01x08 - The Muppet Movie

[bunniefuu]

DAN: My generation grew up
watching the Muppets on TV.

- Welcome to The Muppet Show.
- You're getting interested, aren't you?

DAN: And we were thrilled

when The Muppet Movie
had our favorite characters

step out of their TV world and into ours.

- [LAUGHS LOUDLY]
- [GASPING]

DAN: The movie
is a cross-country journey...

What a wild idea.

By bus, balloon, and bicycle.
And I'll be chasing down the artifacts

- and exploring the myths...
- Myth! Myth!

- Yeth?
- Behind this classic film.

- Roll film! Roll film!
- [CLAMORING]

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN: In a movie, every detail,
no matter how small,

is designed to tell you something.

I'm Dan Lanigan, and I've spent
my entire life collecting artifacts

from my favorite films.
Now, I'm setting out to learn more

about the props from the Disney movies
that I love.

This thing is so cool.

Because these historic artifacts

make you feel like you're a part
of the story.

[UKULELE MUSIC PLAYS]

DAN: I'm searching for objects
from the 1979 hit, The Muppet Movie.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN: I've decided to begin my journey
on a fact-finding mission

to The Jim Henson Company in Hollywood.

I'm here to meet
with the chairman himself.

- [KNOCKING ON DOOR]
- Brian?

- Hi, Dan.
- DAN: Yes.

- Thanks for seeing me.
- How are you?

DAN: Jim Henson's son Brian
was a teenager

at the time The Muppet Movie
was in production,

and he spent nearly every day on set.

So I'm hoping he can provide some insight
as to the location

of some of these lost treasures.

Obviously, you have been involved
with the Muppets

- as long as you've been alive.
- My whole life.

- Yeah.
- Exactly. Any of this stuff

from The Muppet Movie get kept from...
with you guys?

- BRIAN: Well...
- You guys have any of that stuff?

- Truthfully?
- Yeah.

Not really. No.
We don't really have much.

- Here, well, sit.
- All right.

I'll see what I can figure out.

The first Muppet movie, that was
the one thing we shot in Hollywood.

My dad didn't stay in touch
with those special effects guys,

- all of those art directors...
- Right. Right.

And the people who made
the special effects cars.

But, you know, we did, at one point,
find the bus...

only because somebody contacted us
and said,

"I hear you're doing another Muppet movie.
I have the bus."

So we used the bus from the first
Muppet movie, the Electric Mayhem bus.

- That's cool.
- We used it in Muppets from Space.

But since, it caught fire
and it burned down, so we...

- so I don't even know where that is.
- Oh, my gosh.

- Like, that was the only...
- Amazing.

We do keep the costumes
because you can't buy them off the shelf.

They all have to be specially tailored.

But again, we're a working shop,
so we'll often rework it

into a different costume,

- and then it doesn't exist anymore.
- Sure.

You know, one of the pieces I think
is so core to the character of Kermit,

and Kermit is the heart of the film,
is his banjo.

BRIAN: Now, that banjo...

that should still be around.

- We didn't use it often...
- Right.

'Cause Kermit didn't play it
very often.

For my dad, the art exists
on the emotion of the film.

- DAN: Yes.
- BRIAN: That's where the result

- of the art is the film.
- DAN: Right.

But it's also that...
just that he was so productive.

Well, actually, my mother, more,
would try to get him to stop

and put some things,
original puppets mostly,

- in the Smithsonian...
- DAN: Mm-hmm.

BRIAN: Uh, the Museum
of the Moving Image in New York.

DAN: Interesting.

I've noticed you have, I believe,
two of the films that you directed,

- right?
- Yes. Yeah.

DAN: Those look like Drew Struzan
paintings, if I'm not mistaken.

- I'm a big fan of his work.
- BRIAN: Yes. Yeah. Those are.

DAN: Didn't he do the first Muppet movie?

- Yes.
- Okay.

He did do the first Muppet movie.
Now, with Drew...

you don't keep the original.
But he gets to keep the originals.

- Yeah, of course.
- So I don't know if he's still got them.

- I'm so unhelpful. I'm so sorry.
- DAN: [CHUCKLES] But you're helping me,

giving me some direction that I should go
and try and find some of these pieces.

