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 1974 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

The Muppets

• 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.

• Miss Piggy can be seen at the beach reading a book called "JOWLS" in a 1978 Swedish trading card, the cover of which features a parody of the Jaws poster.

• A movie poster in J. P. Grosse's office as seen in Muppet Diary 1980 features a poster of "PAWS" with Kermit as Christine and a giant bear claw reaching for him.

• 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.

• In The Muppets Take Manhattan, the theater that Scooter works at plays the film "Attack of the Killer Fish 3-D", which parodies Jaws 3-D and even features music similar to the attack theme.

• In the Muppet Babies episode "I Want My Muppet T.V.," 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.

• 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. The same animatronic is used in the Muppet Babies episode "Eight Flags Over the Nursery," where the babies encounter it during their Wild Animal Cruise.

• 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 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.

• When Johnny Fiama is attacked by a shark in Muppets Tonight episode 107, his bodyguard Sal Minella chases after him shouting, "hey Jaws 3-D!"

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

• Pepe the King Prawn imitates John Williams' score while standing near water at one point during Muppet Monster Adventure.

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

• During a June 12, 2012 appearance on the London radio program Heart Breakfast, Pepe says that his favorite movie is Jaws.

• During Wayne and Wanda's performance of "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" during The Muppets Take the Bowl (and the O2), the arrival of a shark is signaled by a version of the Jaws theme.

• During an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2022, Gonzo says his favorite line in cinema history is, "You're gonna need a bigger boat."

• Seth Rogen asks Kermit in a 2026 Complex video, "What is the GOAT movie line to quote?" Kermit responds, "We're gonna need a bigger boat" and explains that sharks aren't a concern for him swimming in ponds.

Sesame Street

• Bob and David read a newspaper in Episode 0796 and decide to go see the 7:30 showing of "Claws."

• In Episode 0834, Bob and David play Here Are Some Things using jars filled with marbles. One girl playing along misinterprets the word "jars" and comments that she saw a shark named Jaws.

• In Sesame Street at Night?, following the Waiter Grover sketch involving alphabet soup, Gene Shalit points out to Grover that the letters he forgot were J, O, and Z, which read "Joz." Grover mishears this as "Jaws" and mentions having seen the movie.

• While considering a movie to go to in Episode 1658, David recommends he and Linda see Jaws; Linda declines, having seen the movie twice.

• Oscar the Grouch mentions having a pet goldfish named Jaws in Episode 2076 of Sesame Street.

• In Episode 2660, Oscar dives for fish skeletons in his swimming pool. He paraphrases the Jaws 2 tagline, saying, "And just when I thought it was safe to go back into the trash can." The scene is punctuated by a Jaws-style musical sting.

• A similar musical sting is used at the end of scene 3 in Episode 3401.

• Telly and his fellow triangle lovers hum a Jaws-esque melody while masquerading as shark fins in Episode 2931.

• A portion of the Jaws theme is incorporated into the melody of "Between You and Me" when a shark appears.

• The Jaws theme plays briefly in Episode 3161 when Big Bird pretends to be "Big Fish."

• A Brief History of Motion Pictures features a shark who chases several characters, underscored by the Williams motif. As a twister approaches, he looks to the camera and says, "Just when I thought it was safe!," paraphrasing the famous tagline used to promote the theatrical release of Jaws 2.

• 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.

• Elmo makes his hand into a shark fin and makes it swim from below the frame while the Williams' motif plays in Elmo's World: Hands.

• As Elmo counts fish in "Elmo's World: Fish," a Jaws-like sting plays when a shark shows up.

• 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' two-note motif from the film is referenced in the underscore for the scene.

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

• When a shark approaches Baby (mer)-Bear and Telly underwater in Sesame Street Episode 4049, they're scared by his accompanied music, a parody of the Jaws theme.

• A play on the Jaws theme underscores the arrival of the Cowabunga Cookie Shark in Episode 4632.

• In a 2017 Vanity Fair video, Oscar the Grouch utters "You're gonna need a bigger boat," a famous line from the film uttered by Roy Scheider's Chief Brody.

• A parody of the movie poster featuring Cookie Monster titled "Gnaws," was posted on Sesame Street’s Facebook page in June 2017. The caption referenced dialogue from the film: "Hey Captain? We’re going to need a bigger cookie… #FirstDayofSummer #ShareTheLaughter"

• Appearing on HQ Trivia in January 2018, Bert helped the host deliver a question about film scores that prominently use the tuba. When Jaws was revealed as the answer, Bert set to profile at the bottom of the screen to mimic the shark moving through the water from the movie.

• In the Sesame Street special When You Wish Upon a Pickle, Ernie and Bert watch a weather forecast from Gale Warning, who predicts immeasurable amounts of snow in the U.S. heartland. Just as they leave their apartment to go shopping, Gale adds "You're gonna need a bigger coat."

Other

• While attacking Sprocket in the Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock episode "Fraggle Up," one shot features Fluffinella slowly approaching him with Jaws-esque music playing and her tail acting as a shark fin.

Connections

• Susan Backlinie played Chrissie Watkins in Jaws (1975)
• Michael Caine played Hoagie in Jaws: The Revenge (1987)
• Dennis Quaid played Mike Brody in Jaws 3-D (1983)
• Lea Thompson played Kelly Ann Bukowski in Jaws 3-D (1983)