60 Fun Facts About The Muppets

Which company produced The Muppet Show alongside Henson Associates?

The programmes were made at ATV's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. American networks had turned the idea down flat.

In which country was The Muppet Show actually produced?

American networks had passed on the idea. It was made at ATV's Elstree Studios in Borehamwood.

Which British producer agreed to co-produce the show when US networks would not?

His company ITC put up the money and the studio space. The show then sold back into the United States in syndication.

How many episodes of The Muppet Show were made?

They ran across five seasons. The first went out in Britain in September 1976.

Which character acts as the show's host and long-suffering stage manager?

He is performed by the show's creator. Within the story he is the one who has to keep the theatre running.

What kind of building is the setting of The Muppet Show?

It has, in the show's own words, seen better days. Two hecklers watch every performance from a box.

Which pair of grumpy old men heckle every performance from the balcony?

They are named after two New York hotels. They get the last comment of every night.

In which recurring sketch does Miss Piggy appear as First Mate?

It parodies science fiction serials, complete with a booming announcer. The rest of the crew are also pigs.

What does the show's cleaver-wielding cook actually speak?

It is mock Swedish, performed by two puppeteers at once. Only 'bork bork bork' is reliably intelligible.

What is the name of the house band on The Muppet Show?

Animal is their drummer, and the piano player wears a gold tooth. The band still tours in Muppet productions today.

What rule did the show follow about its celebrity guests?

That is a remarkable constraint across 120 episodes. The guest list runs from Elton John to Rudolf Nureyev.

By its third season in 1978, what was the show's weekly worldwide audience?

That made it one of the most watched programmes on the planet. In Britain alone it was drawing around 14 million on Sunday evenings.

Which honour did The Muppet Show receive in 1978, alongside its Emmy win?

It had already taken the top variety prize at Montreux in 1977. Rita Moreno won a performance Emmy for her appearance.

Which guest star won a Primetime Emmy in 1977 for appearing on the show?

The award was for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program. Her episode ends with her being throttled by a saxophone-playing monster.

According to Jim Henson, the word 'Muppet' was a blend of which two words?

He also admitted at times that he simply liked the sound of it. The characters are worked by hand rather than by strings.

What was the name of Jim Henson's first television programme, made in 1955?

It was a five-minute show on a Washington station. It ran for six years and introduced a green character who was not yet a frog.

The first version of Kermit was built out of what?

The coat belonged to Henson's mother, and the ball was cut in half for the eyes. He was turquoise rather than green.

In which year did Kermit's status as a frog get established, in a television special?

He had spent fourteen years as an indeterminate creature. The special was Hey, Cinderella!.

Which song did Kermit record for Sesame Street in 1970?

It became a standard, covered by Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles. His other hit reached number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100.

How high did 'Rainbow Connection' reach on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1979?

A banjo-playing frog in a swamp made the American top thirty. The song was nominated for an Academy Award.

Who took over performing Kermit after Jim Henson's death?

He held the role until his dismissal in 2016. Matt Vogel took over the following year.

In which year did Kermit get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

It was awarded in the television category. He is one of very few fictional characters to receive one.

Who designed Miss Piggy?

Frank Oz then shaped the character and performed her for 26 years. The design came first, the personality afterwards.

What is Miss Piggy's trademark move when she is insulted?

It comes with a shouted 'hi-yah!'. Kermit is usually on the receiving end.

On which 1974 television special did Miss Piggy first appear?

That was two years before the show that made her famous. She was a minor background character at the time.

Who took over performing Miss Piggy from Frank Oz in 2002?

He took over from Frank Oz in 2002. He also performs Fozzie Bear and Animal.

In which year was The Muppet Movie released?

It was directed by James Frawley and shot as a road comedy. Its theme song was nominated for an Academy Award.

Where does Kermit live at the start of The Muppet Movie?

He is playing a banjo on a log when a talent agent floats past. The shot required a puppeteer inside a submerged canister.

Who wrote 'Rainbow Connection' for the film?

The song was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Paul Williams later wrote the songs for The Muppet Christmas Carol too.

What does the villain Doc Hopper want Kermit to advertise?

The joke is as dark as anything in family cinema. He pursues the frog across the country to get a signature.

Which of these stars did NOT need a puppet to appear in The Muppet Movie?

The cameo list also includes Bob Hope, Steve Martin, Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor. Welles plays the studio boss who signs them.

How much did The Muppet Movie gross worldwide?

It was made for $8 million. That return launched a run of cinema sequels through the 1980s.

