Muppet Treasure Island

Tim Curry makes a fine, flashy Long John Silver, and charming newcomer Kevin Bishop is a lively, toothy young Jim Hawkins, but it’s Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat who make Muppet Treasure Island, the Muppets musical adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson, novel a hoot. Read full review

Muppet Treasure Island is an elaborate, juicy eyeful. The film is an impressive maze of visual scale and perspective that lets humans and puppets interact as a single species. The overall effect is a wonderful sense of the fantastical. But simplicity might have helped where the movie often stagnates with gimmicks. Read full review

Jim Henson's creations have always appealed on more than one level, offering adorable playmates and positive messages to children and surprisingly sophisticated humor to adults. MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND, the fifth big screen feature to star Kermit the Frog and friends, and the second directed by Brian Henson, delivers exactly what fans -- young and old -- expect. Read full review

Miss Piggy may not be Babe, but she sure packs a good oink. Her garish performance in the last third of "Muppet Treasure Island" is one of the highlights of this pleasant, cuddly addition to the world of Muppet fantasy. [16 Feb 1996, p.55]

Yes, the Muppets are back with a yo-ho-ho and a ship full of fun. Director Brian Henson transforms Robert Louis Stevenson's classic into a splashy spectacle with sword fights and flamboyant calypso numbers. [16 Feb 1996, p.6G]

If the Muppets sometime seem at sea in Muppet Treasure Island, the film still has more wit and irony than most kid-oriented productions. Fozzie, in fact, has more in that index finger of his than Barney has in his whole purple carcass. [16 Feb 1996, p.30]

All Muppet capers, whether they involve low comedy or high seas, require the romantic conflict of Kermit and Piggy. Fortunately, the frog and the pig are worth waiting for. And like all great thespians, they leave you wanting more. [16 Feb 1996, p.3]

Geena Davis and Renny Harlin couldn't cut it with Cutthroat Island. Steven Spielberg nearly got the hook for Hook. But leave it to Miss Piggy and Kermit to discover uncharted gold in the shipwrecked-pirate genre. With felt-covered cohorts like Fozzie Bear and human co-stars like Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous, the cross-species duo pulls off the rollicking Muppet Treasure Island with only a bump or two. [16 Feb 1996, p.4D]

The movie misses Henson's good-hearted inventiveness, but there's ample evidence that the second generation of Muppeteers are almost as good at pulling the strings as the first. [17 Feb 1996, p.8G]

While the picture is often pure delight, and constantly inventive and engaging, ultimately it is not up to the highest standards of the troupe. [25 Feb 1996, p.47]

Broad, loud and crammed full of costumed characters and stage asides about the poverty of the script, it's typical pantomime, with a thin plot on which to hang the over-the-top performances and light-hearted musical numbers (by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil). [16 Feb 1996]

Muppet Treasure Island, directed by Brian Henson, son of the late Muppet genius, will entertain you more or less in proportion to your affection for the Muppets. If you like them, you'll probably like this. Read full review

After the delightful Muppet Christmas Carol, this fourth Kermit and pals star vehicle comes as a slight disappointment, but it's a treat all the same. Read full review

This adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic adventure novel features plenty of not-too-menacing pirates, and exactly the sort of schtick one expects from the Muppets. It will provide an entertaining diversion for children and adults. Read full review

Kermit, who takes to the role of Smollet like a grunion to running, is commanding, but it is Piggy as Smollet's castaway flame who puts much-needed wind into the movie's luffing sails. Clad in a muumuu and clamshells, she sets Kermit's timbers a-shivering as in the old days. Their love for each other—like America's love for Muppets—is simply unsinkable. Read full review

The sight of the Muppets making their first movie appearance since 1992's Christmas Carol - with no technological wizardry or flashy special effects applied to update the simple but effective puppetry techniques - proves to be a sobering experience. And the attempt of Jim Henson's bug-eyed creations to keep up with the times results in a breezily entertaining yet old-fashioned brew. Read full review

Perhaps it is time for the folks at Jim Henson Productions to start thinking up original stories again, or at least find material that lends itself to the Muppets' overall strengths, instead of playing into their weaknesses. [16 Feb 1996, p.F]

In this sendup of Treasure Island, there are no compelling heroes or villains, and the suspense is minimal. Most of the fun lies in watching the Muppets defuse the swashbuckling tale of its scariness by superimposing their own precociously verbal identities onto their characters. Read full review