I guess, if I could just tell you
where everything was,

- it would be no fun for you.
- All right.

[BOTH LAUGH]

DAN: On Brian's advice,
I'm heading to Pasadena

to hopefully find the original poster art
from the movie,

and meet with the artist who created it.

DREW: There's this principal standard
that I have for what I do.

I want it to be true.
I want it to be beautiful.

I want it to be loving.

And until it looks like that,
it's not right and it's not good.

DAN: Meet Drew Struzan.

You may not know it,
but you already love his artwork.

From Back to the Future to E.T.
and beyond,

Drew's created some of the most iconic
movie posters in history.

And with any luck,
he'll still have his original paintings

from The Muppet Movie.

DREW: I'll show you
the very first thing...

- DAN: Oh, look at that!
- I did for Jim Henson.

- Here you go. 1979.
- DAN: Wow.

That is spectacular.

I've seen printed versions
of this poster.

- DREW: Hmm.
- DAN: And I love 'em, but it's just

so vibrant and so sharp.

DREW: Jim wanted it to be like,
kind of like Gone with the Wind,

- you know? And... and there it is.
- DAN: Mm-hmm.

They're all
very different-looking characters,

yet each one,
you've got spot-on who they are.

- It was Jim's first movie.
- DAN: Right.

DREW: So he came to Hollywood.
He went to Seiniger Advertising.

Tony Seiniger said,
"Take this piece of paper and a pencil"

"and write down the titles to all
the movies that you like the art of."

So he walked around for an hour,
an hour and a half,

came back with a whole list.

So Tony took a look at the list and said,
"Oh, this is gonna be so easy.

"It's all the same guy."
[LAUGHS]

- DAN: It was all you?
- It was all my work.

- [DREW CHUCKLES]
- [DAN LAUGHS]

Well, Jim Henson knew talent,
so there you go.

Once he saw what I did here in the finish,

he said the way I painted
his characters...

was exactly the way he feels
about them.

- Wow!
- DREW: Like they're real,

and they're alive, and they're beautiful.

And he says, from now on,

no one else is allowed
to paint the Muppets except me.

And I feel things
more than think about them.

DAN: Hmm.

And you know how to... take that feeling
and put it through into your artwork?

Yeah. That's why I made a living
for the last 50 years. [LAUGHS]

I got more. This is just the first one.

DAN: After seeing Drew's paintings
of the Muppets,

I wanted to check out
their original costumes.

So I tracked down
some of Miss Piggy's outfits

from The Muppets Studio,
and I'm heading to a workshop in Burbank

to reunite them with the designers,
Calista Hendrickson

and Amy Van Gilder.

CALISTA: That's a piece
from Miss Piggy's famous montage

after she meets Kermit for the first time.

I haven't seen these in so long.
I'd forgotten about the detail, actually.

DAN: Hopefully, it'll bring back
some memories.

- CALISTA: Well, it's gotta be 40 years.
- Calista...

this costume reminds me of the costume
that is featured

in the Drew Struzan movie poster
that was done.

- CALISTA: I think...
- DAN: Do you know if this is it?

CALISTA: Yes. Absolutely.

And I think they probably chose it
'cause it's a more seductive look.

- And here is the...
- DAN: Her... I'm not sure.

- What would this kind of hat be called?
- This is called a mobcap.

- DAM: A mobcap?
- It's something 18th Century.

And this one's unusual
because there are room

- for Miss Piggy's ears.
- Yes. Well, she's gotta be able to hear.

- Yeah. [CHUCKLES]
- DAN: [CHUCKLING]

- CALISTA: Here, you hold it.
- DAN: Okay.

- CALISTA: "Kermie! Oh, wait for me."
- "Oh, Kermie." I... I can't even...

[IMITATING MISS PIGGY]
Wait for me. Wait for me.

So, it's interesting, the pearls on here,
Piggy always wore pearls, right?

- CALISTA: Yeah, I think she still does.
- AMY: And the pearls...

uh, were serving two purposes.

- One was her ladylike look.
- DAN: Right.

AMY: And the other was
to hide the seam... [CHUCKLES]

- Ah! Right.
- Of the neck going into the body.

DAN: The neck going to the body.
Yes. That makes perfect sense.

CALISTA: And this is the dress
that she's in

when they're in the rowboat.

