News Update: June 3, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: June 3, 2011

As reported a little over a year ago, more Muppet Star Wars toys are coming to Disney Parks. No release date was given for these new 2-pack figures of the Muppet characters portraying Star Wars favorites, but smart betters placed their money on a Fall 2011 release to coincide with the release of The Muppets... and they were right. New images of prototypes of the figures, now officially due out this fall, have surfaced online in various locations, including Walt Disney World's official blog and the Nerdist website. A picture of all the figures, Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Fozzie Bear as Chewbacca, Link Hogthrob as Han Solo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as R2-D2, Beaker as C-3PO, Sam Eagle as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Gonzo the Great as Darth Vader (with Camilla the Stormtrooper), can be seen below.

Image courtesy of nerdist.com

Some keen-eyed ToughPigs have found links on Amazon.com for The Muppets Take Manhattan and Muppets From Space on Blu-ray, apparently scheduled for release in August of this year. This would make sense, considering Sony still owns the distribution rights to these films and would obviously want to cash in on the fall's Muppet craze without needing to wait for Disney. Take all of this very lightly, however, because there has been no sort of official announcement about these releases and both listings on Amazon have some guy named Lambert Wilson listed as the primary actor... and he appears in neither movie. So... who really knows? It would certainly be great to see some Muppets on Blu-ray though!

A new series of three Muppet-themed PEZ Dispensers are being released to coincide with The Muppets this fall. The set will include Kermit, Miss Piggy, and, for the first time, Animal. These are not the first Muppet PEZ, as can be seen on Muppet Wiki's page, but the sculpts of the heads seem to be vastly improved. Hopefully we'll see Gonzo and Fozzie PEZ as well (you know, so I have something ELSE to spend my money on this fall...).

Finally, our good friends (and lucky sons of guns) Joe Hennes and Ryan Roe of ToughPigs had the incredible opportunity to stop by the set of Sesame Street for a visit while they were filming a brand new episode. Those ToughPigs included an amazing video interview with Roscoe Orman (Gordon) and Emilio Delgado (Luis) and of the episode being recorded on set. The episode includes Ernie, Bert, Gordon, Susan, and Oscar... how awesome is that?! I am insanely jealous... but I love it. The best part is that it's only part one, so there's more to look forward to from those lucky luck ToughPigs on Sesame Street.






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier