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Kermit's Swamp Years: The Real Story Behind Kermit the Frog's Early Years

Kermit's Swamp Years: The Real Story Behind Kermit the Frog's Early Years

List Price: $9.95
Your Price: $9.95
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: My 3 year old is mesmerized
Review: I first rented this movie by chance at Blockbuster - my son had never seen Kermit prior to watching this movie. He is absolutely mesmerized by it and it's been played over and over again. Although it may not have the typical adult appeal as the original series, based on my son's enthusiasm and the general good clean fun, I have to give it 4 stars and am hesitant about not giving it 5. Anyone with a preschooler would be well advised to bring it into their home!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: NOT Good for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Review: I have a three-year-old, and I am very selective about what he watches. I had thought that surely I would be safe with a Muppet movie. I was very wrong. The movie had more than a few potty jokes. The sinister doctor/professor yelled "Shut Up!" and frequently spoke in an angry and threatening manner, which was distressing to my child. Then the doctor conducted a class during which Kermit, his friends and some other frogs from the pet store were to be dissected -- a frog was even restrained on a dissection table. Fortunately, at this point, I had hit the mute button and begun fast forwarding the movie, while reassuring my child -- who is working to come to grips with his own normal childhood wariness of the doctor's office, that yes the frogs were just getting a check-up and then they would be ok and could go home. Again fortunately my finger was on the fast forward button, and took away most of the impact of the fight between the maniacal doctor/professor and Kermit, while the doctor weilded a scalpal and he and Kermit essentially had a knife fight. Who decided that this was subject matter suitable for young viewers? Why does our urge to be ironic and to put adult words in the mouths of little ones have to invade all areas of entertainment? Can Nothing be left For Children -- Just For Children, geared to their sense of humor and level of emotional development? My husband and I have chuckled over "South Park" and "King of the Hill" -- but at night, when our child is asleep. I don't want to see the outtakes from this Kermit movie shown before the credits if the humor is aimed more towards adults and teens than toddlers and young children, which I had thought was the target audience for Muppets. Sure it's funny for adults to see stuffed frogs grumbling at a human and calling him a loser, or some may find it funny to see a frog say in a longing voice that he's been a bad boy and needs a spanking and then see a frog spank him. But this is not what our children need to see. At least, it is not what I want my child to see. And my child, of his own volition, said he wanted to watch something else instead.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Henson when you remove the art and class.
Review: I have been a fan of the Muppets for many years, and I have gradually been introducing my two and a half year old son to them. I found this DVD in the store and took it home, bracing for an evening of fun.

First, a warning: THIS MOVIE IS NOT APPROPRIATE FOR VERY YOUNG CHILDREN. I didn't object to the potty humor--those were actually some of the highlights of the film. While they did not earn any points from me with phrases like "shut up", what I really objected to was the fighting that goes on throughout. The worst of it: a large bullfrog beating up a young toad. Not just a single punch or two that I could have overlooked, but really beating the tar out of the little fella. Then there are threats and so forth throughout the rest of the movie. Maybe ok for older kids, but reeeallly icky if you are trying to teach a two year old that hitting is bad.

The "moral lessons" of this movie are ham-handed. Ok, after having the big guy beat him up for HOURS, the little guy is going to offer himself in willing sacrifice to a snake because "I'm helping a friend" and the bully is supposedly learning all about friendship. (Uhmmm....no. I don't want my son learning that particular lesson, thanks.)

I don't like the portrayal of a high school science teacher as "a scientist." I don't like the portrayal of scientists as bad guys. I honestly still have no idea what this "scientist" or his "assistant" were doing in the swamp in the first place. I am used to cheesy plots, but...this one takes the cake and walks with it. Not only that, the dialog is poorly written and with an intended audience that is too young to understand the rest of the movie and not sophisticated enough for the average kid of, say, 10.

The puppetry is horrible. I mean BAD. The characters were poorly controlled and their movements were not at all natural. They try to mask it over with lousy gimmickry, such as the tubing that makes Kermit appear to squirt water form his mouth in a way that is totally unnatural-looking.

This movie did have a few good moments. Very few. There was one sight-gag of a frog hiding in a display cabinet, posed as a trophy figure. That made me chuckle. There were some random quips and subtle lines. In all, I did not laugh out loud, but chuckled 5 times during this movie.

So: to summarize: bad writing, bad puppetry, no idea who their intended audience is (it changes constantly throughout the movie), inappropriate for toddlers and preschoolers,and an occasionally redeeming joke or sight-gag.

