Muppets from Space

Muppets from Space is a 1999 American science fiction comedy film directed by Tim Hill (in his feature film directorial debut), written by Jerry Juhl, Joseph Mazzarino, and Ken Kaufman, and the sixth theatrical film featuring the Muppets. The film stars Muppet performers Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Bill Barretta, and Frank Oz, as well as Jeffrey Tambor, F. Murray Abraham, David Arquette, Josh Charles, Hollywood Hogan, Ray Liotta, and Andie MacDowell. In the film, Gonzo attempts to discover his origins. After he and Rizzo the Rat are captured by government officials during his search, Kermit the Frog and the rest of the Muppets set out to rescue them. The first Muppet film to not be a musical, Muppets from Space was shot in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1998, and was released in the United States on July 14, 1999 by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label. It grossed $22.3 million against a budget of $24 million, making it a box office bomb, and received mixed reviews from critics; many considered it the weakest theatrical Muppet movie. It is the last Muppet film to have the involvement of Oz and Juhl and the last theatrically-released Muppet film to be produced by The Jim Henson Company before the franchise was acquired by The Walt Disney Company in 2004. Plot Gonzo's species has always been a mystery, but after having nightmares of being denied entry to Noah's Ark, he begins to realize just how alone he is in the world. Gonzo tells Kermit that he is getting tired of being referred to as a "whatever". After an alien species appears to be trying to send a message through his bowl of alphabet cereal, Gonzo realizes that he may not be alone after all and that evening, he climbs to the rooftop of the Muppet boarding house to watch the sky. Suddenly, he is struck by a bolt of lightning, which allows him to communicate with a pair of cosmic knowledge fish, who reveal his origins as an alien from outer space.