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This unlikely romance actually makes a lot of sense when you think about it-they’re both prone to violent fits of rage, he is more swine-like than Kermit will ever be, and they both enjoy spending time touring the stars in spaceships.
This adorable fan made illustration comes to us courtesy of DeviantArtitst Loopydave, and I think it would make a great poster for all the fans who love both the Muppets and Star Wars.
Link –via The Mary Sue
Looking for a good way to show your love of the Muppets while staying warm this winter? You could always try knitting your own Muppet hats like Annie of Wattlebird did. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have any patterns and isn’t planning on selling them, so if you want to make your own Statler or any of your other favorites, you’ll have to figure it out on your own.
We all know that Animal from the Muppets likes to rock out on the drums, and occasionally he likes to destroy things at random, so posing as Iron Maiden cover mascot Eddie was a no brainer. The only thing missing is a hapless victim and a heavy metal soundtrack!
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I’ve caught a fresh case of Muppet Fever thanks to the new movie, and I hope that a whole new generation of youngsters will find love for these fleece superstars. However, their career was in a slump for a while, and a few of the Muppets thought they might need to find other work, so here are some test shots from their alternate movie role tryouts.
You can see the rest at the link below, including Kermit as Anchorman and Dr. Bunsen as Walter White from Breaking Bad!
Link –via ComicsAlliance –image via National Post
Wired magazine has an article full of tips for making your life better with science, from untangling your earbuds to dunking cookies in milk. The Muppets are there to lend a little levity, but the science behind these things is all real. This includes the physics of splattering spaghetti sauce on your shirt.
One of the occupational hazards of eating pasta is the way it slings sauce on everything around you—shirts, jacket … dates. Physicists creatively named this the spaghetti effect, the tendency of long flexible strands (like spaghetti) to whip side to side when pulled into a container (like your mouth). It’s a mild annoyance at dinner but a real danger in industrial settings where ropes or chains are rapidly pulled to and fro—or at home, when your metal tape measure goes feral. Fortunately, you can tame the noodle. —Judy Dutton
Instructions for better spaghetti-slurping follow. Link
Comments Off I don’t know about you guys, but I have loved The Muppets since I was in diapers and I can’t wait to see the new Muppet movie that’s coming out today. But as long as we’re celebrating The Muppets’ return to the big screen, we may as well celebrate their original rise to the small screen. So for all the fans out there, here’s a little history and general trivia info on the greatest puppet team ever created.
We’ve talked about Jim Henson’s show Sam and Friends, where Kermit originated, before, but that wasn’t Jim Henson’s first experience working with puppets. It actually started all the way back in 1954 when Henson was still attending high school. He was quite ambitious because before he graduated, he already was creating puppets for a Saturday morning kid’s show called The Junior Morning Show featured on WTOP-TV.
Interestingly, Jim didn’t really intend to work on puppets for a career. He actually originally went to the University of Maryland, College Park, to become a commercial artist. But when he was only a freshman, he was asked to create a five-minute long puppet show for WRC-TV named Sam and Friends. The show ended up playing a huge role in the inspiration for The Muppets and featured a prototype version of Kermit the Frog.
Image Via zhurnaly [Flickr]
Well, Sam was a puppet that looked like a human and his friends were a variety of other human puppets, a few weird monstery creatures, a snake and a lizard that eventually morphed into the world’s most famous frog. The show started out just featuring the puppets lip-synching to popular songs, but as the show started gaining popularity, they started writing real sketches, many of which involved featured spoofs of popular TV shows.
One of the best-known sketches involved Kermit nibbling on something that looked like a worm, but eventually turned into the tongue or nose of the character Big V, a giant monster, who would eventually eat him. Near the end of the show’s run, Esskay Meats started showing ads at the end of the show, which would feature characters from Sam and Friends.
While the show was best known for introducing Kermit to the world, it also played a huge role in letting Henson perfect his puppetry techniques that would eventually change the way puppets were shown on television forever. One of his biggest innovations was setting up the camera shots so the people operating the puppets would not be seen on screen. He also made the puppets more flexible than puppets previously seen on television so they could express a wider array of emotions on screen.
This is one movie parody trailer that is not for children. -via Buzzfeed
Bert and Ernie are recording their voices for the TomTom GPS company. They can tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street! -Thanks, Bearfoot!
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I don’t know about you guys, but I’m excited as heck for the release of the new Muppet Movie and these cake pops seem like a perfect way to get in the spirit for the new film. If you want to make your own, Bakerella has the instructions.
Link via Laughing Squid
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Before The Muppet Show, before Sesame Street, there was Sam and Friends, a 1955 series of local TV sketches created by a college student named Jim Henson.
