Muppet Treasure Island Review (1996) – A wonderful, nostalgic, stomach achingly hilarious film that is an absolute MUST SEE no matter your age!

Happy Pride and Blessed Summer Solstice from us potatoes!

We wanted to end this month with something that brings joy, laughter, and a whole lot of heart. Because let’s face it—the world feels like a lot right now. So many of us are weary, overwhelmed, and trying to find pockets of peace in a time that feels increasingly hostile. That’s why this month, we’re focusing on what we can control: joy, laughter, and celebrating what makes us who we are.

We’re proud to be safe potatoes for our LGBTQIA+ readers, and we’re honored to be part of your journey—whether that means offering a movie recommendation, a silly drinking game, or just a place to breathe for a while.

So with that in mind, we potatoes have to re-visit, and update one of our most beloved movies and favorite reviews ever! Muppet Treasure Island!

Muppet Treasure Island combines the chaotic charm of our beloved Muppet’s with Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of pirates, treasure, and betrayal—and it is still, without a doubt, one of the most entertaining adventure movies out there. The humor is strong, the characters are iconic, the musical numbers slap, and Tim Curry as Long John Silver might be one of the greatest casting choices of all time!

The tone is lighthearted and family-friendly, though there are some mild themes of violence and death (it is a pirate movie, after all). But compared to other swashbuckling tales, this one keeps things silly and absurd rather than dark or heavy. Just a heads-up for anyone watching with little’s, or anyone feeling extra tender these days. (Understandably so).

This film is amazing, the acting is superb and the writing is fantastic, funny and witty. It laughs at itself and overall, the film still holds up to this day! Without further ado let’s begin!

The picture starts strongly with an intense looking sunset over the ocean and epic music playing in the background. The camera moves back to reveal some rocky out crops on, what appears to be, an island!

As the camera pans about the island, we get a voice over by the pirate captain Flint’s first mate. He is discussing the horde of treasure that Flint hid on this special island. Next we get our very first musical number and it is awesome.

Just a side note…We love Bill Connolly’s voice! He is always so fun to listen to!

The music throughout this entire film is amazing. It’s funny, entertaining, catchy, and just a blast to sing along to! “Dead men tell no tales!”

Once the musical number has finished up, we hear the voice of Flint’s first mate wrapping up the introduction as the camera fades to a fire burning in a fireplace. We pan up from the fire to the face behind the voice over, Billy Bones (Bill Connolly), as he continues to tell his story to the rest of the patrons in the tavern where our new scene is taking place.

Apparently, Flint died before he could share the location of the treasure with the rest of his crew…and the small crew that helped him bury it…well, in true pirate fashion, Flint killed them!

No one knows where the map is located…“Now isn’t that a story worth the hearing?” Bones says.

The tavern patrons are unimpressed. They have heard this story many times whenever Billy Bones is in his cups.

Billy turns to and teases our main character, a tavern boy named Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop), “Beware the one legged man! He’s the one to fear!”

Jim really doesn’t take Billy seriously. He teases the older man right back and has a few laughs with his fellow tavern boys, Gonzo the Great (Dave Goelz) and Rizzo the Rat (Steve Whitmire).

Billy Bones is adamant that the one legged man is dangerous! As he is telling them more about this, a woman named Mrs. Bulveridge (Jennifer Saunders) walks into the room carrying a large barrel yelling, “Time!” She is the owner of this establishment and “Time!” means it is closing time. Time for any patrons who are not paying for a room to go home!

She closes the front door to the tavern behind the last patron. She turns around and gruffly lets the boys know that there is food for them in the kitchen, assigns nightly chores, and goes to bed.

We are simplifying the scene here a bit, but Mrs. Bulveridge is incredibly funny, and we love her character! She is a brusque, caring, badass, who also happens to be hilarious!

Next we see the boys, Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo, blowing out the outdoor lantern and talking about their dreams. We have another sweet little musical number, not as fun as the first, but very cute.

We learn that Jim is an orphan who longs for adventure, and a completely different life. He wants to be an explorer and sail the seas like his father did!

