Muppet movie goofs The Muppet movies , like most films , have their share of mistakes and goofs . Sometimes directors knowingly bend the rules of continuity , nature or physics for the sake of storytelling or cinematography , but many times errors are not noticed until it is too late . The goofs committed are also different in nature : a revealed puppeteer is a clear mistake , whereas plot holes and factual errors are harder to clearly prove . The Muppet Movie . Full - Screen Transfer . On most full - screen home - video releases of " The Muppet Movie " ( including most VHS editions and the 2001 DVD ) this transfer is taken from a non - matted version of the film . When the movie was shot , the film used was of a larger aspect ratio . In the editing process , the " black bars " commonly associated with widescreen films were added to cover the top and bottom of the picture - trimming off material at the top and bottom of the frame . This method is common and is cheaper than shooting on 1 . 85 : 1 widescreen film . When it comes to creating a full - screen edition for home - video release the edges of the wide rectangular film are cropped - off to fit the picture to the shape of the standard TV . With " The Muppet Movie " , however , the full - screen prints were made from the non - matted version . This allows a little less of the sides to be cropped off , but it shows more of the top and bottom not seen in the original widescreen version . When removing the widescreen matting on the film , it results in more arm socks , arms , heads and other flubs coming into the shots that were originally cut off by the black bars . To see " The Muppet Movie " in its intended version , with less arms and heads poking in , one should view the original widescreen version . Each shot was arranged with the intention of masking the top and bottom , so puppeteers sometime got on the film expecting to be cropped off by the masking - the full - screen edition of this film contains more goofs . The Muppets Take Manhattan . Full - Screen Transfer . Some goofs pop up only in the full - screen version of " The Muppets Take Manhattan " . General Goofs . Muppet Height Relations . One of the big errors people can nitpick with the Muppet productions is continuity of the characters ' heights . For example , Rizzo and Pepe the King Prawn normally appear around ( or even above ) waist height compared to their human co - stars . However , a full - body look at proportions of the character would suggest they would barely reach a human ' s knee . Kermit , Fozzie , and the other Muppets also appear in a flexible height range in order to interact comfortably with humans and sets . Steve Whitmire said in a 1998 interview that " If a character like Rizzo only appeared at his true height next to a human actor , you ’ d only see the human actor ’ s feet when you saw Rizzo . That ’ s an extreme example , but the idea is true for most of the characters . Even so , we do know the relative heights of the characters to each other and make an effort to keep that in mind . " The suspended belief that the audience has when watching the Muppets allows this flexible reality to exist without major distractions . So even though Pepe ' s feet would be floating three feet off the ground , the audience still goes along , not questioning , and usually not even perceiving . Canonical Holes . Many people argue that the Muppet films and TV shows are non - canonical ; that each production is a world unto itself - that the Muppets are timeless personalities and characters that carry throughout productions , and these characters are presenting a show . People continue to argue and debate over what is Muppet truth and what is just acting and plain entertainment . For instance , " Muppet Babies " undermines the whole notion of " The Muppet Movie " , and Scooter ' s role as The Electric Mayhem ' s road manager in " The Muppet Movie " undermines his backstory set up in the early run of " The Muppet Show " as the theater owner ' s nephew hired by Kermit as a go - fer . There have been many contradictions in Muppet canon and backstories throughout the 50 + years of the Muppets . However , writers and performers will overlook or circumvent them in order to create new compelling stories , new characters or character traits , or just deliver a humorous joke . In of " The Muppet Show " , Gonzo explains his mother died before he was born and left a note to his father regarding Gonzo ' s name . This is contradicted in of " Muppets Tonight " where Gonzo claims his mother liked his unique college interpretation of " Death of a Salesman " . However , the whole notion of Gonzo remembering his parents is somewhat dispelled in the film " Muppets from Space " . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _