Kermit's Swamp Years is a lacklustre direct to video film aimed at younger kids as older kids will find it too childish and boring. Adults will just find it lacking the wit and imagination of The Muppet Show.The older Kermit returns to the swamp where he grew up after many years away and reminiscences on his younger days when he and his his frog friends Croaker and Goggles ventured out of the safety of the swamp into the outside world where they were hunted down by a biology teacher looking for frogs to dissect at school. Goggles is captured by a pet store owner and the other two with the help of a stray dog called Pilgrim who knows more about the outside world go to look for him.The story has a hint of Toy Story films but without the charm. It just looks like a cheapo sequel with vary little care put into it and some not very good songs. You also of course miss the other Muppet characters, although you see a few variations of them. You do see younger versions of Waldolf and Statler though.

With a friend being a fan of Family movies,I decided to search around for a title which she could watch during the Christmas period.Talking to a family friend,I was pleased to learn that he had picked up a Muppet film which I had some fond memories of,which led to me getting ready to pay a visit to the swamp.The plot:Heading back to the swamp where he grew up with his family,Kermit begins to think back to his childhood…Years earlier:Spending their entire lives in the swamp,Kermit and his 2 friends Goggles & Croaker find themselves wondering about what lays beyond the swamp.Ignoring their parents advice,the gang sneak out of the swamp and enter an unknown world.As they head to the exit of the swamp,Googles accidentally starts a fight with a tough frog called Blotch.Driving past in his truck,a pet store owner notices Goggles and Blotch having a fight,which leads to the pet store owner kidnapping Goggles & Blotch,and taking them as new pets for his store.Originally planning for this to be an adventurous day soon,Kermit and Croaker realise that they must leave their comfort zone,in order to save their Goggles.View on the film:Whilst the screenplay by Jim Lewis and Joey Mazzarino shares more than a few similarities with the first Toy Story movie,the writers give the movie a nice fluffy atmosphere,thanks to the writers giving Kermit a real sincerity over his fears of entering the outside world.Contrasting the easy-going coming of age tale,the writers give the title a juvenile sense of humour,which despite offering 1 or 2 good punch lines,also suffers from one poo (h) joke too many,which never fully settle into Kermit's swamp life.

I had seen all the Muppet movies that went to cinemas and made for television, and this was the only one left that I hadn't, before the release of Muppets Most Wanted of course, I knew it was most likely going to be average, but I was still willing to try it. Basically Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire) is reliving memories whilst revisiting his swamp home, where he came from before becoming famous (not exactly the same one as in The Muppet Movie, but never mind), and the film flashes back to when Kermit was twelve years old and one of his earliest adventures. Young Kermit enjoyed life in the swamp, with his best friends Croaker the frog (Bill Barretta) and Goggles the toad (Joey Mazzarino), but he wonders what else is out in the world beyond the swamp. But then Goggles and bullfrog bully Blotch (John Kennedy) are kidnapped by pet shop owner Wilson (William Bookston), and sold to scientist Dr. Hugo Krassman (John Hostetter) and his assistant Mary (Kelly Collins Lintz), Kermit and Croaker are forced to venture out of the swamp to rescue them, but they also get the opportunity to see the world for what it is, good and bad. Kermit and Croaker are accompanied by stray dog named Pilgrim (Cree Summer) who is seeking a new owner, and after all kinds of small events along the way they reach where their friends are, and they realise Krassman's nasty plans for all toads and frogs he has kidnapped, they are all to be used in school for biology classes for dissection. In the end Krassman realises the error of his ways and lets all toads and frogs free, Pilgrim is adopted by Wilson who also turns out to be nice, and all four frogs head home to the swamp, where Kermit continues to live happily, with more freedom to get out and about when he feels like it. Also starring Steve Whitmire as Jack Rabbit , Bill Barretta as Horace D' Fly and Roy the Frog, Dave Goelz as Waldorf, John Kennedy as Arnie the Alligator and Jerry Nelson as Statler. This is about as good as you're going to get from a straight to DVD release, it's a pit they weren't able to get at least one celebrity cameo like other Muppet films, children watching this certainly won't have many complaints, and it is reasonably good fun, not a bad fantasy comedy. Worth watching, at least once!

This recent Muppet film has been greeted with accusations of cynical "cashing-in" on the part of the producers. These can be easily batted away, however, when one comes to personally experience this re-imagining of Kermit's origins.With a batch of new, but undeniably 'muppet' friends, Kermit begins life as just another ordinary frog - but it is the fact that he could love and can dream that sets him apart and on the road to fame.I was reminded of the opening scenes of 'The Muppet Movie', when 'Rainbow Connection', and the spindly-legged creature singing it, stole my infant heart and replaced it with a font of dreams and wandering imagination. At that age I wondered what Kermit was doing on the swamp planet of Dagobah,not recognising the Florida everglades. In a way, I feel that this was a correct, spiritual link to make - between Henson's musical amphibian and Oz's diminutive sage the common truth that it is "not easy being green" is shared.With Kermit's name in the title, the film is a must for fans, or rather, kin of the muppets. The 'Disney's franchise' years are behind it, unsavoury memories of the corporate-flavoured 'Muppets in Disneyworld' TV special are expunged from the memory and the renaissance engendered by 'Muppets in Space' continues apace.The original muppet-makers' hands are less in evidence on this film, but don't let that turn you away. In many ways this is the spiritual cousin, and, oddly, natural accompaniment to the Star Wars prequels.