As a fan of the muppets of many many years (ever since Kermit's earliest days in Baltimore!) I objected very strongly to this movie. That seismic activity they are picking up across North America is Jim Henson rolling in his grave.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: As a fan of the Muppets I was disappointed
Review: I have tried to collect most of the standard Muppet shows on video where possible. This was terrible. Now a lot of it is because I'm an adult, and this one was aimed at children. However, the original Muppet Show was a mix of stuff aimed at the family and some adult humor as well. This had none of the adult humor, and was very disappointing. I gave it to a friend who has children, and they apparently love it, but it makes him crazy.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This Movie Was Great!
Review: I loved every bit of this movie! I adore Pilgrim(she made me fall in luv with Bearded Collies)And also my fave highlights of the movie are: #1: the turtles in the pet shop. If you've ever see the muppet show, U will remember the 2 old guys(the ones that made jokes all the time) #2: SEEING the 2 old guys in the movie theater (with black hair!)my sister and I loved that! #3: I liked the inside joke about Kermit passing a kid with the last name Henson. #4: on the bloopers, some band plays a sped-up version of the song that Kermit sings in the beginning of "the Muppet movie" It was really cool! My only question is: was pilgrim a Bearded Collie? I would love 2 know!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: This really stinks, don't waste your money.
Review: I really like the Muppets, both the TV shows and the many movies they have made. This is not worthy of the name Muppets. Save your money and do not buy this. It is inane, stupid, uncreative garbage. Even the live/puppet interaction that is so good in movies like Muppet Treasure Island is done poorly in this movie.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Modern Muppet Movie Up to par
Review: i watched kermit's swamp years on DVD and frankly i liked it. it is NOT like the older muppet movies, though. it dosen't have the "magic" the other movies have, but for a modern muppet movie this is a good one. i would reccomend buying this movie on DVD, not VHS because the little extras(which are pretty long really), are worth it. Get this DVD if you would like to see the true story of Kermit's early life and laugh to your hearts content!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: "Bridging the gap between Muppet/Human relations."
Review: If I were to rate Muppet movies amongst each other, Id place Kermits Swamp Years somewhere in between Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets from Space. It wasnt as loud, visually or story-wise, as Treasure Island, but it had the simplicity and compassion leaning slightly towards Muppets from Space.

The best parts of Kermits Swamp Years were, by far, the scattered in-jokes. There were countless missed opportunities for obvious in-jokes throughout Muppets from Space, and I was disappointed after every such scene ended without one (but thats another movie). The pig scene, while it had no point, came with an obvious, yet entertaining gag at the end. The young Jim Henson, the Statler and Waldorf-like tortoises, and the Statler and Waldorf cameo (gods, but I miss their original voices) were executed beautifully. The movie house scene was inspiring, and I enjoyed the fact that the swamp alligator was named Arnie; both mild references to the original Muppet Movie.

Now on to the dismemberment

Remember that annoying, singing kid from Muppet Treasure Island? Every human actor in this movie made my teeth itch as much as that little nancy-boy did. I have no doubt in my mind that the guy who played the 9th grade science teacher in this movie is actually a 9th grade science teacher in real life. Why? Because he sure as hell doesnt teach acting!! And if he does, he mustve taught the kid who played his younger self in the flashback scene. Both of them should be banished to accounting school to do math problems, as far away from the camera as possible! Mr. Wilson, the pet store owner, was Jim Varney-ing all over the place, I thought I mightve hit the remote by accident and switched to Ernest Scared Stupid. And why didn?t Kermit swallow that damn fly at the beginning?! If he had, I wouldnt have had to put up with him at the end!! (Although, his CG joke during the outtakes was a nice touch.) At least the songs were bearable. The song in the pet store had some great Muppet-style puns in it. But the score just screamed made for video. (oh wait?.)

Ill admit, the movie had some slight saccharine issues, but the relationship between Goggles (the dumbest name in the whole film) and Blotch (the coolest name in the whole film) was probably the sweetest element the movie had going for it. As long as youre not looking for good human actors, and are looking for great Muppet actors, Kermits Swamp Years is pretty entertaining.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Awful For Any Age
Review: Most of the other reviews have adequately summed up what is wrong with this movie. For my two cents, I must repeat that this is a bad movie for ANY age. I originally bought this for my 3 yr. old son and stopped it halfway through the movie due to too much hitting, inappropriate comments by the characters, and also because I just couldn't stand to expose him to such terrible acting. It is embarrassing to watch! I later fast- forwarded and viewed the rest of the video to see if there was anything worthwhile and was glad my son had not seen the "near-dissection" scene. He would have had nightmares for days.

This movie is highly inappropriate for ages 1 - 4 and I would also want older children to stay away from it as well. The redemption of the character at the end is too little, too late and does not make up for the other situations in the movie. Even if you think your child can handle the violence, scary situations, and inappropriate comments, I would really recommend keeping them away from such poorly produced garbage (cheap sets, bad puppetry, awful script and acting).

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cool Movie!
Review: My daughter and I watched this on t.v. and laughed our heads off. We are still laughing about some of Kermit and friends' exploits. I can't wait to watch it again!


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