Suddenly and rudely interrupting Jim’s song, Billy Bones is back downstairs screaming for rum! He is having a violent outburst and is swinging his saber around. From upstairs, we hear Mrs. Bulveridge yell “Don’t be giving him anymore rum!”

There is an ominous knock at the tavern door. Jim nervously opens it and a strange creature with patches over both eyes named Blind Pew announces himself to Billy Bones! He is there to give Billy Bones a message…the message is the BLACK SPOT! Blind Pew then leaves…with the promise that he will be back!

Shaking, Billy stares at the black spot and shrieks! He bolts upstairs and starts packing his sea chest (old time luggage). We learn here that the black spot is a death sentence! It means that the pirates Billy wronged are coming after him, and that they are not far behind him either!

Suddenly, Billy appears to have a heart attack, or some other medical emergency and keels over onto the bed. He tells Jim about the map that he stole from Flint and expresses that he wants Jim to take the map and leave. Billy will be damned if Blind Pew or the one legged man gets it!

Jim finds the map in Billy’s sea chest and Billy dies dramatically afterwards. Horrified, Jim, Gonzo and Rizzo run out of Billy’s room down to the tavern area…only to find pirates breaking in!

Panicking, Jim runs to Mrs. Bulveridge’s room. She wakes up and let’s Jim into the room while Gonzo and Rizzo are trying to figure out how to use a gun in the back room of the tavern downstairs. Cutting back to Mrs. Bulveridge’s room, the pirates are banging on the door!

Mrs. Bulveridge tells Jim to take the back stairs which can be accessed through a side door in her room. She tells him to “Run!” as she turns around to the door being blasted open. Being the awesome person she is, she starts kicking muppet pirate ass!

Gonzo and Rizzo are discovered in the back room having spilled gun powder everywhere…they light the gun powder on accident and run! This scene is very comical and feels incredibly cartoony. With everyone running around in circles to avoid the trail of lighted gun powder.

Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo somehow manage to make it out of the building before it blows! Jim pulls out the map and they decide that they are going to try to find someone to take them to the island. But wait! What about Mrs. Bulveridge?!

Mrs. Bulveridge breaks out of the tavern by kicking her way through a downstairs window carrying several muppet pirates! “I’ll be fine boys! Run for it!” She then yells at the Muppet’s she’s been pummeling: “Who’s gonna clean all this up?”

We suspect that the Pirates that messed up Mrs. Bulveridge’s tavern are definitely going to have a hand in cleaning up the mess and rebuilding! We potatoes love this for Mrs. Bulveridge!

The boys run and we fade to black. The next morning, Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo are travelling through an unidentified sea side port looking for someone willing to fund this crazy adventure. Jim finds a ship building company called “Trelawney and Son’s Master Ship Builders”.

They knock on the door, and an older man opens it. He informs them that the owner of the business is not there, but his son is!

They go inside to talk to the son who is none other than Fozzie Bear playing Young Trewlaney, (Frank Oz). He examines the map and identifies it as authentic…because the little man that lives in finger, Mr. Bimbo, told him so.

It is so silly, but weirdly endearing!

Jim tells Trewlaney (Fozzie) that he needs a ship to go on a voyage to seek out the treasure! Trewlaney, being his lovable idiot self takes a moment to understand what it is they want from him. Once Trewlaney hears that pirates are involved he loves the idea and he decides to provide a ship and finance the trip!

Cut to the next day! The boys are cleaned up, and excitedly waiting at the docks for Fozzie. Fozzie shows up, and points them to the right boat, The Hispaniola. Thrilled, they board and set to exploring the ship!

They find themselves in the kitchen area…with the cook singing a little sea shanty. The cook turns around and teases them. With a boisterous laugh, he then invites them to help themselves to some food in the galley which, of course, Rizzo is all too eager to do!

The cook introduces himself to Jim, “Long John Silver! At your service!” (Tim Curry). Giving Jim a charismatic grin he says in a hushed tone, “Long John to his friends. A friend you can trust is worth his weight in gold.”

