News Update: March 4, 2014

MARCH 4, 2014

The Muppets are virtually all over the place now as the promotion for Muppets Most Wanted kicks into the highest of gears. Last night alone, Miss Piggy was on E! Network, Kermit and Miss Piggy were on The Bachelor, Gonzo was on Jimmy Kimmel Live, and Tina Fey was on The Tonight Show. I, for one, am exhausted and can't keep up anymore... but here's what you missed!

Miss Piggy was on E! Network last night discussing celebrity fashion at the Academy Awards. Miss Piggy was the most lifelike of the E! personalities present, and she looked good. For some reason the embed code for this video keeps screwing up the rest of our post, so you can watch it on E!'s website.

Muppets Most Wanted star Tina Fey had a fantastic time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon last night, discussing the movie. The rest of the appearance was incredibly fun, but you can watch the Muppet-relevant part right here! Warning, there is a spoiler-ish clip at the end of the appearance, but Jimmy Fallon gives you plenty of warning.



My favorite Muppets Most Wanted appearance yet was last night as The Great Gonzo appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night. Gonzo rarely, if ever gets solo talk show appearances, so this was fantastic. Watch the entire hilarious appearance below!





Kermit the Frog has continued the partnership with Lipton Tea for their #BeMoreTea campaign with a brand new song. The song is super cute and Kermit's banjo playing is fantastic. Watch it!



Down in Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios, there has been a really cool update to Muppet*Vision 3D's pre-show. A new segment featuring Constantine has been added to the pre-show, seemingly without taking up time from anything else. I think it's awesome and very funny. Check it out!



Speaking of Constantine, Disney Channel's "Movie Surfers" got the chance to have the first ever interview with the evil frog. We can't embed the video here, but you should definitely watch it over on the Movie Surfers site. It's really funny and I'm really impressed by our friend Matt Vogel. Constantine is awesome!

The other night on QVC, Miss Piggy appeared to sell her new, self-designed tote bag. While on the show, she had a run in with her old Muppets Take Manhattan co-star Joan Rivers. It... did not go well. Check out the video below and watch some poor waiter get stuck in the middle of the latest celebrity feud.



Muppets Most Wanted released yet another TV spot this week following the Oscars. Since they weren't nominated for any this year, they decided to let us know what awards they're totally going to be nominated for next year! They're pretty much a lock for all of them.



Muppets Most Wanted released the first actual uncut clip from the movie at the end of last week. The clip sees the Muppets meeting Ricky Gervais as Dominic Badguy for the first time. Obviouslyly, this clip is one entire spoiler alert, so if you're avoiding spoilers, don't watch! Unfortunately, we can't embed the video, but you can watch it exclusively on Yahoo! Movies right now!

Finally, Miss Piggy appeared on the E! Oscars Red Carpet Pre-Show (catchy title). Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), there's no video of the appearance, but you can check out Miss Piggy's amazing Vivienne Westwood designed gown that she wore to the event right here. She looks gorgeous!

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

The Muppets Predict the Oscar Winners - 2014

Ryan Dosier - Last year ahead of the Academy Awards, we decided to tap the Muppets for their picks for Best Picture. Well, we've done it again this year. (Unless Disney is asking, in which case this is completely fan-made and please don't sue me.) Check out below for which of the nine films nominated for Best Picture your favorite Muppet thinks will take home the gold tonight!

Sam Eagle chose the Tom Hanks vehicle Captain Phillips. Ever since Muppet Treasure Island he's had a thing about pirates.

Gonzo was all about Gravity, the 3-D space epic from Alfonso Cuaron. Although he couldn't help but wonder how different it would be if it was called Plummeting.

Annie Sue Pig favors American Hustle. Not only does it star The Muppets star Amy Adams, but Annie Sue's hair is right at home.

Beaker, via translation from Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, expressed his love of the brutal 12 Years a Slave. Apparently he sympathizes?

Kermit the Frog really enjoyed Her. He was really taken with the idea of dating an operating system that is physically incapable of karate chopping.

Floyd Pepper, Zoot, and the Electric Mayhem really liked Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club. Mostly because they think the film title would make a good band name, but also because Floyd really admires McConaughey's mustache.

Fozzie Bear greatly enjoyed Nebraska--even though he did spend the whole movie waiting for Bruce Dern to heckle him.

Miss Piggy liked Philomena, even though the film was so drastically changed in editing that it completely removed her role as Judi Dench's attractive lady pig friend.

Finally, Pepe the Prawn adored Martin Scorsese's controversial The Wolf of Wall Street. He liked it for reasons we don't feel comfortable mentioning on a family website.

There you have it! Which Muppet do you agree with, Muppet fans? Be sure to watch the Academy Awards TONIGHT on ABC! Not only is it hosted by friend of the Muppets Ellen DeGenneres, but the Muppets will be featured in a commercial for Lipton Tea during the telecast.

Join us next year when we'll hopefully be pulling for Muppets Most Wanted to take home an Oscar!