That was just a Victorian day dress,
really.

These are all period laces and things...

- DAN: Really?
- We would collect.

This looks like a tablecloth.

No. Designing for the Muppets,
everything is raw material.

Right. What is the hardest part
from your experience in designing

- and making wardrobe for Muppets?
- AMY: Oh, the hardest part...

is not doing it anymore. [CHUCKLES]

- CALISTA: Oh, that's a great answer.
- Wow.

Yeah. It was great fun.

- AMY: We had a great time.
- CALISTA: We were a very tight team,

and we were all good friends
and we had a lot of laughs together.

- I have some photos that I brought that...
- DAN: Really?

I took while we were sh**ting
the movie.

- Really?
- AMY: Yeah.

Oh, wow.

AMY: So, let's just see here.

- Oh, my gosh. It's Piggy and Mel Brooks.
- AMY: Yeah.

DAN: Oh, my gosh. Look at this.

[DAN LAUGHING]

- So that's Jim, right?
- AMY: This is obviously Jim

in the Studebaker,
lying down on the floor.

So, this is Jim's arm here,
and this is Frank's arm over here.

- Wow.
- Well, here...

here's one of the set dressers

- painting the Studebaker.
- DAN: Oh, my gosh. That is amazing.

Wow. These photos are awesome.

I just discussed the fine art
of dressing up a pig

for a dream sequence. It's not a sentence
I ever thought I'd say.

Then again, I was about to go in search
of a car a bear got from his uncle.

I discovered that Fozzie's Studebaker
found a permanent home

at the Studebaker Museum
in South Bend, Indiana.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Coming to South Bend, driving through
the countryside in the Midwest

is so lovely. Like, I'm a simple man.
I'm from Wisconsin, right?

I don't trust those other people.

I don't trust anyone
who's not from the Midwest.

- [LAUGHS]
- And I hope none of them are watching.

DAN: Joel Hodgson, friend
and puppet builder,

is the original host and co-creator
of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

As a super-fan of The Muppet Movie,
he asked if he could join me

on this road trip.

You started your career
doing stand-up comedy,

and then you rolled it into puppeteering
with MST3K.

JOEL: The first Muppet movie
had a huge impact on me.

I was a freshman in college
and it just knocked me out.

And I went to see it three times.

I wanted to do puppets too,
but I didn't wanna

- completely knock off the Muppets.
- Right.

So my puppets are all hard, you know,
they're robots.

And what I think is so charming
about this movie is,

they did everything in-camera.
I think there's one process shot,

- maybe when they're dancing.
- DAN: Right. Yep.

JOEL: And so, they really did this
the old way, and it was almost like.

- Wizard of Oz technology, pretty much.
- DAN: Yeah.

DAN: The bowels of the museum.

This is like the vault.

- We keep anything special down here.
- JOEL: Yeah.

- And, of course...
- DAN: Wow. Amazing.

- One of our greatest artifacts.
- JOEL: There it is.

DAN: Oh, there it is.

JOEL: It's a bear's natural habitat,
right?

- DAN: It is. A Studebaker.
- AARON: [CHUCKLES] Yeah.

- Gee. A Studebaker. Where'd you get it?
- My uncle left it to me.

- Holy cow! And there...
- Wow, look at this thing.

So, these are obviously paint markings
from The Electric Mayhem, right?

- So this is the stuff they did.
- AARON: Correct.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Doc Hopper will never recognize you now.

- I don't know how to thank you guys.
- Now, I don't know why to thank you guys.

DAN: And this is original paint?

- Or what's left of it?
- AARON: Correct.

So, you'll notice
it's kind of a gray tone color.

- That's because a lot of the colors...
- DAN: Right.

Of course, the brighter colors
they used, was water-based

so that they could at least
change the colors...

- DAN: Ah!
- If need be.

- JOEL: Can I open up the door?
- AARON: I think the door is pinned,

but we can try. That's so the puppeteers
didn't fall out during the drives.

That is so interesting.

- DAN: Look at this, Joel.
- Amazing.

DAN: There's a steering wheel.

They set the car up with the driver
positioned back here first,

- the stunt driver.
- AARON: And through the b*llet nose,

they actually had a camera so that
the driver could see where he was going.

