Anyone who follows pop culture is sure to have noticed the surge of puppet sex in the last several years. Avenue Q (2002) started it on Broadway, when the loveable Muppet-like characters began getting it on in a way that was vaguely unsettling, considering that they were blue and fuzzy. In 2004, Team America (Fuck Yeah!) took it to a whole new level. Trey Parker and Matt Stone had to fight to keep their little movie from being tagged with an NC17 rating because of the variety of positions the dolls assumed. They succeeded, but left in just enough marionette fornication to forever change the way you look at the racks of Barbie dolls at Target. In last year’s The Beaver, Mel Gibson wanted to do it with Jodie Foster while the beaver puppet participated, opening up the plot line to a whole new array of punch lines.

Since movies like to stay on trend, you might suspect that the latest version of The Muppet Movie would feature a slightly more lascivious version of the beloved mopheads. But Jason Segel, who wrote and stars in the film, holds true to the nostalgia the puppets represent and keeps the characters as pure as Beaker’s soul. The story is your basic “let’s put on a show to save the theatre” and showcases everybody’s favorites such as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear and Animal. The movie is frisky and funny, with lots of goofy humor and cameos by celebrities, including a few who seem to have been thrown in there because Disney owns ABC.

I enjoyed the film a lot, and have to admit to getting a little choked up when Kermit asked the musical question, “Why are there so many … songs about rainbows?” It made me cry, but it also made me wonder; is that true? I can only think of Over the Rainbow and I’m Always Chasing Rainbows – I wouldn’t exactly call that “so many”. I was actually expecting the film to be a little snarkier; the muppets were on Saturday Night Live before they were on Sesame Street, and they were pretty rude then. But I guess you don’t mess around with legends at this point, or with projected box office numbers for a PG kid’s film opening on Thanksgiving. It really is not the time to blow the lid off Bert and Ernie’s relationship. And no consummation for Kermit and Piggy, either. This is The Muppet Movie! (Fuck Yeah!)

Barf Bag Rating: ZERO BAGS Okay, I just thought of another one: Look to the Rainbow, from Finian’s Rainbow. Oh, and She’s a Rainbow by the Stones. And the theme song from Reading Rainbow. My God! Kermit was right!