Despite getting top billing, the star of “Sam and Friends” was not jug-eared Sam, whose round nose and bald head suggested Popeye. No, the show’s heart was an olive-drab, lizard-like creature named Kermit, who was sewn from one of Henson’s mother’s cast-off wool coats (that’s him, Sam, and a few other Friends at the top of this article, with Henson circa 1956 or 1957). The original Kermit had rounded feet instead of flippers, lacked Kermit’s classic crenellated collar, and viewed the world through a ping-pong ball that had been sliced in half and painted. Henson lined his creation with denim from an old pair of jeans.
Collector’s Weekly talks to Smithsonian curator Dwight Blocker Bowers about the history of Kermit and Henson’s other puppets, and gives us a glimpse at the collection of Muppet memorabilia on display at the Smithsonian Institution. Link
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Dr. Bunsen Honeydew of Muppet Labs doesn’t actually have eyes, but his glasses are stylin’. Craftster member djonesgirl made this crocheted model of his head so you have a place to put your glasses. You can find her pattern at the link.
Link -via Geek Crafts
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Occupy Wall Street is taking over all the news networks these days, but the truly important movement these days is the Occupy Sesame Street cause. Check out some of the key Tweets from the front lines over on BuzzFeed.
Muppet creator (and the most renowned puppeteer ever) Jim Henson was born on September 24, 1936, which would make him 75 years old if he were with us today. In honor of the occasion, the Google Doodle features a group of Henson’s monsters -and you can act as the Muppeteer!
Link to Google.
Link to a memorial at the Google Blog.
Link to more from and about Jim Henson.
Link to more from the Muppets.
The latest Muppet ad for their new movie is a parody of the trailer for the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. You can see the original at YouTube, but be aware that it is not a “family” film. -via Buzzfeed
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An artist with the moniker J-RYU refers to this piece as “Forbidden Love Child.” Well, forbidden only in the eyes of some people. If you’re in Los Angeles on Friday, you can see it at the Toy Art Gallery’s “Brain Evolution” show.
Link -via Super Punch | Gallery Website
The Yip Yip Martians from Sesame Street were a hit at DragonCon 2011. The description at YouTube says it all:
simply put, one of the most entertaining and crowd pleasing cosplay costumes EVER… there wasn’t a single person who saw these guys who didn’t explode into joy.
If you are not familiar with these characters, you can watch the Muppets in one of their original Sesame Street sketches. -via reddit
By OK Go (with help from The Muppets). This is from The Green Album, available as of today. And it’s not over when the fat lady sings! -via Metafilter
There’s a fuzzy new exhibit coming to a museum near you that showcases the works of puppet messiah Jim Henson. The Fantastic Voyage is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institute and showcases some of Henson’s most beloved and well known characters, like Bert and Ernie, Kermit, and Rowlf the piano playing dog, so you can see your Muppet pals up close and personal. Plus there’s lots of concept art, sketches and photographs spanning the entire career of the world’s most beloved puppeteer. Jim Henson fanatics unite and show the puppet master some love when the exhibit comes to your town!
Link image via Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
While there’s nothing wrong with giving your gal a glass of champagne before getting down on one knee to propose, some people prefer to go a less traditional and more personalized route. Of course, if the potential bride and groom both happen to be a bit geeky, then it follows that a customized wedding proposal might just have a bit of a nerd-twist to it as well. Here is a small sampling of some of the geekiest wedding proposals ever.
Be warned, if you tend to cry after watching emotionally-charged moments, this article (particularly the videos) might have you spraying your computer with tears. I know I was misty-eyed while writing it.
I have to admit, this just might be my favorite wedding proposal ever. Ben and his girlfriend, Tora, were both seriously addicted to the popular Gearbox RPG shooter Borderlands. That’s why when Ben decided to ask Tora to marry him, he decided to ask Gearbox for help popping the question. The company’s response was more positive than Ben ever could have hoped for, as they spent a week working on a special Borderlands-themed wedding proposal video for the couple. It even featured a few hilarious quips from the robot character, Claptrap.
Ben got all of Tora’s friends and family members together under the guise of throwing her a birthday party and unveiled the video by saying he got a hold of a new Borderlands trailer. Needless to say, after watching the video, Tora’s response was a big fat “yes,” although she did later admitted that she was a little upset that Ben got to go to the Gearbox studio without her.
This guy and his girlfriend both seriously love Mario (if you couldn’t tell already by looking at the room) so in order to ask his girlfriend to marry him, he set up a functional Mario question mark box that would drop the ring when she hit it with her head. While the set up is exactly as geeky as you might expect, it’s surprisingly emotionally touching when she tries to hold back her tears as she jumps to hit the box.
Video link
If your girlfriend loves the game Bejeweled and you happen to be a software programmer, you can do something above and beyond if you’re so inclined. Or at least, that’s what Bernie Peng did when he decided to propose, using his programming skills to create a custom Bejeweled game. Once the score got high enough, the regular screen would clear out and a ring would appear on the DS screen. Bernie then dropped to one knee and presented her with a pink ring that looked like it belonged in the game.
