“It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights”…. As you probably know by now, ABC has commissioned a new show starring The Muppets, America’s favorite gaggle of weirdos. Despite a history of children’s films and family friendly entertainment, this new show is apparently aimed at adults… who, like myself, grew up on all things muppet and Jim Henson. While the new version may have some doubters, there’s ample reason to remain optimistic. Namely the 60 years of rich Muppet history created by Henson, his team, and those that have followed: a group of people who have demonstrated that these characters have an enduring appeal. In honor of that appeal, here are a few interesting facts about the Muppets that you may not know.
The Swedish Chef had his own cereal.
Post released this Muppet themed cereal in 1988, but it was discontinued a year later. It made a brief return in 1992 before disappearing from shelves forever. I am currently making an angry call to my father to ask why I never got to eat this.
“Rainbow Connection” was nominated for an Academy Award.
“Rainbow Connection” was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song in 1979, but lost to Norma Rae‘s “It Goes Like It Goes,” a song no one remembers. It also reached No. 25 on the Billboard Top 100 charts in 1979, and was named No. 74 in AFI’s list of Top Movie Songs Ever.
Most of the Muppets are left handed.
Nothing sinister here: puppeteers used their dominant hand to run the puppet’s face. Most people are right-handed, so the left hand was usually running the Muppet’s operating rod.
The original Kermit is in the Smithsonian.
Jim Henson made the original Kermit from his mother’s old coat and used ping pong balls for eyes. In 2010, the puppet was put on permanent display at the Smithsonian Institute.
Kermit the Frog wrote a self-help book.
Published in 2006, the book was ghost written by Jim Lewis, a frequent Muppet writer. It was reconfigured in 2012 by Little Brown Books for Young Readers to appeal to a younger audience.
Rowlf the Dog was the first Muppet to gain fame on the national stage.
Rowlf was one of the original Muppets, and he was Jimmy Dean’s sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show in the 1960s. When Henson passed away in 1990, Rowlf was put in semi-retirement out of respect, only appearing silently in Muppet Treasure Island and Muppets in Space. It wasn’t until 2011’s The Muppets that he spoke on screen again.
Jim Henson was almost Yoda.
Henson ended up declining the part, and suggested fellow puppeteer and actor Frank Oz instead. However, he did still consult on the creation of the character.
Henson died before the $150 million deal to sell the Muppets to Disney could go through.
After years of discussion and inability to find suitable terms, Jim Henson suddenly passed away two weeks before the final deal was supposed to go through. It wasn’t until 2004 that the remaining estate reached an agreement and Disney was able to purchase the rights to the Muppets.
Miss Piggy has a tragic backstory.
Frank Oz explained her history to The New York Times in 1979: “She grew up in a small town in Iowa; her father died when she was young, and her mother wasn’t that nice to her. She had to enter beauty contests to survive, as many single women do. She has a lot of vulnerability which she has to hide, because of her need to be a superstar.”
During The Muppet Show’s six year run, there wasn’t a single repeat celebrity guest.
Guest stars could request which Muppet they wanted to appear with: Miss Piggy was the most popular, followed by Animal. Some of the greatest Muppet Show guest stars were Steve Martin, John Cleese, Julie Andrews, and Alice Cooper.
Fozzy Bear was named after puppet builder Faz Fazakas.
It is a common misconception that he was named after Frank Oz. Fazakas designed the mechanism that allowed Fozzie’s ears to wiggle.
Jim Henson’s final performance as Kermit the Frog was on an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show.
The episode aired on May 4, 1990, and Henson would pass away from organ failure twelve days later. Henson is said to have created over 2000 Muppets over the course of his career, but Kermit would always be closest to his heart.
