This is a list of productions based on The Muppets characters and franchise, including films, television series and specials, and other media. The franchise's main work is The Muppet Show , a syndicated television series which ran from 1976 to 1981. The franchise includes eight feature films, and other television series.
Role | The Muppet Movie (1979) | The Great Muppet Caper (1981) | The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) | The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) | Muppet Treasure Island (1996) | Muppets from Space (1999) | The Muppets (2011) | Muppets Most Wanted (2014) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Director | James Frawley | Jim Henson | Frank Oz | Brian Henson | Tim Hill | James Bobin | ||
Producer(s) | Jim Henson | David Lazer and Frank Oz | David Lazer | Brian Henson and Martin G. Baker | David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman | |||
Writer(s) | Jerry Juhl & Jack Burns | Tom Patchett & Jay Tarses and Jerry Juhl & Jack Rose | Frank Oz and Tom Patchett & Jay Tarses | Jerry Juhl | Jerry Juhl & Kirk R. Thatcher and James V. Hart | Jerry Juhl and Joseph Mazzarino and Ken Kaufman | Jason Segel & Nicholas Stoller | James Bobin & Nicholas Stoller |
Composer(s) | Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher | Joe Raposo | Ralph Burns | Miles Goodman | Hans Zimmer | Jamshied Sharifi | Christophe Beck | |
Production companies | ITC Films Henson Associates | Henson Associates | Walt Disney Pictures Jim Henson Productions | Columbia Pictures Jim Henson Pictures | Walt Disney Pictures Mandeville Films | |||
Distribution | Associated Film Distribution 1 | Universal Pictures 1 Associated Film Distribution 1 | TriStar Pictures | Buena Vista Pictures Distribution | Sony Pictures Releasing | Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | ||
Running time | 95 minutes | 97 minutes | 94 minutes | 86 minutes | 99 minutes | 87 minutes | 103 minutes | 107 minutes |
Release date | June 22, 1979 | June 26, 1981 | July 13, 1984 | December 11, 1992 | February 16, 1996 | July 14, 1999 | November 23, 2011 | March 21, 2014 |
Box office $458,718,791 | $65,810,475 [1] | $31,206,251 [2] | $25,534,703 [3] | $27,330,071 [4] | $34,327,391 [5] | $22,323,612 [6] | $171,802,998 [7] | $80,383,290 [8] |
Rotten Tomatoes | 89% [9] | 75% [10] | 84% [11] | 75% [12] | 71% [13] | 63% [14] | 95% [15] | 80% [16] |
Title | Premiere date | End date | Network |
---|---|---|---|
Sam and Friends | May 9, 1955 | December 15, 1961 | NBC (WRC-TV) |
The Muppet Show | September 5, 1976 | May 23, 1981 | Syndication |
Muppet Babies | September 15, 1984 | December 29, 1990 | CBS |
Little Muppet Monsters | September 14, 1985 | September 28, 1985 | |
The Jim Henson Hour | April 14, 1989 | July 30, 1989 | NBC |
Dog City | September 26, 1992 | November 26, 1994 | Fox Kids |
Muppets Tonight | March 8, 1996 | February 8, 1998 | ABC / Disney Channel |
Muppets TV | October 29, 2006 | December 31, 2006 | TF1 [17] |
Muppet Moments [18] | April 3, 2015 | November 28, 2015 | Disney Junior / Disney Channel |
The Muppets [19] | September 22, 2015 | March 1, 2016 [20] | ABC |
Muppet Babies [21] | March 23, 2018 | February 18, 2022 | Disney Junior |
Muppets Now [22] [23] | July 31, 2020 | September 4, 2020 | Disney+ |
The Muppets Mayhem [24] | May 10, 2023 |
Title | Release date | Director | Producer(s) | Distributor |
---|---|---|---|---|
Kermit's Swamp Years | August 18, 2002 | David Gumpel | Jim Lewis and Joseph Mazzarino | Sony Pictures Television |
It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie | November 29, 2002 | Kirk R. Thatcher | Martin G. Baker and Warren Carr | NBCUniversal Television Distribution MGM Worldwide Television Group and Digital Distribution |
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz | May 20, 2005 | Bill Barretta | Buena Vista Television |
Title | Release date | Director | Distributor |
---|---|---|---|
Muppet Sing Alongs: Billy Bunny's Animal Songs | May 21, 1993 | David Gumpel | Buena Vista Home Video |
Muppet Sing Alongs: It's Not Easy Being Green | February 18, 1994 | ||
Muppet Classic Theater | September 27, 1994 | David Grossman | |
Muppet Sing Alongs: Muppets On Wheels | June 16, 1995 | David Gumpel | |
Yes, I Can Learn featuring the Muppet Babies | |||
Yes, I Can Help featuring the Muppet Babies | |||
Yes, I Can Be a Friend featuring the Muppet Babies | August 11, 1995 | ||
Muppet Sing Alongs: Muppet Treasure Island | February 14, 1996 | ||
Muppet Sing Alongs: Things That Fly | |||
Kermit's Swamp Years | August 18, 2002 | Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment |
Title | Premiere date | End date |
---|---|---|
Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony | June 26, 2005 | September 20, 2006 |
The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora | September 13, 2010 | December 17, 2010 |
A number of video games featuring the Muppets have been produced since the 1990s.