DAN: So that Frank and Jim
could sit in the front

- and do their puppeteering work.
- Amazing.

That is so cool.

AARON: This is
one of our greatest artifacts.

Ah.

A bear in his natural habitat,
a Studebaker.

AARON: The amazing thing about this is,
we will see people come in

and they will tell their kids, like,
"I watched this movie when I was a kid

"back in 1979," and so it has, you know,
a... impact, a social impact.

This is unique in that when they made
The Muppet Movie, they were transitioning

from The Muppet Show, which was this
art-directed puppet world.

- DAN: Right.
- And now, the Muppets were coming

into our world. And that this was one
of those great little portals

or transition devices 'cause this looks
like something a puppet would drive.

- Okay. Where's the keys?
- [AARON LAUGHING]

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN: I heard
there's another treasured artifact

from the movie in Portland, Oregon,

where Brian Knott, son of the late
Robbie Knott, who worked

on special effects for the film,
has agreed to show me

what he has in storage.

KNOTT: He loved working with his hands.

And he found
the special effects business,

and started mechanic...
doing mechanical effects.

The cars that are upside down...

- DAN: Yeah.
- That was his design. And they decided

to put the driver in the rear
of the bottom car.

I just saw that car

- in Indiana at the Studebaker Museum.
- KNOTT: Did you?

- It is so frickin' cool.
- And that's my dad driving that car.

- Really?
- He built the compartment.

DAN: Wow.

KNOTT: And then he did a lot of
other effects on there, a lot of people...

Kermit the Frog riding a bicycle.
That was his design.

- DAN: Ah, okay.
- KNOTT: He did that, uh...

He tried remote control,
and the bicycle worked fine on its own,

but when they put Kermit on it,
it kept falling over.

So he, uh, decided to do it
the old-fashioned way,

- with monofilament line and a crane.
- DAN: Wow.

My dad was up on the crane,
working the puppet.

The man was amazing.

- KNOTT: Ten fifty-eight.
- DAN: All right. Here we are.

- KNOTT: This is it.
- DAN: What do we have in here?

[DOOR RATTLES]

KNOTT: Oh, here's a light right here.

DAN: Hmm.

- That looks like something.
- That does look like something.

- DAN: What do you think?
- KNOTT: Hey.

- DAN: Wow. Look at that thing.
- KNOTT: There it is.

- DAN: It's massive.
- KNOTT: Look at that.

Yeah. It's still here.

KERMIT: The El Sleezo Cafe.

Hmm.

Foreign food.

DAN: Wow, look at that.

- KNOTT: Wow.
- This is crazy.

- You know, it still looks great.
- It does. There's details like this.

KNOTT: Mm-hmm.

DAN: And this, these intentional flaws
that were in the movie.

It was meant to look like
it had been around a while.

KNOTT: Yeah, my dad was adamant that
no one touch... no one try to retouch it.

- Smart man.
- Right.

You think your dad would be happy
that we're giving the sign

- some new life by talking about it?
- Oh, yes. He...

This was his passion,
this was his favorite movie.

He enjoyed the response that it got.

He enjoyed every moment of it.

He enjoyed the creativity.

[VOICE BREAKS] He did...
worked on a lot of movies, but...

DAN: This was the one for him?

KNOTT: And that's why he kept the sign.
He got sick in the end,

and he would sit out there
in his wheelchair and look at this sign.

Really? Wow.

That's pretty amazing.

When you see this stuff in person, it...
it really evokes...

so much more than the movie and really
helps you connect to the film.

And to him, to his memories
of working on it.

KNOTT: Yeah. Yeah. Definitely.

It's been a long time,
I'm glad it's still here.

DAN: Seeing the emotions
these objects evoke,

makes me appreciate the efforts
to preserve these artifacts.

And no place has worked harder
to keep Jim Henson's legacy alive

than the Museum of the Moving Image.

So I'm off to Queens, New York,

to see a special piece
they keep deep in their vaults.

Museum curator, Barbara Miller,
was gracious enough

to open the exhibit after hours
to share some of their treasures.

DAN: Kermit the Frog.

- BARBARA: The one and only.
- DAN: Wow.

And what I really like,
it's Jim's headband.

I think there's a really deep connection
between Jim Henson's personal story

and what's shown in The Muppet Movie.

