The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972)

You won't be disappointed!

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

This might be an odd review for a film (or video)but I have only heard the recording of this particular Muppet feature. My brother who was blind really enjoyed this one because the voice acting was so funny and fit the animals personality and the insturments they wound up playing. Even the less than savory humans (they were theifs) had good voices for bad people. The critters in question are Leroy (the mule) T.R. (the Rooster) Rover Joe (the Hound dog) and Catgut (the lady cat). Each one is old and mistreated by their owners. A chance theft of musical insturments by Leroys owner, starts the story out. He (Leroy's owner) is mad that Leroy is too old and slow to steal anything worth having and throws a tuba at the mule that lands around his neck (an interesting picture to be sure). Leroy, having had enough of the farmer runs off with the tuba around his neck and still attached to the cart (which is important to the story later on). As he is walking down the trail feeling sorry for himself he trys out the tuba and finds, after a few false starts that he plays it pretty good (for a mule). He soon meets T.R. the rooster who is also running away from a farmer who wants to convert the rooster into gravy and gnaw on his knee bone (from the song he sings moments later) He aquires a banjo from Leroy, and after a narrow escape from the farm (for T.R) they both set out down the road and find Rover Joe whose owner (also a thief) has thrown him out for not scaring off the ghosts that he is convinced are out to get him. Rover Joe also joins the others and picks up trombone and finds he is quite good at it. The last critter that joins is Catgut. She is seen by the others before she speaks and they remark "It's a lady cat and she's dead" to which Catgut remarks "No, I ani't" Which is followed by one of the funniest lines I have ever heared and still use for ridiculous situations. Rover Joe comments "You ain't?! You sure look like a lady cat" (What could be more understated than that?) Well, naturally Catgut joins the trio and transforms it into a quartet. I don't recall exactly what Catgut winds up with its either a harmonica or violin but either way she plays it well. The critters wind up later in a dark and spooky swamp and are a bit depressed about not having any food place to sleep. They eventually come across a house which they are convinced is the home of a loving family but is in reality the hideout for all their previous owners who meet there to split up the loot they have acquired by nafarious means. As the animals spin a fanciful tale of a loving father, mother, daugther and son amongst themselves, the theifs are arguing about Leroy's owners story about his donkey stealing the loot from the previous days work. To the animals the shadows on the windows represent everything they could hope for and decide to surprise the "family" with a song. To the previous owners sounds that they hear represent SAWMP DEMONS and they run off into the swamp and are never seen again. The critters decide to stay and take care of the house until their family returns. Like I said, this is from the record of this show. It's still very good, and funny. But my perspective is a bit different than most.If I could find this on DVD I would be very happy

I can't remember for the life of me how I saw this special. I think Nickelodeon used to show some old muppet specials on during the day or as special events (they also played the Muppet Show for a while I believe). I remember this clearly as Kermit the frog appears briefly at the start, and talks to a donkey who's on his way to "fame, fortune, and gogolala" (that last part isn't entirely correct quote, but it's close). For kids, it's an entertaining slice of obscure muppet-mania, as there is a host of regular farm-like muppets (not the usual assortment, so try not to be too disappointed by that), loaded with songs and some morals too with the story. It's also very 'old-school' as a TV production, but with the skill and charm that we all know and love from director Henson and writer Jerry Juhl. If you're a parent and you can find a copy- and have the courage to show it to such a child who didn't grow up properly on most puppets (save, hopefully, for Sesame Street)- it's worth a shot, and I'm sure it'll be a good collectible for Muppet fanatics.

I haven't seen this movie since it aired way back when and I was a little kid but it's still the best Muppet movie ever made! My brothers, sisters and I have laughed so hard over the years, remembering the wonderful storyline and insane animal owners, we have it memorized just from that one viewing and my sister's old LP! The character's are great, the script is hilarious and the movie should be put to DVD and reintroduced to a new crowd of kids who deserve to see a Muppet movie without the usual Muppet dopiness so common to their recent movies and with no Miss Piggy. Was this movie too harsh for the unsuspecting viewers who expected to see cuddly Grover and silly antics from Ernie and Bert? Was there horror at not having random, unnecessary characters show up for no reason and no love story with Kermit and Miss Piggy? This is a movie like no other Muppet movie. See it if you can find it.

Not sure why this one went out of print. In my opinion, this is the funniest thing to come out of Jim Henson's workshop. When I was a kid, it kept me and my brothers and sisters cracking up from start to finish. One line that was memorable and made us laugh till our sides hurt was when the man said to the donkey, "Le-roy! It's all yoooooure fault!" You have to see it to know what I mean. Hopefully this will someday come back in print. This is probably just a cult sort of thing, though; I grew up with the Muppet Show and the Muppet Movies.