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The Kid Should See This

Rainbow Connection, a 2020 performance by Kermit the Frog

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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 1979’s The Muppet Movie. Watch the original here. From Vanity Fair:

Swamp-dweller Kermit plucks a banjo, contemplating rainbows and ā€œwhat’s on the other sideā€ā€”much like Judy Garland’s Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. But ā€œSomewhere Over the Rainbowā€ was not the song’s main inspiration.

ā€œThe model we used was ā€˜When You Wish Upon a Star,’ which opened Disney’s Pinocchio,ā€ Williams said. ā€œThis is Kermit’s ā€˜I am’ song. This song will show that Kermit has an inner life, a spiritual life…”

ā€œThe 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. ā€œThat moment made Kermit not the mentor, not the teacher, not the preacher. He became a seeker with the audience.ā€

kermit with his banjo
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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