His company of puppets is sort of enacting
the dream that he had for his own company.

So I think that there's something
really special about that.

It's almost like it was
Jim Henson's "Rainbow Connection."

- Yeah. For sure.
- Yeah.

This photo is in front... is from...
it looks like the swamp sequence.

Um, I guess it would have been.

Kermit playing the banjo
in the opening scene of The Muppet Movie.

And Kermit's banjo,
do you guys have that?

We don't have that, actually.

But luckily, we do have something
in the collection that we can show you.

- Follow me. Let's go.
- Okay.

- DAN: Oh, my gosh!
- Here he is, in all his glory.

Certainly a very iconic piece.

- If you wanna have a better look at him.
- DAN: Yes, please.

[CHUCKLES]

- DAN: Gonzo the Great.
- Gonzo the Great. The plumbing artiste.

DAN: So, this is from the top...

- top of the truck?
- The plumbing truck, yeah, yeah.

- DAN: Wow. So cool.
- BARBARA: Yeah.

So, Gonzo is a plumber.

DAN: And this is the first thing you see
when you see Gonzo.

Exactly. Yes. It's how he imagines
he presents to the world.

- This knight in plumbing armor.
- Exactly.

DAN: So, he's missing his plunger
and he's missing his other hand,

but honestly,
that he's so well together still...

- Yes.
- Is amazing.

He has held up remarkably.

If you look at the film,
you see that the car that he is on top of

- literally goes top-down onto another car.
- DAN: It does.

[BOTH SCREAMING]

- KERMIT: We're gonna hit!
- [CHICKEN SQUAWKS]

We missed it.

Oh? You call that a miss?

BARBARA: But he definitely
was sort of roughly treated,

- this guy, in that scene.
- DAN: Wow.

Generally, a set piece like this,
in another film,

would be made out of hard sculpted
material or found pieces.

But this is made out of foam. And just,
it gives a very interesting insight

into how they put this movie together
and therefore built the Henson Empire.

- Yes. Empire of... of felt and...
- It's... Empire of felt.

- And foam.
- The... the Feltire.

[BOTH LAUGHING]

DAN: I think I speak for everyone
when I say

we could all use a little more Gonzo
in our lives,

so I set out to do just that.

I got my hands
on some screen-used Gonzo gear.

And I'm heading to San Francisco
to get the inside scoop

from a guy who knows Gonzo
better than anyone.

Dan!

- DAN: Hey! Gonzo!
- They told me you were coming.

- This is great. How are you doing, man?
- I'm doing great!

- Wow! I am a huge fan of yours.
- Really?

- DAN: Yeah. Yeah.
- Well, that's good to hear.

And I... I'm a prop collector, so...
and wardrobe is one of the things

- that I collect.
- Is that right?

- Yeah, yeah.
- Fantastic.

I have brought some pieces here
I'd like to show you...

- Oh, I'd love to see them.
- That you, I believe, wore...

- uh, back when you did The Muppet Movie.
- [GASPS]

- Get out of town!
- DAN: Yeah.

Oh, my goodness. That's...
That's the vest I wore in...

- in... in The Muppet Movie!
- DAN: That's right.

We picked up a weirdo.

I would try it on, but I'm not sure
that it would still fit.

[CHUCKLES]

- So, what else you got?
- Well, I've got

- an even more important piece.
- GONZO: Really?

- DAN: Yes.
- [GASPS, CHOKES]

- DAN: Are you okay?
- I just choked a little bit.

Where did you get that?
Let's see that.

- DAN: It came from The Muppet Movie.
- My head! It came off of my head!

DAN: Yeah, I know.
It was on your head. It was...

GONZO: I thought I was still wearing it.

I'm a prince of the plunger, fair maiden.

- Would you look at that little faucet?
- It's amazing.

Let me just try it on. Just...
Can you put it on my head

- for a second?
- All right. Yup.

- Pretty much still fits.
- DAN: Wow. That's amazing.

Well, thanks for bringing that.

- That's a treat.
- Yeah. Well, what are the significance

of these pieces to you

beyond just the character
you played in the film?

Nothing.

It's just... just clothes.

Well, you look great in it.

I... I think to me, it's just...
it's a way to celebrate

the way Kermit
brought us all together, you know?