Long John Silver is our favorite character throughout the whole film! Tim Curry definitely steals the show a bit. His charisma, amazing laugh, and singing talent could not be more perfect for the role and we potatoes are here for it…and we love it!

Long John introduces Jim to his pet lobster named Bad Polly (Kevin Clash) or simply Polly Lobster. Long John loves teasing the new cabin boys, Jim, Gonzo, and Rizzo, and has an infectious laugh (because Tim Curry). He comes across as extremely shady but very likeable…but the most damning thing about him is the fact that he only has one leg!

Suspicious but incredibly charmed, they all go up to the main deck together to watch the captain arrive…and who is the captain you may ask? Captain Smollet, played by Kermit the Frog (Steve Whitmire)!

A little potato side dish here, but it is freaking uproarious! As part of the boarding scene, we see Rizzo who is worried that the voyage may be fruitless. To make sure they actually get something out of all this, he sets up the ship to also be a tropical cruise for other rats! He has a special boarding area for them, sets up activities etc. It is a whole thing through the rest of the movie and it is incredibly comical to see cruises made fun of in such an outlandish way!

We are going to start wrapping up here so as to give no more of this wonderful picture away! The story continues with catchy and fun musical numbers, hilarity and more iconic muppet actors! Jim is suspicious of Long John, but Long John is able to develop a close relationship with Jim despite that.

Muppet Treasure Island captures the spirit of the original story while infusing it with the trademark Muppet charm. The Muppet characters' have distinctive personalities and comedic antics that bring so much laughter and warmth to this adventurous tale. This movie is a truly delightful viewing experience for audiences of all ages!

We also have to give a shout-out to the ridiculous crew names (“Dead Tom” lives rent-free in our heads), the over-the-top cannonball mayhem, Miss Piggy (another favorite of ours) and the fact that this film somehow manages to balance heartfelt storytelling, chaotic energy, and camp musical numbers without ever losing its footing.

There is one element we want to flag: the film includes a depiction of an unidentified indigenous culture that leans into some exaggerated tropes. While the tone doesn’t feel cruel or intentionally harmful—it’s more poking fun at the genre itself—it still plays on outdated stereotypes. It’s something to be aware of and, as always, up to individual interpretation.

Otherwise, we really do not have any further critiques for this film! We adore this movie! The jokes still hit! We LOVE Tim Curry! He is the best Long John Silver ever in our humble opinions. If you are someone that enjoys the Muppet’s, and wholesome, sweet, hysterical, entertaining, fun-filled adventure movies than this is one you cannot miss!

So! Cheers to Mrs. Bluveridge for being the tough-as-nails tavern queen we all needed! Cheers to the rats on their cruise! Cheers to Kermit as Captain Smollet! Cheers to Tim Curry’s glorious camp villainy! And most importantly… cheers to you! For joining us on the journey! For finding joy where you can. For laughing even when it’s hard. For surviving and fighting along with us. We’re with you and we raise our rum to you and to all of our shared resilience and strength!

We give this movie 5 bottles of Rum out of 5!

The Muppet Treasure Island Drinking Game

Take a sip anytime:

1.     There's a musical number

2.     Anyone mentions "Flint"

3.     Anyone says "Rum" 

4.     Anyone says "Jim" or "Hawkins"

5.     Anyone mentions the Map

6.     Anyone says "Treasure"

7.     Anyone says "Pirates"

8.     Rizzo talks about food

9.     Trewlaney (Fozzie) is an idiot

10.  Trewlaney (Fozzie) mentions Mr. Bimbo

11.  Tim Curry laughs

12.  Anyone says "Long John" or "Long John Silver"

13.  Mr Arrow says "Sir"

14.  Anyone says "Captain"

15.  Anyone says "Dead Tom"

16.  Miss Piggy says "Smolly"

What did you think?? Did you like the movie? Did you hate it!? Do you have suggestions for films we should consider?! Let us know here in the comments and always remember to be safe and drink responsibly!