Which fantasy film did Jim Henson direct on his own in 1986?

He co-directed the other one with Frank Oz four years earlier. David Bowie starred and wrote songs for it.

Who co-directed The Dark Crystal with Jim Henson in 1982?

It contains no human actors at all. The two men had been building characters together for two decades by then.

In 1989 Henson began negotiating to sell his characters, Sesame Street aside, to which buyer?

The price discussed was almost $150 million, excluding the Sesame Street characters. He died before the deal was completed.

How old was Jim Henson when he died in 1990?

The cause was toxic shock syndrome from a streptococcal infection. The sale of his company was still unfinished.

Which year did The Muppet Show first go out in Britain?

The premiere was on 5 September. Its final episode of the original run aired in 1981.

Roughly how many British viewers was the show drawing on Sunday evenings by December of its first year?

That is a startling figure for a puppet variety show. The worldwide audience grew to hundreds of millions within two years.

Which international prize did the show win in May 1977?

It took the top variety prize there. A Peabody Award followed the next year.

Who was impressed enough by Henson's team in 1969 to bring them onto a new children's programme?

The programme was Sesame Street, and it made the characters household names in America. Those particular characters were excluded from the later Disney sale.

On which local station did Kermit first appear, in shows and commercials?

It was a Washington DC station. The programme was a five-minute late-night filler called Sam and Friends.

Who plays Ebenezer Scrooge in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)?

He said he would play it 'like I'm working with the Royal Shakespeare Company' and never wink at the puppets.

Which two Muppets narrate The Muppet Christmas Carol, one of them playing Charles Dickens?

Gonzo was originally pencilled in to play the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come before he became Dickens.

Who directed The Muppet Christmas Carol, in his feature debut?

It was the first Muppet film made after the deaths of Jim Henson and Richard Hunt, and is dedicated to both.

Which Muppet plays Bob Cratchit in The Muppet Christmas Carol?

Miss Piggy is Emily Cratchit and Robin the Frog is Tiny Tim.

Who play the ghosts of Jacob and Robert Marley in The Muppet Christmas Carol?

Dickens only had one Marley; a second was invented so both hecklers could rattle their chains.

In The Muppet Christmas Carol, what does Fozziwig's business make?

Young Scrooge meets his love Belle at Fozziwig's Christmas party there.

Which two Muppets play the gentlemen collecting for charity whom Scrooge dismisses?

Scrooge also hurls a wreath at a carol-singing Bean Bunny in the same scene.

Which Muppet Christmas Carol song was cut from the theatrical release and later restored?

Paul Williams wrote the songs; the ballad survives on the full-screen anniversary edition.

Where was The Muppet Christmas Carol filmed?

It was the first Muppet film with a human as its main protagonist, and the first produced by Disney.

Which studio released The Muppet Christmas Carol on December 11, 1992?

Disney went on to buy the Muppets outright in 2004; the script had originally been written for ABC television.

Which Henson character was the first to appear regularly on network TV, alongside Jimmy Dean?

The piano-playing dog became a fixture of The Jimmy Dean Show in the 1960s, years before The Muppet Show debuted.

What did Henson waive on Sesame Street to keep ownership of the characters he created for it?

The Sesame Street characters were later sold separately to Sesame Workshop and were excluded from Disney's 2004 purchase.

For how much did the German firm EM.TV buy the Jim Henson Company in 2000?

EM.TV's stock collapsed and the Henson family bought the company back in 2003, minus the Sesame Street characters.

How much did Disney pay for the Muppets intellectual property on February 17, 2004?

Disney had first offered $150 million for the whole company in the late 1980s; the final deal excluded Fraggle Rock and several film rights held by Sony.

Which Muppets cover of a Queen song went viral and won two Webby Awards?

The clip eventually amassed 90 million views and helped relaunch the characters ahead of the 2011 film.

Which Bret McKenzie song from The Muppets (2011) won the Academy Award for Best Original Song?

Directed by James Bobin and co-written by Jason Segel, the film became the highest-grossing puppet film of all time.

Who was the Muppets' primary designer and builder from 1962 to 1978?

He built many of the classic characters in the years before and during The Muppet Show's first seasons.

Who took over performing Kermit the Frog in 2017 after Steve Whitmire was dismissed?

Vogel had already been gradually taking on Jerry Nelson's characters since 2008.

On what date did the original 4D film attraction at Disney's Hollywood Studios finally close?

Muppet*Vision 3D had opened in May 1991 as the only attraction realised from Henson's original plans with Disney; a California copy ran from 2001 to 2014.