Last night my grandchildren enjoyed a sleepover with us while their mother traveled for work. We had decided in advance that we would all watch a movie together after dinner and then go to bed. My only request was that the two children decide together on a viewing choice. I have had too much experience with them endlessly wrangling about it and seeking my vote one way or the other.

My tech savvy granddaughter  promptly looked up “50 movies you should see before you are 13” and mentioned “The Muppet Movie.” Much to my amazement, her brother agreed that this seemed a good choice. The original one, they demanded. The original “Muppet Movie” came out in 1979 and I had taken their mother to the theater to see it. After that, she was attached to a Kermit the Frog toy for years.

Now 39 years later, we had the convenience of streaming the movie into our living room for $3.99 and had the ability to pause it when anyone needed a bathroom break. We settled in to watch. The last Muppet movie put my husband to sleep from start to finish. He awoke in the theater next to me with no idea he had missed the entire show. This time he stayed awake for half of the movie before going upstairs to bed.

The other three of us enjoyed it immensely. The kids howled at the silly parts. I reminisced about how many of the cameo appearances were by wonderful comedians and actors long dead. Only I got the jokes about hare krishna, but the kids loved the play on words, including turning at a fork in the road with a giant fork in the road. The movie aged well. If you have kids around–or even if you don’t–you might enjoy it.