Such a frustrating disappointment

ridiculous rating

an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I had seen all the Muppet movies that went to cinemas and made for television, and this was the only one left that I hadn't, before the release of Muppets Most Wanted of course, I knew it was most likely going to be average, but I was still willing to try it. Basically Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) is reliving memories whilst revisiting his swamp home, where he came from before becoming famous (not exactly the same one as in The Muppet Movie, but never mind), and the film flashes back to when Kermit was twelve years old and one of his earliest adventures. Young Kermit enjoyed life in the swamp, with his best friends Croaker the frog (Bill Barretta) and Goggles the toad (Joey Mazzarino), but he wonders what else is out in the world beyond the swamp. But then Goggles and bullfrog bully Blotch (John Kennedy) are kidnapped by pet shop owner Wilson (William Bookston), and sold to scientist Dr. Hugo Krassman (John Hostetter) and his assistant Mary (Kelly Collins Lintz), Kermit and Croaker are forced to venture out of the swamp to rescue them, but they also get the opportunity to see the world for what it is, good and bad. Kermit and Croaker are accompanied by stray dog named Pilgrim (Cree Summer) who is seeking a new owner, and after all kinds of small events along the way they reach where their friends are, and they realise Krassman's nasty plans for all toads and frogs he has kidnapped, they are all to be used in school for biology classes for dissection. In the end Krassman realises the error of his ways and lets all toads and frogs free, Pilgrim is adopted by Wilson who also turns out to be nice, and all four frogs head home to the swamp, where Kermit continues to live happily, with more freedom to get out and about when he feels like it. Also starring Steve Whitmire as Jack Rabbit , Bill Barretta as Horace D' Fly and Roy the Frog, Dave Goelz as Waldorf, John Kennedy as Arnie the Alligator and Jerry Nelson as Statler. This is about as good as you're going to get from a straight to DVD release, it's a pit they weren't able to get at least one celebrity cameo like other Muppet films, children watching this certainly won't have many complaints, and it is reasonably good fun, not a bad fantasy comedy. Worth watching, at least once!

Kermit's Swamp Years will likely be a delight for little kids - very little ones - preferably those who have not been acquainted with the Muppets. I employ this statement with emphasis because I feel that anyone who has had any kind of relationship with the Muppet characters we've come to know and love will find this film dreadfully childish and a few steps away from being an insult to the iconic characters' respective legacies.I can't say they'd be incorrect; this is a pretty immature affair, combining an annoying amount of bathroom humor with a subpar, obligatory fish-out-of-water story that results in tedium and boredom with only a seventy-five minute runtime. It concerns Kermit (voiced by Steve Whitmire, who, I'll say, does a pretty damn good job) who is returning back to his homeland, the swamps, after an extended absence. While cruising down the road on his scooter, he recaps a keen adventure he had with his pals Croaker the Frog and Goggles the Toad, as they naively ventured outside the boundaries of the swamp into, gasp, the land inhabited by shiny creatures (automobiles) and humans.This lands them in a direct battle with a high school biology teacher (John Hostetter) who wants to collect amphibians for his class's forthcoming dissection. When they team up with a dog named Pilgrim (Cree Summer, who has voice credits on Clifford The Big Red Dog, Drawn Together, and Rugrats), they try and find a way to survive out in the newland and return to their homeland.For a film titled "Kermit's Swamp Years," very little of the film actually takes place in the swampland. We open with widescale shots, mostly aerial ones, of the swampland and its inhabitants. The scenes provide one with almost a travelogue-esque image of the swamp and warm our hearts with the beauty and the incomprehensible majestic qualities below. Then a fly swoops into the picture, makes some horribly childish jokes, and then we see Kermit on his scooter and the plot begins. We're in the swamp maybe fifteen minutes before we're taken to the archetypal territory of the mainlands, which are no fun in comparison.In addition, I can't help but feel that Kermit's Swamp Years, in itself, is disrespectful to the proud, invaluable legacy Jim Henson left behind. His Muppet characters had heart and wit, and would never stoop down to the level of inane bathroom-talk as a means of humor and cheap laughs. The relationships with each other - man or Muppet - felt genuine and real; the characters' names you knew for a reason. Watching several Muppet shows when I was a child, I never wanted to get up and leave the couch or have the show end. It was a magical, priceless world I was inhabiting, and I had no intention of leaving it; the real world seemed monotonous and drearily perfunctory. I almost couldn't wait to be done with Kermit's Swamp Years for the exact opposite reason.I return full-circle to the point I began this review with; this film will be enjoyed by little, little kids. Seven and up may want to move on to old-school Nickelodeon.Starring: John Hostetter. Voiced by: Steven Whitmire and Cree Summer. Directed by: David Grumpel.

I saw this movie on DVD when I was in the fifth grade. This is another straight-to-video release, and it was my favorite movie at the time. Years later...yeah, it's kinda lame.Kermit tells us of his biggest adventure when he was 12 years old. He grew up in the swamp with his friends Croaker and Goggles. When Goggles is bullied out of the swamp by Blotch, a pet store owner finds them in the road and takes them to his store. Kermit and Croaker have to find them and save them. They have to hurry, though, because a high school biology teacher, Dr. Krassman, is a mad scientist who takes pleasure out having his students dissect frogs...OK, so why doesn't this film work? First of all, it goes back to what I said about "Muppets From Space," it's not a Muppet movie, it's the Muppets trying to put on another type of movie. Yeah, that goes for this movie as well. Also, this movie is just for kids. The great thing about the Muppets is that they appealed to both kids and adults. Jim Henson worked hard to make puppets appeal to adults, and did that greatly with "The Muppet Show." Here...this is just a kid's movie.Some of the jokes here don't work (particularly the butt and poop jokes (thank you to the one who mentioned that earlier)), and some of the music can be annoying...that is, the songs that aren't original. Some of the characters can be annoying, but that's a minor problem. The main problems are what I mentioned before, the entertainment style and the target audience.What do I like about the movie? I like the references to the Muppets and "The Muppet Movie." In the beginning of the film, the characters talk to Arnie the Alligator. Kermit passes a boy whose last name is Henson. Kermit has a bad experience with a pig in a farm. That stuff is cool. Some of the jokes work OK, and it's nice to hear Cree Summer's voice in this movie.It's not a bad film, it's OK. If it weren't for those 2 main problems I mentioned earlier, this would have been a good movie. Your kids will enjoy it OK, but I wouldn't expect adults to get too invested in it. BOOYIKA!

stars: Steve Whittemire as Kermit and other. Bill Barretta as Croaker and D'fly. John Kennedy as Arnie the alligator and others. Dave Goelz as Waldorf. Jerry Nelson as Statler.Interesting little movie about Kermit when he was little. The good things about it were the great look the movie had due to the cameras they used to film it. It had funny references to the Muppets as they are today, including Kermit mentioning that he doesn't like pigs, an appearance by young men Statler and Waldorf and Arnie the alligator which was a character that appeared on the show and was in the Muppet Movie. The plot was that Kermit and Croaker the frogs are going to be dissected for a school project, but escape. Meant for little kids, but adults will enjoy it too.My rating: B minus. 81 mins.