News Update: January 12, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: January 12, 2012

Last week, Elmo and Cookie Monster appeared on Good Morning America to show off their baking chops with co-anchor of the show, George Snuffleupagus (probably not his real name). Check out the video below to see everyone's favorite monsters and certainly someone's favorite George make red velvet cupcakes!



The Build-A-Bear Workshop stores, which I'm sure you've seen in a mall at least once and rolled your eyes, are going to be selling dolls/puppets (we're not really sure yet) of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy coming this February or March (we're not really sure yet), to coincide with the release of The Muppets on Blu-ray and DVD. You can see a picture of the upcoming dolls/puppets at right, and we've been told that if these sell well, more Muppets will be made available. Probably including Fozzie... you know, because he's a bear.

Target and Amazon.com are now selling five different box versions of Muppet-brand Band-Aids! The boxes are adorned with Kermit, Miss Piggy, Animal, Beaker, and Statler and Waldorf, while the Band-Aids in the boxes are emblazoned with all sorts of various Muppets, including some awesome Beaker and Swedish Chef ones. I don't know about you, but I've been purposefully scraping my knee just so I have a use for these. Check out a great picture of the Band-Aids below!

Once again, the folks at Sesame Workshop are pioneering an incredible interactive new product for Microsoft's XBox Kinect. I would call it a game, but based on the video you'll watch below, it seems like so much more than a game. We see Bert, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and Grover being fully interactive and educational towards the player/viewer. The video shows a child helping Grover recover his coconuts, playing around in Elmo's World, and more. This is truly a revolutionary new product, and I'll be very excited to see what comes of it when it is released this Spring. For now, check out the video below!



Our friends over at ToughPigs.com have found another revolutionary interactive example of Sesame Workshop being awesome, with Bert and Ernie toys virtually coming to life on your iPad. The video shows an iPad digitally capturing figures of Bert and Ernie, and shows them talking and interacting with the user and each other. Imagine the possibilities here! Once again, the video is below.

 UK Cinemas and MilkMatters are offering an interesting and hilarious promotion for The Muppets, Muppet Milk Bottle Covers! They are currently offering downloads of Kermit and Beaker covers (Kermit is seen at right) and Miss Piggy, Fozzie, and Gonzo bottle stickers are coming soon. The best part? Even if you're not in the UK, you can download these stickers for yourself to decorate bottles of all sorts! (Although I would probably keep Beaker away from bottles of Uranium.)

And, finally, CartoonBrew.com is reporting that a new Jim Henson book by Jim Henson Company archivist Karen Falk is coming out this fall. Imagination Illustrated: The Jim Henson Journal, from Chronicle Books will certainly be the go-to gift for Muppet fans this fall, as it sounds like a book adaptation of the fantastic Jim Henson's Red Book. Check out the official description of this sure to be must-have book below!

Compiled directly from the Henson workshop archives, this elegant and inspirational gift book adapts the diary that Jim Henson faithfully kept throughout his career, collecting rare sketches, concepts, photographs, and ideas from the creator of the Muppets and one of the twentieth century’s most influential artistic talents. Throughout, archivist Karen Falk offers behind-the-scenes details and insights into Henson’s writings and drawings and offers insights into Henson’s life, his magical creations, and the artistic process.






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com