The Muppet Movie - Plot

Plot

Kermit the Frog enjoys a relaxing afternoon in a Florida swamp, singing "Rainbow Connection" and strumming his banjo, when he is approached by an agent who encourages Kermit to pursue a career in show business. Inspired by the idea of "making millions of people happy," Kermit sets off on a cross-country trip to Hollywood, but is soon pursued by the villainous Doc Hopper (patterned after Colonel Harlan Sanders of "Kentucky Fried Chicken") and his shy assistant Max in an attempt to convince Kermit to be the new spokesman of his struggling French-fried frog legs restaurant franchise, at which Kermit is horrified. As Kermit continues to spurn Doc's advances, Hopper resorts to increasingly vicious means of persuasion.

Kermit then meets Fozzie Bear, who had been working as a hapless stand-up comedian in a sleazy bar. Kermit invites Fozzie to accompany him, and the two set out in Fozzie’s Studebaker. The duo’s journey includes misadventures which introduce them to a variety of eccentric human and Muppet characters, including Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem and their manager Scooter (who receive a copy of the script from the pair), Gonzo and Camilla the Chicken, Sweetums (who ran after them after they thought he declined their offer), and the immediately love stricken Miss Piggy.

Kermit and Miss Piggy begin a relationship over dinner that night, when Doc Hopper and Max kidnap Miss Piggy to lure Kermit into a trap. Using an electronic cerebrectomy device, mad scientist Professor Krassman (Mel Brooks), brainwashes Kermit to perform in Doc’s commercials until Miss Piggy, insulted by the Krassman, breaks free in a rage and defeats Doc Hopper's henchmen. After receiving a job offer, however, she promptly abandons Kermit in the restaurant alone and sad.

After being joined by Rowlf the Dog and eventually Miss Piggy once more, the Muppets continue their journey. Their car breaks down and during a campfire that night, they sadly consider that they may miss the audition tomorrow, and Gonzo cheers up most of the group with a song about his longing to find his place in the world, while Kermit wanders off, ashamed of himself for seemingly bringing his friends into a dead end, and wondering whether his dreams were really worth leaving home for. Upon consulting a more optimistic vision of himself, Kermit remembers that it was not just his friends' belief in the dream that brought them this far, but also his own faith in himself. Reinvigorated, he returns to camp to find that the Electric Mayhem and Scooter have read the script in advance, and arrived to help them the rest of the way.

Just as it seems they are finally on their way, the group is warned by Max that Doc Hopper has hired an assassin to kill Kermit. Kermit decides he will not be hunted by a bully any longer and proposes a Western-style showdown in a nearby ghost town inhabited by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker, who invent materials that have yet to be tested. While confronting Hopper, Kermit explains his motivations, attempting to appeal to Hopper’s own hopes and dreams, but Hopper is unmoved and orders his henchmen to kill him and all his friends. They are saved only when one of Dr. Bunsen's inventions, "insta-grow" pills, temporarily turns Animal into a giant, scaring off Hopper and his men.

The Muppets proceed to Hollywood, and are hired by producer and studio executive Lew Lord (Orson Welles). The Muppets attempt to make their first movie involving a surreal pastiche of their experiences. The first take suddenly erupts into a catastrophic explosion that makes a hole in the roof through which a portion of rainbow shines through on the Muppets. The film ends as the Muppets, the characters from Sesame Street, the characters from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, the characters from "The Land of Gorch" segment of Saturday Night Live, and the James Frawley Muppet sing "Rainbow Connection." As the movie ends, Sweetums bursts through the screen having finally caught up with the rest of the Muppets.