50 Greatest Muppet Movie Moments

How Charming, A Finale

The Moment: The ending of The Muppets abandons narrative in favour of a carnival-esque celebration of all things Muppet, with a reprise of 'Life's A Happy Song' and the return of old favourite 'Mahna Mahna'.

Muppet Magic: The resolution to the plot is relegated to the end credits, where it's revealed that Tex Richman has a change of heart after being knocked down by Gonzo's bowling ball.

Mo' Money

The Moment: Things you never expected to see in a Muppet movie - Oscar winner Chris Cooper rapping. Yet that's exactly what he does in The Muppets ' song 'Let's Talk About Me'.

Muppet Magic: An old-school bouncing ball keeps us up to speed with the subtitled lyrics: "I make the baker bake my bread out of dough / No no don't eat it though it'll make you ill / There ain't no flour in a hundred dollar bill."

Boatload Of Trouble

The Moment: Sam The Eagle gives roll call aboard the Hispaniola in Muppet Treasure Island - a scene that plays like an ultra-silly version of the bit in Goodfellas where we're introduced to all of the gangsters.

Muppet Magic: An excuse for the puppeteers to grow crazy with one-gag creations like One Eye Pike and Headless Bill.

El Sleaze

The Moment: Kermit's odyssey in The Muppet Movie takes him to the El Sleezo Cafe, a disreputable joint owned by James Coburn and patronised by the likes of Madeleine Kahn and Telly Savalas.

Muppet Magic: It's here that Kermit meets Fozzie, whose attempts at stand-up falter when a "fat sailor" objects to his latest joke. "How fat?" Fozzie backpedals: "he was so fat that everybody liked him and there was nothing funny about him at all."

The Past Comes To Life

The Moment: When Gary and Walter persuade Kermit to reunite The Muppets , the frog wanders around his mansion as he's reminded of the 'Pictures In My Head'.

Muppet Magic: Nostalgia-sized heartbreak as the pictures come to life and Fozzie, Electric Mayhem and the Swedish Chef join in (the latter, subtitled, in Swedish).

Empire State Of Mind

The Moment: Punch the air time in The Muppets Take Manhattan , as Kermit declares his defiance from the top of the Empire State Building.

Muppet Magic: Kermit shouts out, "I'm staying! You hear that, New York? THE FROG IS STAYING!" Go, Frog, go!

Humbug!

The Moment: In The Muppet Christmas Carol , the denizens of London warn that 'There Goes Mr Humbug' as they try to stay out of the way of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Muppet Magic: Scrooge's meanness extends to ickle Muppets, too: " He charges folks a fortune for his dark and draughty houses, us poor folk live in misery - it's even worse for mouses."

Enter The Labyrinth

The Moment: Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) journeys into the labyrinth of the Goblin King (David Bowie), where she meets weird creatures like Hoggle the dwarf, Ludo the beast and Sir Didymus the chivalrous fox knight.

Muppet Magic : No actual, bona fide Muppets here, but with Jim Henson at the helm, backed by the puppet mastery of his regular crew, Labyrinth deserves honorary status at least.

Pre-heist Checklist

The Moment: The climax of The Great Muppet Caper sees Charles Grodin's gang preparing its supplies for a jewel heist, while the Muppets - out to stop Grodin - does the same, using more appropriately Muppety props.

Muppet Magic: Everything's missing! The whoopee cushion's on the bus, Zoot has lost the wax lips and Animal's eaten the peanut butter.

Entertain Us

The Moment: The reunion show in The Muppets offers some glorious cover versions a la the old Muppet Show , but none quite as unexpected as the barbershop quarter rendition of Nirvana's 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.'

Muppet Magic: The punchline, of course, is Beaker trying to sing like Kurt Cobain - "mee mee mee mo."