As if the story weren’t great enough on its own, the company that makes Bejeweled was so impressed by Bernie’s proposal that they offered to pay for the couple’s honeymoon and they volunteered to supply all of the wedding guests with a free version of Bejeweled. Now that’s a great way to capitalize on the publicity of the wedding proposal!
more …
These new Muppet figures dressed as Star Wars characters will be sold at Disney theme parks beginning this fall. You’ll see Sam the Eagle as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Beaker as C-3PO, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as R2-D2, Fozzy the Bear as Chewbacca, Link Hogthrob as Han Solo, Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Gonzo as Darth Vader, and his chicken Camilla as a Storm Trooper. Link -via Geeks Are Sexy
Well, sort of. In this spoof teaser for the upcoming Muppets movie, written by Jason Segal and Nicholas Stoller (the team behind Forgetting Sarah Marshal) and directed by Flight of the Conchords co-creator James Bobin, the Muppets get their Wolf Pack on just like Stu, Doug, Alan and Phil. Love the Danny Trejo cameo.
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I grew up with Sesame Street, but I never envisioned Bert as a terrifying character. This silicone bust by The FX Lab forum user Nacho is a bit more unpleasant to the eye than the Muppet. More pictures at the link.
Link via Geekologie
In the 1950s, before the Muppets, Jim Henson produced these commercials for Wilkins Coffee. They are, uh, very blunt. To summarize, the message is “Buy our coffee, or we’ll kill you.” The brand appears to be defunct. Read more about Henson’s early puppetry at Network Awesome. Link -via Boing Boing
Shaun Usher at Letters of Note posted a collection of letters from Muppets. Actually, the letters are from Caroll Spinney (who does Big Bird), Jim Henson, and the Swedish Chef (penned by Henson).
Ho Komissionooster Sjolund!
Sveern hund der meenskroo skort herg dah smorgasbord bord bord.
Gloo das click click ein mein filmikin den Washington fom des Fancy Food, goôde des griting zoo des Kükenmenenstoof.
Yay boo thanken svenson eet des goo goo Per Nilsson und des Eilest Nassell fer yoom yoom.
Bork Bork!
Also included is a series of complaint letters about Sesame Street’s character The Count. Link
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Well Statler and Waldorf might not be impressed, but I certainly am. As a veteran of birthday parties, street fairs and countless other events where I watch hapless clowns and balloon artists twist and turn until they present the same old kinda-sorta dog-looking thing I’ve been seeing since 1974, I’ve got to give huge respect to anyone who can take balloons and turn them into Muppets!
And the Black Cat Balloon Company does just that. I’m talking Animal, Beaker, Rowlf, Gonzo, the works. Now that right there is a balloon artist.
Comments Off Sid Ceaser proposed to Sara Prindiville as a Muppet. Really. He has been a Muppet fan all his life. When the time came, Sid ordered custom designed Muppets that resembled the couple and produced a film about them. It was shown along with the previews at a theater he took Sara to. Of course, she recognized who the Muppets were as soon as she saw them. And she said yes! Read the story of how the film came about, see photographs of the happy couple, and watch outtakes and behind-the-scenes footage of the project. Link -Thanks, Mike Weinstein!
You may remember Ricardo Autobahn as the creator of the awesome Golden Age of Video, or you might know him as part of the musical duo Spray, along with Jenny McLaren. Here is the video for their latest song, “Everything’s Better with Muppets.”-Thanks, Ricardo!
Or maybe it’s just popcorn; who can tell? Now with oh-so-helpful captions!
To fill time while they waited for an appearance on The Jack Paar Program in 1964, Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Don Sahlin and Jerry Juhl decorated some pipes in their dressing room. They left a note that said, “With love, from the Muppets.” It was just a spur-of-the-moment prank, and Paar mentioned they would be painted over the next day. But the pipes remained as they were for 46 years. Read the rest of the story at Muppet Wiki. Link -via Metafilter
It’s hard to believe that twenty years have passed since Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets, passed away on May 16, 1990. A half-dozen authors at GeekDad got together to post remembrances and a tribute to the Muppetmaster. Matt Blum says:
I was seventeen when I heard Jim Henson had died. It seemed impossible: he was Kermit, and Kermit was always there. He was only a few years older than my parents, so what kind of world was it where someone that young and that brilliant could die? I was, truly, as sad as I would have been if a friend had died suddenly, and felt the loss as keenly. I was angry, too, when I heard that he had died of untreated pneumonia, angry that he hadn’t gone to the doctor. Angry that the Muppets would never be the same.
I’m not angry any more, but the sadness is still there. I feel it every time I see — or, more accurately, hear — any of the characters he used to play. I don’t envy Steve Whitmire his job: how hard must it have been to pick up Kermit the first time after Henson’s death, put his hand inside the sleeve, and try to sound as much like Henson as possible? I’m glad that the Muppets, and Henson’s former characters, are still around. But they will never quite be the same.
Oh yes, there are videos as well. Link
(Image credit: Alan Light)
