In the 1990s, the Muppets started a trend that, unfortunately, was discontinued. In 1992, the puppet troupe starred in The Muppet Christmas Carol, where the Muppet players were the characters in Charles Dickens' immortal Christmas story. The Muppets followed that up with the excellent Muppet Treasure Island in 1996, which took a similar tack; The Muppets were ordinary actors doing their own modern production of a literary classic. This was a smart use of the Muppets, and there was every reason to believe they would continue with high-end literary adaptations.

Unfortunately, the trend ended in 1999 with the release of the flash Muppets from Outer Space, the troupe's last full-length theatrical film for 12 years.

In the meantime, however, there was one additional visit to the world of literature. In 2005, ABC aired the Muppets' Wizard of Oz TV movie, starring Ashanti as Dorothy Gale. Kermit the Frog played the Scarecrow, Gonzo played the Tin Woodman (er, the tin thing), and Miss Piggy played all four witches from the story. There was also a short scene at the beginning where Dorothy met the "real" Muppets, as they were also a traveling troupe in this world.

The Muppet Wizard of Oz also features a fun, and somewhat surreal, aside. Near the end of the film, just before Dorothy throws water on the Wicked Witch of the West, melting her into oblivion, the film stops dead and cuts to a Hollywood boardroom where Kermit serves as studio head. Across his desk is Quentin Tarantino, playing himself, making pitches about how Dorothy could kill the witch more violently. Tarantino, a notoriously violent director, was an odd choice for a celebrity cameo in a Muppet movie.

Tarantino came to prominence in 1992 with the release of his well-written and notoriously violent heist film Reservoir Dogs. His next film in 1994, the sprawling crime thriller Pulp Fiction, was a hugely award-winning darling and still often tops lists as one of the best films ever made. He then adapted Elmore Leonard's book Rum Punch into his most mature film Jackie Brown in 1997. Interestingly, most of the films Tarantino has made since 2001 are genre exercises that use extreme cinematic violence to address severe social injustice. . In 2005, when he appeared in The Muppets Wizard of Oz, his last film was Kill Bill: Volume 2, the second half of a martial arts revenge film starring Uma Thurman. That movie had gallons of blood and lots of swords.

Hence, when Tarantino suggested that Kermit the Frog, Dorothy whip out a samurai sword—perhaps melted down by Hattori Hanzo—and send the Wicked Witch of the West with it. "I'm talking kung fu! I'm talking walking on walls! I'm talking explosions everywhere!" Kemit points out that it would be too violent for a family film, so Tarantino says that, yes, he can back off the violence a bit. Instead, he suggests using CGI to transform the Wicked Witch into various other characters, including a buxom vampiric vixen. ("Everything is done in classic anime style, you know, for the kids")

Kermit says that would be too expensive, so Tarantino suggests Dorothy kick the Wicked Witch. In the face. "Now that," Kermit says, "we can afford." And, well, that's what's in the last movie.

It's a good thing the makers of The Muppets' Wizard of Oz cast Tarantino in their film because, as we all know, young children love Quentin Tarantino's cinema. From what I understand, eight-year-olds especially love The Hateful Eight.

In May 2005 Tarantino appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien. and the talk show director had a lot to say about working with the Muppets. Like many human actors, he expressed astonishment at the skill of the puppeteers operating the Muppet characters and revealed that he was talking to real Muppets, not a puppet operator. Tarantino also admitted to having a special affinity for Rowlf the dog, The Muppet Show's pianist and original co-star Kermit the Frog (both originally played by Jim Henson, though Bill Barretta has played Rowlf since 1996). Tarantino said he loved Rowlf in the early days, and Rowlf responded on a note of regret, hating that his role in The Muppets had been diminished since the 1970s. "Like I was having a legitimate conversation with a grumpy old movie star!" Tarantino pointed out.

Tarantino also spoke with Janice (played by Tyler Bunch in 2005), the Muppet member of Electric Mayhem, and he admitted that he loved her. Without warning, he punches the Muppets in the mouth, only then actually admitting to kissing Bunch's hand. O'Brien, and indeed anyone else who has met the Muppets, has admitted to being similarly star-struck when he saw Kermit the Frog.

Since 2005, the Muppets have starred in two additional feature films: The Muppets in 2011 and Muppets Most Wanted in 2014. Muppets Now” and 2023's The Muppets Mayhem. They additionally appeared in a holiday variety show with Lady Gaga and the Disney+ special "Muppets Haunted Mansion." Quentin Tarantino didn't direct any of these.