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

News Update: February 27, 2014

FEBRUARY 27, 2014

The Muppets have yet another extraordinary advertising partner in their promotions for Muppets Most Wanted. Lipton Tea has partnered with the Muppets as part of their new "Be More Tea" promotion. A brand new commercial has been released starring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and an entire metropolitan area full of Animal. Watch the truly incredible new commercial below, and be on the lookout for it to air on Sunday during the Academy Awards on ABC as well.



Plus, you can now watch a behind the scenes video about the making of the commercial! (Thanks ToughPigs!)



Speaking of the Oscars, Statler and Waldorf contributed their typically curmudgeonly reviews for the nominees for Best Picture to PAPERMAG. Read all about their choices, and try not to act surprised when they favor Nebraska, the film about an old man trying to collect a million dollars.

The internet collectively lost their minds this week over the Muppets' Instagram account, which has been active for months now. Everywhere from CNN, to Buzzfeed, to The A.V. Club went crazy for the Muppet selfies present on the account. Check out a few of the selfies below, and follow The Muppets on Instagram for more!

The other day a beautifully random video from Toyota came out of nowhere. The video features Rowlf the Dog and Rizzo the Rat in the Toyota Highlander getting ice cream. The video was directed by Muppet master Kirk Thatcher and was apparently filmed completely in "reality" style, so the human participants had no idea what was coming. Their reactions are WAY too tame. Anyway... watch the awesome, awesome video below.



The Muppets are getting a cover feature in the UK-based Starburst Magazine. The official details on what's inside are: It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights, it's time to meet the Muppets... in the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational issue of STARBURST yet! That’s right, in honour of the iconic characters’ continued cinematic comeback with this month’s MUPPETS MOST WANTED, we turn the spotlight on Kermit and co. to explore their 40+ year career on screen. We also speak to key talent that contribute to the magic, including director JAMES BOBIN and The Jim Henson Company chairman, BRIAN HENSON. You can order the issue from the Starburst site, and it it is available at some Barnes & Noble stores in the U.S.

Walt Disney Records will be re-releasing The Muppet Movie Original Soundtrack on vinyl record this year for Record Store Day (April 19, 2014). The release features all-new liner notes from legendary songwriter Paul Williams, which is sure to be great. To search for stores in your area participating in Record Store Day, check out their official website.

The Disney Channel staple, The Movie Surfers, visited the set of of Muppets Most Wanted and chatted with Walter, wrangled some penguins, and unleashed Animal. The video is actually pretty entertaining. Watch it below...


Big Tour - Movie Surfers - Muppets Most Wanted BTS on Disney Video

Finally, in "Set your DVR" news, Gonzo will be appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC on Monday, March 3rd at 11:35pm ET. This is sure to be a crazy experience (based only on the fact that Gonzo is there), and you can't deny it's really really cool that Gonzo is getting to appear solo on a late night show.

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

The Muppets Predict the Oscar Winners

Ryan Dosier - Happy Oscar Sunday, Muppet fans! It's that magical day of the year where the unwashed masses get to feel a little more shiny by watching the Hollywood elite rub elbows and pat each other on the back by giving them golden statues! (Oh, who am I kidding? This is my Super Bowl!!) Anyway... I was having trouble making my pick for Best Picture this year, so I thought I would turn to the Muppets for a decision. Unfortunately, I got nine different answers... but they were entertaining, so I thought I would share them with you! Enjoy!

Statler and Waldorf chose the foreign-language film Amour. Not because it's about two old people at the end of their lives... but because it was boring enough for them to sleep right through the whole thing.

Animal kept shouting about Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained. Well, actually, he just kept shouting "unchained," but I assume this is what he meant.

Gonzo was partial to the lovely Beasts of the Southern Wild. But he was the first to admit that he's a sucker for anything involving beasts and wild. He also loves attempting to pronounce Quevenzhane Wallis' name while gargling gumbo.

Sam Eagle professed his love for Spielberg's Lincoln. "Finally," he said, "a film about the greatest American car of all time!" I didn't have the heart to correct him.

Rizzo the Rat chose Ang Lee's Life of Pi and can't wait for the sequel, Life of Cake.

Fozzie Bear was fully supportive of the indie-darling Silver Linings Jokebook. I tried to explain to him that it's actually called Silver Linings Playbook, but he was already coming up with a bit for his next act trying to tie together Bradley Cooper and a chicken. ("He wanted to coop-her! Ahh! Wocka! Wocka!")

When I asked Beaker, he meeped and squealed for a little bit before I called in Dr. Honeydew to translate. He told me that Beaker's choice for Best Picture is the war epic Zero Dark Thirty. Apparently Beaker sympathized with the torture victims that made the film so controversial.

Miss Piggy adored the epic musical Les Miserables. She hasn't seen it, but she insists that the title "means something beautiful in French."

Finally, Floyd Pepper chose Ben Affleck's Argo. When asked why, he said, "It's set in the 70s, right? Everything in the 70s was better, man."

And there you have... something! Anyway, enjoy the Oscars tonight, Muppet fans!





