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I’ve always been a huge fan of the Muppets.  Growing up, I knew all the lyrics to The Muppet Show theme song and couldn’t wait for the next episode, when everyone would come out on stage singing about playing the music,  lighting the lights, and raising the curtain for The Muppet Show tonight.  It really was the most sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational show ever! From the Muppets, I gained a strong appreciation for the stage, musical theater, vaudeville, and everything that goes into making a great show.  Through the weekly guest stars, I also developed an early awareness for pop culture and the power of celebrity in nailing a big audience.

It would be hard to determine a favorite Muppet movie (pre-Muppets Treasure Island) but I would definitely say “Muppets Take Manhattan” would be at the top.  I always loved all the celebrity cameos from Joan Rivers to Elliot Gould to Mayor Ed Koch.  I didn’t live in NY but I always thought it was funny that this important mayor was willing to hire Kermit if he could “balance the budget.”

{Side Note:  Years later in college, I had the opportunity to attend a small student leader dinner with  the Mayor, himself.  I mentioned to him that I remembered watching him in The Muppets Take Manhattan and as a Public Relations major, I appreciated his ability to engage with not only his constituents but also national audiences.  He said it’s never too early to develop an appreciation for civics and if appearing in family movies helps that cause, then he’ll gladly appear in more.}

Nowadays I watch the Muppets with my daughters.  We have a strict “Jim Henson Only” rule in our minivan.  Sesame Street for education and Muppets for entertainment.  Little did I imagine when we implemented this rule, that some of my daughters’ most important lessons would be gleamed from the Muppets.  This past fall The Muppets Take Manhattan was on full (ok, sole) rotation in the car.  Since my girls are in nursery school, we discuss “stranger danger” and “looking both ways before crossing the street” a lot, and I was pleasantly surprised to realize that this movie was helping to illuminate these concepts.

Stranger Danger

The Muppets Take Manhattan was key in helping my girls understand the concept of “stranger danger.”  Early on in the movie, the Muppets meet up with a con artist played by Dabney Coleman who pretends to be a big time Broadway producer ready to take their money.  Just as the Muppets begin to get suspicious, the police rush in and try to arrest him for swindling lots of other people out of money.  He then turns on them and takes Camilla the Chicken and Gonzo hostage until Animal rescues them.  It can be tricky explaining to trusting little ones that sometimes evil people act nice but are really bad.  This scene, however, illustrates it perfectly and it helped my daughter understand that you have to be careful when you meet new people, and that it’s never OK to talk to strangers unless Mommy or Daddy are standing right next to you.

Look Both Ways Before Crossing the Street

Right before we started Muppets Take Manhattan in heavy rotation, my older daughter was having problems with walking out into traffic.  We tried everything to make her understand that if she wasn’t careful, she could get hit by a car and then no more Cassidy and Mommy and Daddy would be very, very sad and cry and cry.  But she still didn’t get it until… The Muppets Take Manhattan.  Remember the scene where Kermit finally sells the show and they’re going to finally be a big hit on Broadway?  And he’s so excited that he doesn’t look both ways before crossing the street and WHAM! gets hit by a car and winds up in the hospital with amnesia?  Yes, that finally did it.  After watching Kermit get squished by a car, my daughter finally understood the importance of looking both ways before crossing the street.   After that light bulb went off,  she became really good about always reaching   for my hand.  She’d say “Mommy, I need to hold your hand so I don’t get squished like Kermit.”  It also helped my younger daughter.  All it took was one time of not holding hands in the parking lot, and my older daughter said “No Zoe, you have to hold hands or else you’ll go squish like Kermit and then Mommy and Daddy will cry and cry.”  And surprisingly, my younger daughter got it.  “Ohh like Kermi? ohhhhkay.”  I was so proud of them for understanding an important lesson and also a little bit excited that they too were learning lessons from my childhood favorites.  (Additional #MomWin:  Turns out letting them watch movies in the car wasn’t rotting their brain, it was actually reinforcing my parenting lessons.)

What movies have you found to provide unexpected life lessons?