesn’t have the same energy as Freddy Benson (Steve Martin) and Lawrence Jamieson’s (Michael Caine) grifts in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels?

Oz lets his showman instincts fly, too. Even though Manhattan Melodies as a production only exists to bookend the film, Oz infuses its tireless spirit of Broadway gumption into every frame. As a performer and student of inspirational storytelling, Oz proves he’s got the knack for capturing the underdog spirit of misfits running wild. He’ll even tweak it to perfection 15 years later in Bowfinger, which is the purest human approximation of the Muppets’ “let’s put on a show” energy as personified by Steve Martin’s Kermit-esque Bobby Bowfinger and the Gonzo/Beaker/Fozzie hybrid that is Eddie Murphy’s Kit Ramsey / Jiffrenson “Jiff” Ramsey.

Last but not least, Manhattan achieves a timeless quality because of how Oz stages the Muppets within the city or during auditions in a way that feels contemporary while also being deeply inspired by the Hollywood styles of Vincente Minnelli or Stanley Donnen. At its heart, always, is the Muppets’ need to perform, which is constantly simmering through separation and despair until it is allowed to bloom in the last act. And then Oz delivers a showcase finale that mixes everything surreal and special about the Muppets in a chorus of penguins, singing cakes, a surprise wedding, and instant classic songs like “Together Again” and “Somebody’s Getting Married.” It’s a triumph of the fuzzy will with a satisfying old school ending culminating in a church filled with rapturous Muppets from every era of Henson’s career. It’s Oz showing everything he’s capable of doing in his wheelhouse, and a tantalizing tease of where he’ll go next. 

Tara Bennett is a Los Angeles-based writer covering film, television and pop culture for publications such as SFX Magazine, NBC Insider, SYFY Wire and more. She’s also written official books on Sons of Anarchy, Outlander, Fringe, The Story of Marvel Studios, Avatar: The Way of Water and the upcoming The Art of Ryan Meinerding. You can follow her on Twitter @TaraDBennett or Instagram @TaraDBen.