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they have become a media franchise encompassing films, television, music, and other media associated with the characters. Owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the characters of the Muppets franchise were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004.
The Muppets Take Manhattan is a 1984 American musical comedy-drama film directed by Frank Oz and the third theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Muppet performers Jim Henson, Oz, Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Richard Hunt, Jerry Nelson, as well as special appearances by Art Carney, James Coco, Dabney Coleman, Gregory Hines, Linda Lavin, Liza Minnelli, Joan Rivers, and Brooke Shields. Filmed in New York City during the prior summer, it was released theatrically on July 13, 1984, by TriStar Pictures. A fantasy sequence in the film introduced the Muppet Babies characters.
A film series or movie series is a collection of related films in succession that share the same fictional universe, or are marketed as a series.
The Muppets Studio, LLC is an American entertainment production company and subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company, that owns and produces media content for The Muppets franchise. The division was previously formed as The Muppets Holding Company, LLC in 2004 through Disney's acquisition of The Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House intellectual properties from The Jim Henson Company.
Monsters University is a 2013 American animated coming-of-age comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. A prequel to Monsters, Inc. (2001), it was directed by Dan Scanlon, produced by Kori Rae, and written by Scanlon and the writing team of Dan Gerson and Robert L. Baird. John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich served as the film's executive producers. The music for the film was composed and conducted by Randy Newman, making it his seventh collaboration with Pixar. Monsters University tells the story of the main characters of Monsters, Inc., James P. "Sulley" Sullivan and Mike Wazowski, and their experience in college leading to them becoming best friends. John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, Bob Peterson and John Ratzenberger reprise their roles as James P. Sullivan, Mike Wazowski, Randall Boggs, Roz and the Abominable Snowman, respectively, while the new cast were joined by Helen Mirren, Alfred Molina, Peter Sohn, Joel Murray, Sean Hayes, Dave Foley, Charlie Day, Nathan Fillion and Aubrey Plaza, while Bonnie Hunt, who voiced Ms. Flint in the original film, voices Mike's childhood teacher Mrs. Graves.
The Muppets is a 2011 American musical comedy film directed by James Bobin from a screenplay written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller. Produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, it is the seventh theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, and Rashida Jones, as well as Muppet performers Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel, and Peter Linz. Bret McKenzie served as music supervisor, writing four of the film's five original songs, while Christophe Beck composed the score. In the film, devoted Muppet fan Walter, his human brother Gary and Gary's girlfriend Mary help Kermit the Frog reunite the disbanded Muppets, as they must raise $10 million to save the Muppet Theater from Tex Richman, a greedy businessman who plans to demolish the theater to drill for oil.
Monsters, Inc. is a media franchise produced by Pixar and owned by The Walt Disney Company. The franchise takes place in a universe parallel to the real world where monsters are the citizens of society and harness the energy of human children to power their cities. The company known as Monsters, Inc. accomplishes this with doors which lead to their bedrooms.
Tim Burton is an American film director, producer, artist, writer, animator, puppeteer, and actor.
Muppets Most Wanted is a 2014 American musical crime comedy film directed by James Bobin, produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, and written by Bobin and Nicholas Stoller. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Mandeville Films, it is the eighth theatrical film featuring the Muppets, and serves as a sequel to The Muppets (2011). The film stars Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey, alongside Muppet performers Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, David Rudman, Matt Vogel and Peter Linz. It was also Tony Bennett's final film before his retirement in 2021 and death two years later. In the film, the muppets become involved in an international crime caper while on a world tour in Europe.
Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb is a 2014 American fantasy comedy film directed by Shawn Levy and written by David Guion and Michael Handelman. It is the third installment in the Night at the Museum film series, a sequel to Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009), and the final installment of the original trilogy. The film stars Ben Stiller in the lead role, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais, Dan Stevens, Rami Malek, Rebel Wilson, and Ben Kingsley. In the film, security guard Larry Daley must travel to London to return the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, an Egyptian artifact which causes the exhibits to come to life, before the magic disappears.
Cinderella is a 2015 American romantic fantasy film directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Chris Weitz. Produced by Walt Disney Pictures, Allison Shearmur Productions, Beagle Pug Films, and Kinberg Genre, it is a live-action remake of Disney's 1950 animated film Cinderella, itself an adaptation of Charles Perrault's 1697 fairy tale "Cinderella". Starring Lily James as the title character, the film features a supporting ensemble cast including Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden, Stellan Skarsgård, Holliday Grainger, Derek Jacobi, and Helena Bonham Carter.