Your thoughts on Kermit's Swamp Years

[MrMuppet93]

I saw this direct-to-video movie the same year "The Muppets"(the film) came out.


I heard it was non-canon.

 

[Bliffenstimmers]

I heard it was non-canon.

"Did somebody say cannon?!"

As far as I'm concerned, there isn't any canon within the Muppets. They are more often than not considered as actors rather than characters, because every time they take part in a production, although they show their personal traits, they aren't always playing the same version of themselves or their lives.

Behind the scenes, Miss Piggy would tell you that she grew up on a farm, witnessed the passing of her father at a young age, and enrolled in Charm School as a teen. Any on screen incarnation of Miss Piggy would either tell you otherwise, or not tell you at all, depending on the script.

Kermit's Swamp Years is probably as canonical as The Muppet Movie (Kermit calls it an approximation on how the Muppets met eachother) or Muppet Babies (which is all just a figment of Miss Piggy's imagination) in that it's not really the true story of Kermit's childhood. What the truth is, I'm not too sure. Some other well read Muppet fan might know the answer, but as for me, I've only heard Kermit tell of his tadpole days in passing reference.

As for the content of the movie itself, as @Drtooth has said many a time, the fact is that it was merely a recycling of a pitch for a preschool series starring a young Kermit and other frog kids who attended school. This was something a bit different to me than what the Muppets usually did. Kermit's Swamp Years feels more like something that should have been on Nickelodeon in the 90s/early 2000s rather than a bonafide Muppet movie.

In spite of its lack of original songs (apart from the enjoyable "Life As A Pet") and being only half-Muppety, Swamp Years is really not that bad as everyone likes to say it is. I'd even go as far as to say the same thing with A Very Merry Muppet Christmas or Muppets Oz; although one was littered with almost as many pop culture references as a typical Family Guy episode and the other was the result of an advertising campaign for a Muppets reality show that never got picked up (and featuring a nippled tin Gonzo -- although the Muppets have done adult humor before, that just seemed a bit surprisingly low brow) despite their quirks they were still very enjoyable Muppets productions.

 

[dwayne1115]

I love Kermit Swamp years! The characters are fun and funny. Kermit seemed very well written to me, and I love when he got a hand up from that Henson boy. As far as the story goes it was simple, but I think that gave the performers more freedom with the characters. Speaking of the performers this little project gave newer performers a chance to grow, and even though they may not get the chance to preform these characters again it was a great learning tool for them.
Now as for the DVD bonus features they are also very fun. The bloopers especially because you can hear Steve do an impression of the Swedish Chef. He also dose a Link as well.
So I know I'm one of the few, but I love Kermit Swamp Years!

 

[Drtooth]

As for the content of the movie itself, as @Drtooth has said many a time, the fact is that it was merely a recycling of a pitch for a preschool series starring a young Kermit and other frog kids who attended school. This was something a bit different to me than what the Muppets usually did. Kermit's Swamp Years feels more like something that should have been on Nickelodeon in the 90s/early 2000s rather than a bonafide Muppet movie.

To be precise, the project was called Frog School. Truth be told, I never actually seen this project, but it really doesn't have a lot of fans on this site. Not that it's completely unloved, some fans do indeed enjoy it. It really seems like this was meant to play to the same crowd the TV show was meant to, and I think that's where the contention is.

While there are some Muppet projects that swing close to the preschooler and Kindergartener crowd, those are met with a little reluctance when it comes to Muppet fans. Yep. Some even have that problem with Muppet Babies, which frankly is a fine show for little kids that didn't dumb itself down.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I actually just watched this movie a couple of days ago and I definitely think it's unfairly criticised. I think some fans fail to realize that it was never meant to be some big movie like the theatrical ones. I actually liked it for being simple. It was also nice to see performers we don't usually see with the Muppets, especially Joey Mazzarino. Makes me wish he would do more things with the Muppets.

 

[D'Snowth]

I heard it was non-canon.

I think by "non-canon," you're thinking of how many people (including the Muppets actually) like to pretend that this movie doesn't even exist, which pretty much goes for the trio of TV movies we got during the Millennium.

But, other than that, Pig's laundry has pretty much parroted what I've been saying about this movie for years: it doesn't deserve all of the hate that it gets, and while yes I'll agree that it has sort of a Film School 101 vibe to it, that's actually part of it's charm.

And Joey used to be quite involved with the Muppets back in those days, but I think much like Kevin, SST came to take up more and more of his time that his further involvement with the Muppets wasn't quite as practical; much like how Steve saw no reason to keep returning to SST just for Ernie.