DAN: You guys are like a big family.

I mean, you know,
given some of the genetics involved,

that's kind of a stretch.

[CHUCKLES]

You know, a friend of mine,
Dave Goelz... Do you know Dave Goelz?

Dave Goelz. Dave... Was he the guy
who parked my car when I came in?

He arranged to have these pieces
brought out so I can show them to you.

That's incredible that a valet
would have those kinds of connections.

[LAUGHS]

DAN: That valet was the guy who, well...

let's just say...
gives Gonzo a hand.

- So, you were not just a performer.
- No. I was a puppet designer and builder.

So what about the characters
that you puppeteered yourself?

Well, they do come from a part of us.

DAVE: Bunsen Honeydew
came from parts of me

that get interested in specifics,

but also scientific types
and engineering types who would get

so fascinated with the little details
of a thing

that they would miss the big picture.

You know, Zoot was another one.

He was a guy who was just
in his own world, and there's a part of me

- that can be that.
- Mm-hmm.

And... and with Gonzo,
that was an aspect of me

that felt, I think, originally,
like an outcast, like a little bit of a...

a person who was
out of his depth in show business,

but was still trying.
That's kind of the essence of Gonzo.

And then, in all cases,
I tried to make it lovable and endearing.

So I have to take these flaws
and make them likable.

And what I realized over a number of years
was that this was

kind of a therapeutic thing for me,
that I was learning to love my flaws.

Wow. That's cool.

When you're performing the Muppets,
they're not aware of anything

that's going on that would indicate
they're being puppeteered.

Yeah. I mean, we think of them
as working actors, you know,

so they have lives outside of that.

There was one time where we paid tribute
to Jim after he died,

when we referred to Jim Henson,
and the characters didn't remember him,

and then pointed out, "Yeah, but there was
a guy walking around under there..."

- "that we..."
- DAN: Now, that's cool.

That's the only time
we've ever alluded to that.

He was a real grower of people.
I mean, everybody who joined

came from a different background.
He was a harvester of diversity.

And that's why the work was so rich.

It's a body of work that I really treasure
and I feel extremely lucky.

DAN: I don't have a bucket list.
But if I did, I would write.

"Interview Gonzo the Great" near the top.

And that Dave Goelz guy
seems pretty okay, too.

[PHONE RINGS]

DAN: And just when I thought
this journey was coming to an end...

BRIAN: [ON PHONE]
Hey, Dan. It's Brian Henson.

Hey, I looked into it, and I think
you should come back to the studio.

I think I found something
that you'll be very excited to see.

All right. Take care.

- MISS PIGGY: All ready, Kermie.
- Okay. Stand by. Here we go.

[CHEERFUL MUSIC PLAYS]

Hello?

- Hey.
- Paul Williams.

Yeah.

- How you doing? I'm Dan Lanigan.
- PAUL: Hi, Dan. How are you?

- DAN: Nice to meet you.
- PAUL: Nice to meet you as well.

Brian said that you wanted
to talk about something, and...

- Yes, I do! I do!
- PAUL: Yeah.

I wanna talk about The Muppet Movie.
I didn't realize that

he'd ask you to come by.
This is awesome.

Yeah. Well, you know,
it was a labor of love, so...

anything involved with Kermit
and, you know, you just show up.

[LAUGHS] That's awesome.

- [ALARM CLOCK RINGS]
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]

Showtime! Showtime at the El Sleezo!

DAN: I've been a big fan of
actor-songwriter Paul Williams for years.

His songs have been recorded
by Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand,

and David Bowie.

He and his songwriting partner,
Kenny Ascher,

wrote all of the amazing music
for The Muppet Movie.

DAN: So, Paul, it looks like
Brian tracked down

- something from The Muppets Studio.
- Well, I'll let you

- do the honors.
- DAN: Let's see here.

It feels like it might be...

- Oh, wait, wait, wait.
- Wow.

- PAUL: That's not just a banjo. That...
- DAN: This is the banjo.

PAUL: Be still, my heart. [CHUCKLES]

DAN: Even in this age of CGI overload,
a frog playing a banjo in a swamp

remains a truly unforgettable
opening sequence.

[SINGING] Somebody thought of that
And someone believed it.

