When you think of The Muppet Movie (1979), you probably think of a banjo-strumming amphibian, a sunlit swamp, and the pure, unadulterated optimism of “The Rainbow Connection.” It’s a film fundamentally about found family and making millions of people happy.
But what if I told you the original script featured a surprisingly selfish Kermit, a slightly meaner tone, and a bizarre running cameo by… Henry Kissinger?
If we take a look at the June 12, 1978 draft of the screenplay, a fascinating “what-if” emerges. Written by Jerry Juhl and Jack Burns, this early draft shows a Muppet universe that was just a bit rougher around the edges. Let’s look at the darker, weirder draft of The Muppet Movie and how it evolved into the classic we know today.
The Jack Burns Influence
To understand the early drafts of The Muppet Movie, you have to understand Jack Burns. As the head writer for the first season of The Muppet Show, Burns brought a sharp, vaudevillian, and sometimes combative energy to the characters. (If you go back and watch Season 1 of the show, you’ll notice it’s significantly more cynical than later seasons).
Burns teamed up with Jerry Juhl—the man who would eventually become the definitive voice and “heart” of the Muppets—to write the film. The friction between Burns’s biting comedy and Juhl’s inherent warmth is highly visible in the 1978 draft.
A Selfish Amphibian
The biggest and most shocking difference in the original script is Kermit’s core motivation. In the final film, Kermit is pushed toward Hollywood by the realization that he has a gift, and he wants to use it to “make millions of people happy.”
In the June 1978 draft? Kermit just wants to be rich and famous.
That single motivation fundamentally changes the tone of the movie. Instead of a benevolent leader gathering a tribe of lovable weirdos to share a dream, Kermit reads as a slightly cynical showbiz opportunist looking for a payday. Jim Henson and the writers wisely realized this made the frog too cold, and they course-corrected before filming, giving Kermit his iconic, altruistic soul.
The Bizarre Henry Kissinger Cameos
Celebrity cameos are a staple of The Muppet Movie, but the original script had a running gag that is utterly baffling by today’s standards: Henry Kissinger desperately trying to shoehorn his way into the movie.
According to the draft, the former Secretary of State was written as a wannabe actor who kept popping up in various disguises. The script called for Kissinger to appear as:
- A Southern sheriff
- A busboy
- An extra in a screening room
- A head carved right into Mount Rushmore
Ultimately, this surreal political gag never came to fruition. It was scrapped entirely, keeping the film’s celebrity roster grounded in actual Hollywood entertainers rather than polarizing political figures.
A Meaner Doc Hopper and the Giant Chicken
Charles Durning’s “Doc Hopper” is already a great villain—a fast-food mogul who wants to turn Kermit into a mascot for a frog-legs franchise. But in the early drafts, Hopper’s dynamic with his lackey, Max, was much more abusive.
One deleted scene that was actually shot (but cut for pacing and tone) involved Hopper eating pancakes in the back of his car. Angered by Max’s erratic driving, Hopper throws a pillow at him. The pillow bursts, covering Max in white feathers so that he resembles a giant chicken. Later, when Gonzo is driving his plumbing truck, he becomes distracted by the horrifying sight of this “giant chicken” and crashes into Hopper’s car.
While the scene was removed, eagle-eyed viewers can still spot a continuity error in the final film: Doc Hopper waving by his stranded car in the background, a remnant of this cut collision.
Why the Magic Won Out
The June 1978 draft is a fascinating relic. It proves that The Muppet Movie wasn’t born fully formed; it was wrestled into shape.
The slightly darker humor and cynical motivations were ultimately stripped away because Jim Henson knew his characters better than anyone. He realized that underneath the explosions, the bad puns, and the fourth-wall breaks, the Muppets required a foundation of absolute sincerity. They traded “rich and famous” for the “Rainbow Connection,” and in doing so, created a piece of cinema history.