Rainbows, as the song goes, are visions, but only illusions.
The same goes for Muppets — although they, unlike rainbows, do have something to hide. (Those puppeteers with their arms shoved up their keisters. You can’t let those guys be seen on camera.) For well over half a century now, the Muppets have delighted generations of families with their quirky humor, catchy songs, and wholesome messages about dreams and friendship.
Although they’ve suffered through some fallow periods in the 21st century, they’re having a pretty good 2026. Although they lost their long-running attraction at Walt Disney World, Muppet*Vision 3D, back in 2025, they’re now the stars of the reimagined Rock ’n’ Roller Coaster at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Florida.
They also got starred in a one-off update of The Muppet Show for Disney+. Although Disney has yet to announce further episodes, the new Muppet Show special the special — produced by Seth Rogen and featuring Sabrina Carpenter — earned the Muppets’ their best reviews in years and was watched by millions on streaming.
It also finally got my own children interested in Kermit, Piggy, Gonzo, and the rest of the crew after nearly a decade of trying and failing to convince them to watch Muppet movies with me. At some point during the special — possibly when Dr. Bunsen Honeydew’s latest experiment causes Beaker to pelt the audience with eyeballs — they finally got it. And since then we’ve been on a tear systematically watching every movie in the Muppet back catalog.
At times, our family Muppet rewatch has yielded surprises. Some of the troupe’s consensus classics were not our personal favorites. Some of their flops played really well in our house. After revisiting all eight theatrical Muppet movies (with apologies to The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz), here is our personal ranking. (If you want to yell at us about our picks, we’ll be over here watching episodes of the original Muppet Show while I explain to my kids who Ethel Mermen and Milton Berle were.)
Every Muppet Movie, Ranked
We ranked every big-screen Muppet movie from worst to best. (This list is based on a recent rewatch. Some of these hold up better than others!)
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The process is almost more interesting than the finished product.
Gallery Credit: Emma Stefansky