Look what it's done so far.

- DAN: This is so amazing.
- PAUL: That's the banjo.

I mean, from The Muppet Movie...

The Muppet Show, you know,
which they shot in England...

This puppy has been
around the world, I think,

but an amazing little banjo that...
Incidentally, the amount of time I sat

waiting for Kermit to tune this thing
was just... It was ridiculous.

[LAUGHS]

When I got the job to write
for The Muppet Movie, this was a big deal.

This was the first time on the big screen.

The bar, as far as
what we tried to sh**t for,

was "When You Wish Upon a Star."

When Jiminy Cricket climbs up
into a window, takes his hat off,

looks at the sky, and sings...
[SINGING] "When you wish upon..."

[SPEAKING] I mean, it's...
oh, give me a break.

- It's just... It's brilliant.
- [CHUCKLING]

[SINGING] When you wish.

Upon a star.

Your dreams.

Come true.

PAUL: You know, it began
with the first meeting with Jim Henson

and all of us talking about the opening
of the movie. And we, you know,

Jim said, "Well, we find Kermit
sitting on a lily pad,"

which became a log
because it was easier

- to hide Jim in it, you know.
- DAN: Right, right.

And I went, "Okay. What's he doing?"
He thought a minute, and he went...

"Playing a banjo."
So that's the banjo. That's...

- My gosh.
- And that kinda set the mood

for the song, too, you know,
the feel. It just...

Kind of that down-home
Americana comfort sound.

- DAN: Amazing. Amazing.
- Yeah.

What was it like having Kermit...

sing your song?

It was interesting because in the studio,
Jim began to sing it,

and it was great, but it was like
there was something missing.

But the thought was, "Go get Kermit."

So... put up a little thing to get behind,

brought out Kermit, lowered the mic...

and Kermit sang it beautifully.

[SINGING] Someday we'll find it
The rainbow connection.

The lovers, the dreamers, and me.

DAN: You know what, I've been
looking for this piece for a while,

and I'd done a lot of research on it.
Like, I believe the strap

has been replaced,
but it's very similar...

- The banjo.
- To the original one.

And it still has details

- that are specific to Kermit, like the K.
- PAUL: Yeah, yeah.

This is a true artifact
of, uh, Muppet history.

PAUL: Oh, my God. Thank you.
[SIGHS]

Wow. You know, this was...
There's a spirit

- in some inanimate objects...
- DAN: Yes.

When they have been held by people that
have a deep wisdom and a spiritual life.

- Every craftsman gave so completely...
- DAN: Right.

Just, you know, absolutely
their absolute best.

And, uh, you know, nobody was gonna
see the back of it, but Kermit.

But there's wonderful little lines
and the creation there, so...

DAN: On my journey, I've seen
the joyful memories and strong emotions

these props bring out from the people
who made and worked with them,

giving me a deeper understanding
of what it took to bring the Muppets

into our world.

This movie tells the story
of a group of misfits banding together

to pursue their Hollywood dreams.
And Kermit, like Jim Henson,

fostered an environment
of creativity and love

that inspired everyone involved
with The Muppet Movie.

PAUL: One of the great stories
is that if you talked to Jim

and he had Kermit with him...
and Frank Oz was there with Piggy,

there were five of us in the conversation.

You know, Kermit would be gentle
and understanding

- and loving everything that I wrote.
- Right.

And Jim would be nodding,
and Frank would be pretty pleasant.

And Piggy would be like,
"What's the little guy doing here?"

- [DAN LAUGHS]
- You know...

"Will you tell him what we need."
"Oh, all right."

[LAUGHS]

Marvelous, marvelous, marvelous.
It's... [CHUCKLES]

- Wow. Lot of memories, you know.
- DAN: Oh, gosh.

PAUL: "So we've been told,
and some choose to believe it."

"I know they're wrong, wait and see.

"Someday we'll find it,
the rainbow connection,

"thanks to the lovers, the dreamers,

- "and you." Yeah. Yeah.
- You. You're the one.

I'm nothing but grateful
for the opportunity of working

with this amazing family.

- As matter of fact, I think I may just...
- Yeah.

Stay here for a little while
and see if anybody comes in

and has any ideas.

DAN: There's a lot of history here.

[THEME MUSIC PLAYING]