Kermit's Swamp Years

Visiting his childhood home, Kermit recalls "the biggest adventure of our lives" when the 12-year-old tadpole yearned to venture beyond the swamp and "show the world how big and brave we were." Kermit gets his chance when he sets off with Croaker to rescue their friend Goggles from a pet store, eventually foiling a frog-hating science schoolteacher seeking subjects for his class to dissect. To put it plainly: Jim Henson must be spinning. If Kermit's shilling for Denny's wasn't bad enough, this ill-conceived direct-to-video feature further squanders the decades of good will we've invested in one of pop culture's most beloved characters. In all fairness, it's not Kermit's fault: the plucky, good-natured frog has been saddled with a tired story, ham-handed (sorry, Miss Piggy) direction, an amateurish human cast (with none of the celebrity cameos that so enlivened The Muppet Movie) and unlikable new Muppet characters. On top of all that, the humor is also coarser. Do we really need to see a Muppet mooning? Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include the option of full or widescreen format, scene-specific audio commentary with Kermit and Horace the Horsefly, a six-minute on-set interview with Kermit (beginning the chat from his makeup chair--where he spent lots of time being made to look younger), a 14-minute behind-the-scenes featurette hosted by puppet Joe the Armadillo, and a six-minute blooper reel. Bottom line: a fun extras package for a mediocre film.] (K. Lee Benson)