Trivia for
The Muppet Movie (1979)

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• Jim Henson spent an entire day in a 50-gallon steel drum submerged in a pond for the opening scene of Kermit in the swamp.
  
  
• The film was an analogy for Jim Henson's rise to fame.
  
  
• Cameo: [Big Bird] (voice by Caroll Spinney) from Henson's famous TV show, "Sesame Street" (1969). Big Bird tells Kermit that he's going to New York to break into public television - an obvious reference to Henson's Sesame Street.
  
  

• Cameo: [Steve Martin] the waiter in the small-town restaurant where Kermit and Piggy eat their first dinner.
  
  
• Orson Welles plays a studio executive named Lew Lord who draws up a standard rich-and-famous contract for The Muppets
  • a reference to real-life producer Sir Lew Grade (later Lord Grade). When Jim Henson was trying to find a producer to make "The Muppet Show" (1976) happen, no American network understood or was interested in the concept, Grade recognized Henson's vision and made the show possible.
  
  
  
• When the credits are completed (after Animal tells the audience to go home) a black screen appears with the words, "This film is dedicated to the memory and magic of Edgar Bergen."
  
  
• Edgar Bergen died shortly after his scene was shot in 1978.
  
  
• 'Mel Brooks (I)' 's character has "Prof" written on the back of his coat. This is a tribute to his character in Blazing Saddles (1974) which has "Gov" written on the back of his coat.
  
  
• In a 2004 interview, John Landis revealed that he was the puppeteer for Grover during the final sequence, as Frank Oz was busy operating Miss Piggy. Landis also noted that Tim Burton was also among the many puppeteers in the finale.
  
  
• A sign outside the church (where the band Electric Mayhem is playing) has the wording "Lost? Have you tried the Reverend Harry Krishna?", a reference to some dialogue between Kermit the Frog and Bernie (Dom DeLuise) early in the movie.
  
  
• This was the last movie to feature famed ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and his wooden sidekick, Charlie McCarthy. It held particular meaning for Jim Henson, who cited, on many occasions, how Bergen and McCarthy were the major reasons he took an interest in puppetry.
  
  

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