One of the enduring strengths of Jim Henson's band of Muppets is their ability to bridge generations. Kids can enjoy The Muppet Movie for its freewheeling, colorful fun — their parents can chuckle at euphemistic lyrics. (Rowlf the Dog's song lyrics about being tied down in a relationship come to mind.) Multiple levels of engagement create a truly unique kind of entertainment — but there's one film in particular out of the many Muppets movies that presents everyone's favorite band of misfits at their most adult. Frank Oz's 1984 musical-about-a-musical The Muppets Take Manhattan is the closest our favorite misfits come to truly growing up. With plot lines that revolve around finding a place to live and making enough money to buy a hot meal (particularly relevant right now), you might see this one a bit differently all grown up.

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'The Muppets Take Manhattan' Begins With College Graduation

Miss Piggy, Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Camilla, Rowlf, and Scooter singing in 'The Muppets Take Manhattan'
Image via Tri-Star Pictures

The Muppets have never been strong on continuity, so it's no surprise that they've been deemed college-aged this time — like many a lucky young person, their "real" lives won't start until they're handed their diplomas. Our stars for this adventure, operating in a band of everyone from Kermit and Miss Piggy to Dr. Teeth and Janice, have written their own musical, Manhattan Melodies — a hit among their fellow students at Danhurst College. (Not a real college, unfortunately — Vassar was used as a shooting location, though, so everyone's favorite Vassar alumnus is now Fozzie Bear.) Following a rousing performance, the group decides to capitalize on the musical's dose of popularity by taking it to Broadway. They're sure the quality of their art will be enough to carry it to success, but it seems as though there's a more sensitive reason for their rush to get famous. If they manage to sell their idea, they reason, they won't have to split up post-graduation. It's the classic bittersweet coming-of-age moment: Best friends unwilling to go their separate ways. Unfortunately, this typical display of Muppet enthusiasm — the same against-all-odds attitude that got them a "standard rich and famous contract" in The Muppet Movie — won't be enough on its own this time. The world is a little colder than the Danhurst college campus, especially for weirdos.

The Muppets Become Struggling Artists

Miss Piggy, Kermit, and Fozzie, along with the other Muppets in Manhattan for the first time in The Muppets Take Manhattan
Image via Tr-Star Pictures

Though The Muppets Take Manhattan never slips into full parody (there's usually positivity at the deep center of any Henson project, especially those more so aimed at children), life does get tough for our heroes. Almost immediately, they find out that a producer who'd expressed interest in their musical is a con artist. Walking into offices cold isn't working, either — and it seems that New York City isn't quite as welcoming as they'd hoped. They even end up having to sleep in rented lockers. Of course, as Muppets, they don't really mind, even decorating with pennants and pictures to spruce them up. But their unrelenting optimism can only last so long. When they find they're unable to afford even a bowl of soup from Pete (Louis Zorich), a friendly-but-incomprehensible diner owner with an ambitious daughter, Jenny (Juliana Donald), they decide it's time to go their separate ways. (They even get into a spat that feels a bit weightier than other Muppet fights.) Like the story of many a New York City hopeful, things just haven't panned out money-wise. It's time for the artists to split. Against the musical backdrop of "Saying Goodbye" — and a classic Miss Piggy handkerchief throw — Kermit's friends scatter across the country to seek their fortunes. He's the only one left, stubbornly yelling out to the skyline, "I'm staying! You hear that New York? The frog is staying!" And when Kermit's mind is made up about something, it's bound to happen.

'The Muppets Take Manhattan' Shows the Bleakness of Day Jobs

Rizzo and his rats eating on top of the table in The Muppets Take Manhattan
Image via Tri-Star Pictures

Once Kermit's decided to stay in the Big Apple, he gets to work on making the musical happen. (Little does he know Miss Piggy has also stayed behind to spy on him, jealous of Jenny — and, just maybe, because she still believes in Manhattan Melodies.) Unfortunately, this means he needs to find new allies — leading him to Jenny, a fashion student, and the other unconventional Muppet workers at Pete's diner. (As it turns out, the big-hearted Pete has been employing a bunch of rats — including fan favorite Rizzo. Pete is a homage to the similarly-named character in New York classic Midnight Cowboy, the story of a hustler and his "business manager" trying to survive a bitter East Coast winter.)

Miss Piggy, meanwhile, gets work at a perfume counter. It doesn't last very long — her co-worker, Joan Rivers in a cameo, literally puts lipstick on a pig in a makeover attempt. Their joint quitting, a gleeful affair full of powder puffs and manic laughter, is cathartic for anyone who's worked in the service industry. And even tough-as-nails Miss Piggy has to deal with a lot more as a woman in the city — she gets catcalled by construction workers who back off after they witness her bend metal in anger. Her purse is snatched, leading to an epic chase on Gregory Hines' borrowed roller skates. To make matters worse, the gang has been sending artificially sweetened letters back to Kermit, embellishing their less-than-ideal situations. (Scooter works in a Cleveland movie theater, while poor Gonzo is reduced to a Michigan tourist trap.) Things are looking a bit bleak for our heroes. The world they inhabit, though more colorful and accepting than our own, is still tough to break into. But The Muppets have a weapon we mere humans do not — they're immortal, which means they're always coming up.

'The Muppets Take Manhattan' Ends With a Wedding

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy standing at the altar during their wedding in 'The Muppets Take Manhattan'
Image via Tri-Star Pictures

Kermit eventually meets up with Ronnie (Lonny Price), the son of a producer. Though he's not sure that it'll work out, Ronnie agrees to put on his show. Kermit's dream is going to come true! Of course, this is only after overcoming the slight third-act complications of getting everyone back together, overcoming amnesia, and exiting a sales job at a soap company. Still, Kermit has done what felt impossible. His unfailing belief in his dream — even when others around him have been sucked up into their adult lives — is what has brought the musical to life. It's kind of poetic, then, that the movie ends with an onstage wedding. Though it's not often kept canon, Piggy and Kermit, having grown up a lot, finally experience their own happy ending. We don't know how successful the musical will be or even how long it will last, but these moments of happiness are enough for our Muppets and their human friends. In tough times, what they have is each other.

The Muppets Mayhem, the new 10-episode series on Disney+, is set to release some time this year. Read up on everything we know so far on The Muppets Mayhem, including the cast, characters, and plot details.