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An American Tail, Babes in Toyland, Bambi, Childhood, Children's Museum of New Hampshire, CMNH, Colonial Theater, Dover, Dover NH, E.T., Favorite Movies, George Lucas, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Jim Henson, Jumanji, Kermit the Frog, Laconia, Little Monsters, Movies, Movin' Right Along, Muppets Most Wanted, nh, Pee Wee's Big Adventure, Snowball Express, Star Wars, Steven Spielberg, Stuart Little, Swiss Family Robinson, The Dark Crystal, The Goonies, The Jungle Book, The Little Mermaid, The Muppet Movie, The Muppet Show, The Muppets, The Neverending Story, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz, Walt Disney
The film “Muppets Most Wanted” opens nationwide in theaters this weekend.
I’ve had this weekend circled on my calendar for a long time. I am a Muppet lover. A Muppet freak. A Muppophile. Not that I need to prove my Muppet cred, but let me share with you a few incontrovertible facts:
#1. I use Muppet band-aids exclusively.
#2. The vows I spoke to my wife on the day of our wedding were the lyrics from “Movin’ Right Along“.
#3. Kermit the Frog and The Muppets are the theme of my infant son’s nursery.
#4. I’m currently listening to Muppet songs while I write this blog.
I won’t bore you with numbers 5-100.
But how does such an o̶b̶s̶e̶s̶s̶i̶o̶n̶
appreciation of all things Muppets begin? Quite easily. 1979’s “The Muppet Movie” was my favorite movie as a small child. And as an older child. And as a teenager. And as a young adult. And as an adult. I didn’t know who the majority of the humans were in Jim Henson and company’s debut film, but I knew what I loved: Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo – heck, everyone from Bunsen Honeydew & Beaker to each member of The Electric Mayhem, house band of “The Muppet Show” (1976-1981). I already knew and loved these characters from the television show and seeing my felted best friends get in to bigger budgeted adventures (Frogs and Bears don’t drive studebakers on the cheap, you know) only sweetened the pot.
Was it the first movie I ever saw in a theater?* No. I was only 10 months old for the original release of the film. I likely saw it either on a film projector at the local community center, on VHS or on television. Once the technology made it possible, my parents recorded the movie – commercials and all – off of WLVI 56 (Channel 10 where I grew up). One day, the tape stopped working. I brought it to my mother. She explained to me that the tape had become rundown and asked me if I had any idea how that might have happened.
“I watched it a million times,” was my matter-of-fact answer.**
At five months old, my son is too young for me to bring him to see the Muppets eighth cinematic foray while it’s playing at theaters. (No matter what I might say to convince my wife otherwise.) But I’m confident he’ll fall in love with it in time. But it might not be his favorite childhood film. That honor may likely go to a movie that hasn’t even been dreamed up yet. And who knows? Maybe his love of that future film will end up being the theme of my grandchild’s nursery.
* – The honor for first movie I ever saw at the theater goes to “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” at the Colonial Theater in Laconia, NH when I was 4-years-old.
** – The only other movie I came close to watching as many times as “The Muppet Movie” was 1987’s “The Chipmunk Adventure”.
We polled the staff at the Children’s Museum of New Hampshire to find out what their favorites were when they were kids. Do any of their picks match yours?
Some quick observations about the Staff Picks:
– Nine of the twenty films were based on children’s books or fables.
– The Walt Disney Company is responsible for six films on the list.
– Steven Spielberg is associated with three of the films. (Spielberg directed “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”, contributed the story for, “The Goonies” and produced, “An American Tail”.)
– George Lucas is associated with two of the films. (Lucas wrote and directed “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope” and wrote “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”)
– Jim Henson is associated with two of the films. (Henson produced and starred in “The Muppet Movie” and produced, co-directed and wrote the original story of “The Dark Crystal”)
– The most popular years for favorite childhood films of the CMNH staff were 1984, 1985, 1986, and 1989 – each year boasting two films.
