In a special performance from a riverbank in the woods, Kermit the Frog sings Rainbow Connection, his Oscar-nominated hit.
The song was originally written for the frog and his banjo by Paul Williams and Kenneth Ascher for 1979ās The Muppet Movie. Watch the original here. From Vanity Fair:
Swamp-dweller Kermit plucks a banjo, contemplating rainbows and āwhatās on the other sideāāmuch like Judy Garlandās Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. But āSomewhere Over the Rainbowā was not the songās main inspiration.
āThe model we used was āWhen You Wish Upon a Star,ā which opened Disneyās Pinocchio,ā Williams said. āThis is Kermitās āI amā song. This song will show that Kermit has an inner life, a spiritual life…”
āThe thing that is so human about the song, and spiritual at the same time, is that it honors the questions, not the answers,ā Williams explained. āThat moment made Kermit not the mentor, not the teacher, not the preacher. He became a seeker with the audience.ā
This video is tagged with made for kids, but really, it’s made for all ages. Watch this next: Judy Garland sings Over the Rainbow for U.S. troops (1943).
Plus: More muppets and more Jim Henson, including How to make puppets with Jim Henson (1969).
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