Jaws

The Chops spoof also appeared on a French postcard.

Jaws music in Rocky Mountain Holiday

Jaws music in Rocky Mountain Holiday.

Piggy and "Jaws".

1999 calendar.

Kermit's impersonation of Jaws.

Jaws is a 1975 thriller directed by Steven Spielberg, with music by John Williams. The first blockbuster of its kind was based on a best-selling novel by Peter Benchley set in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts. The plot of the film centers around a town sheriff who finds himself in a new job just as a great white shark begins to terrorize the waters of a local beach.

Despite the film's reputation for decreasing beach attendance in the years following its release, Jaws spawned several sequels and video games, and has been subject to a number of spoofs and parodies in its honor.

References

• In the At the Dance sketch from episode 215 of The Muppet Show, a whatnot asks his dance partner what she thought of the movie Jaws. In reply, she turns to the camera to reveal a full set of razor sharp teeth.

• The fictional behind-the-scenes book The Great Muppet Caper!: The Making of the Masterpiece claims that Animal and Miss Piggy starred in the movie "Chops." The spoof poster in the book was later released as a postcard in France.

• The score for a scene with Gonzo sneaking up on Rowlf underwater in Rocky Mountain Holiday spoofs Williams' famous two-note motif. The home video release replaced this music with something more generic.

• Miss Piggy tours the Universal Studios theme park in California, singing "That's Entertainment" in Miss Piggy's Hollywood. One of the attractions shown during the song montage is the Universal Studios Backlot Tour featuring the shark from the movie. Piggy reacts to the shark's "leaping" out of the water toward her in the tour vehicle.

• In a "Bay of Pigswatch" sketch from episode 101 of Muppets Tonight, Miss Piggy and a shark share an exchange similar to a scene from the beginning of the Spielberg film. Again, Williams' score is very loosely interpreted for dramatic effect.

• A Brief History of Motion Pictures features a shark who chases several characters, underscored by the Williams score. He looks to the camera and says, "Just when I thought it was safe!" paraphrasing the famous tagline used to promote the film's theatrical release.

• Gonzo gets to play Jaws again in the parody "Schnoz" from the Muppet Movie Parodies 1999 Calendar.

• The music was again referenced on Sesame Street in a series of live-action shorts in which the camera films a pool full of children from underwater and builds up to a climax with the Jaws theme to reveal a letter of the alphabet.

• When Elmo asks some kids how they pretend to be a dinosaur in Elmo's World: Dinosaurs, Dorothy (a fish) says they remind her of her Uncle "Jaws".

• Dorothy imagines Elmo as a construction worker in Elmo's World: Open and Closed. Elmo addresses the "jaws" portion of a vehicle when attempting to pick up a teddy bear. Although the term appears coincidental, John Williams' famous two-note motif from the film is referenced in the underscore for the scene.

• Big Bird appeared with Bob Hope in The Bob Hope Christmas Special (1977). Explaining his effort to find a co-host, Hope quips "Then I called the star of Jaws, but he's having lunch and he's so polite, he never talks when he has someone in his mouth."

• A video created for Disney Xtreme Digital features Kermit's impression of Jaws as he pans his open mouth past the frame. Williams' two-note motif is used to accent the impression.

• The waiting queue at Muppet*Vision 3D features a parody poster of Die Hard. It quotes the tagline from the original promotional campaign from Jaws 2: "Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water..."

• In the Muppet Babies episode "I Want My Muppet TV!," Baby Animal attacks his friends in a cardboard box boat with a fin attached to his back and announces himself as "Animal Jaws" before he takes a bite out of their boat.

• In the Muppet Babies episode "This Little Piggy Went to Hollywood," Baby Piggy dreams of being discovered by a famous director in a record store. In walks Steven Weirdbird (played by Baby Gonzo) looking to cast a role in his latest film, "ET's Close Encounter with Indiana Jaws."

• Piggy visits Kermit's home under the swamp in the Muppet Babies episode "The House That Muppets Built". She names the shark outside his window, Jaws.

• During a June 12, 2012 appearance on Heart Breakfast with Jamie & Harriet, Pepe says that his favorite movie is Jaws. (YouTube)