What film did you watch a million times? What were some of the oft-watched family favorites growing up in your home? Brag about the movie that had the honor of being the favorite of your childhood in the comments section below!
therealbrocktastic said:
3/4 of mine were listed above: Wizard of Oz (I wasn’t born yet when it came out), Jungle Book (the year I was born), Star Wars (OK, I was 10 by the time it came out, but I went to see it in the theater 3 times and that was unheard of at the time, so I think it counts even if a late entry). The favorite movie missing from the list is Yellow Submarine by The Beatles. I still have a love/hate relationship with Blue Meanies, they are terrifyingly intriguing to me.
Side note: I did, do, and always will love the Muppets, but I was a bigger fan of the show than the movies. I grant you that the movies are fantastic and did see The Muppet Movie in the theater.
Second side note: Although they have seen all of the Star Wars movies, it kills me that my children are from the Star Wars prequel generation, since I am not all that fond of the prequels. I am sad for these children.
My 16 yr old said Spirited Away and my 18 yr old said Iron Giant.
childrensmuseumnh said:
As you can imagine, “Yellow Submarine” is a pretty special movie for CMNH too! Also, your children have pretty great taste – those are excellent movies that would have both been great additions to our list!
Shannon said:
Mary poppins is a favorite in our house!!!! We are always looking for suggestions for family movie night in our house….it is hard because so many movies, old and new, have scary parts and 2 out of 3 of my kids get scared easily….willy wonka, annie and darby O’Gill and the little people were some other of my childhood favorites…I hope some day I will be able to show them to my kids!!!
childrensmuseumnh said:
Shannon, thanks for the comment! I think the first half of our list would be pretty safe for your kids. However, the second half – with movies like Indiana Jones, The Neverending Story, The Dark Crystal & The Goonies – may be better for late elementary age kids. The author of this piece needed to be escorted by his parents out of the theater he was watching The Dark Crystal in at the time due to his intense fear of some scenes resulting in a much wetter pair of pants than the author had at the start of the film.
Brooke said:
My sister and I both also loved Annie, Mary Poppins, Neverending Story and The Goonies. But, we also adored a lesser-known made for TV movie called The Worst Witch, based on a children’s book. I am not sure how or why this became a family favorite, but I will say that it is eerily reminiscent in many ways to the Harry Potter series of books, which is also a family favorite. The Worst Witch also stars the magnificent Tim Curry, who, in the movie, sings a catchy Halloween song that my sister and I still sing to this day. My two children are too young for the movie, but I have a DVD copy waiting for them when they get a bit older. That and It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (which my 4-year-old loves now) are great to get you in the Halloween sprit!
Carla said:
Brooke! I LOVED the Worst Witch. To watch it now is a little cringe inducing (The special effects are amazingly bad!) but it did star a young Fairuza Balk (sp) who also went on to star as an older witch in the Craft. Def not a young kids movie. But that Tim Curry song is the best! It also starred Mrs. Garrett from the Facts of Life! 🙂
As far as my favorite movies as a child – I was a big fan of another muppets movie – The Muppets Take Manhattan. Bofo, Lenny, Socco Lenny!
Also, for ones not on the list yet – The Secret of Nimh, Watership Down and the Last Unicorn were some of my favorite favorites.Sensing a theme? And one little known gem that I believe am the only person who remembers was a lovely movie straight out of Australia – Dot and the Kangeroo. It’s wildly sad and scary though. I don’t know if I would let my daughter watch it. It came out before I was born but I caught it on the early HBO a million times at least.
bryan parys (@bryanparys) said:
I have to concur with The Neverending Story as it–weirdly–taught me to love reading. I can’t count how many books I read by a window, under a blanket and crunching an apple because of that movie. Speaking of burned-out VHS, I did a number on our taped-from-TV copies of Flight of the Navigator and The Muppet Family Christmas (#icypatch).
childrensmuseumnh said:
Brooke, there’s definitely been a lot of love for Annie on this topic from our visitors! The Worst Witch sounds very intriguing! We’ll need to check it out when Halloween comes around again!
childrensmuseumnh said:
Bryan, anything that helps a child discover a love of reading is pretty special in our book. (Pun intended!) Flight of the Navigator was also a favorite of the author of this piece! And I don’t think we need to cover Zach’s Muppet cred again. Your and Zach’s interests are so similar – including your love of strange hashtags – that it makes me think you might be related!
Alyson said:
The Goonies!!!!