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

News Update: March 2, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: March 2, 2012

In news about something you should do right this second if you have Netflix: Go watch Being Elmo: A Puppeteer's Journey. The touching, heartwarming, beautiful documentary about Kevin Clash and his journey into the world of Jim Henson is now online for instant streaming on Netflix and you can watch it right this second. So why aren't you?! Work? School? Personal responsibilities? Fuh! Go watch! I finally got to see this wonderful film for myself last week and I was more than moved. I teared up, I had shivers, and I was blown away by how amazing Kevin's story truly is. Be sure to check this out for yourself if you can... but if not, Being Elmo will be available on DVD in April.

Major crazy/random news this week as everyone's favorite go-fer, Scooter, made an appearance and gave a speech at the TED Conference in Santa Barbara, California. Yes, that Scooter. By himself. Giving a speech. In 2012. I don't know how it happened either, but the TED Blog has a recap of the events and our pals at Muppet Wiki somehow found a video of the incredible appearance which you can watch below. But first... how awesome are Scooter, David Rudman, The Muppets Studio, and TED for making this happen? SO awesome.



As you all (probably) know, the Academy Awards were last weekend and The Muppets took home an Oscar for "Man or Muppet" (which was probably the most awesome thing since the movie). Well, you probably also know that there was a massive amount of pre-show content on both ABC and E! Well, on the latter, Kermit the Frog made an appearance with Glee's Darren Criss. The talented duo performed Kermit's classic "Rainbow Connection" before the Red Carpet began and... well, it was beautiful. You can watch and listen to the song on E! Online!

Speaking of the Oscars, you should also know that Kermit and Miss Piggy appeared at the ceremony to introduce Cirque du Soleil (we don't wanna talk about it). Well, the frog and the pig also made the red carpet rounds and appeared only very briefly on the red carpet telecasts. Their appearance caused such a fervor, however, that people all over Twitter mentioned Miss Piggy in their tweets with the hashtag "#bestdressed." So many people tweeted that Piggy was the best dressed, in fact, that she was the fifth most tweeted Best Dressed celebrity on the red carpet. Do you realize how major this is? Miss Piggy was voted the FIFTH BEST DRESSED ahead of Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez, and countless other starlets. Also very much worth mentioning... the Best Original Song win for "Man or Muppet" was the fifth most tweeted about moment of the entire Oscars telecast. That's huge. Muppet domination isn't going anywhere, people!

And now, probably the biggest news since Scooter presented at the TED Conference (probably even bigger than that), according to huge entertainment resource, Vulture, The Walt Disney Company has tapped director of The Muppets James Bobin and co-writer Nicholas Stoller to write another Muppet movie!! This is MAJOR news. Literally less than six months after the release of The Muppets, another film has already been put into the works by Disney. If that doesn't spell confidence in the characters and the filmmakers and the performers, I don't know what does. You will, of course, notice that Jason Segel is not writing the script this go around--but not because Disney doesn't want him to. Jason is a star with huge commitments--currently starring in two feature films, writing another, and starring in his hit sitcom How I Met Your Mother. He is simply too busy to commit to writing another movie. There is no saying that Jason won't produce or appear in the movie, but it is far too soon to tell. Just don't get in an uproar, Muppet fans... unless it's an uproar about how unbelievably thrilled you are that another Muppet movie is in the works already!

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

"Man or Muppet" WINS The Muppets Their First Oscar

Since their very first foray into feature films in 1979, the Muppets have been nominated for a total of five Academy Awards, but they've lost every single year they've been nominated--even "Rainbow Connection" failed to bring home the little golden boy. Well, that all changed last night when "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets won the Academy Award for Best Original Song! For the first time ever, the Muppets are OSCAR WINNERS! Watch below for most of songwriter Bret McKenzie's magnificent acceptance speech...

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there who shouted and jumped for joy when that envelope's contents were read aloud. I was and am still absolutely thrilled for every single person involved with The Muppets for their Oscar win. This is a beautiful tribute to the legacy of Jim Henson, whose characters have finally won their first extremely well-deserved Academy Award.

Earlier on in the show Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy were on tap to introduce the Cirque du Soleil performance with great ease and hilarity. Miss Piggy's desire to get her hands on Oscar drove her to maddening heights over on Twitter as well, but for all of her wonderful moments on the show, watch the clip below!



I'm still riding high from the amazing appearance of the Frog and the Pig, the wonderful speech by Bret McKenzie, and the most well deserved win of the Oscars this year for "Man or Muppet." We here at The Muppet Mindset, especially me, Ryan Dosier, want to extend all of our congratulations to Bret McKenzie, Jason Segel, Peter Linz, Bill Barretta, James Bobin, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Jim Parsons and every single Muppet performer and everyone else involved with the Muppets, The Muppets, Disney, and more for their major win. This is a huge milestone for the Muppets, and we really could not be happier for each and every person involved.

Thanks to ToughPigs.com for finding the Bret McKenzie video and thanks to StitchKingdom.com for the wonderful pictures of Kermit and Piggy.





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

What to Watch to See Muppets at the Oscars

Today's the big day! It's officially Oscar Sunday and Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy are officially scheduled to appear on and around the Academy Awards telecast tonight which starts at 8:30pm/7:30pm central on ABC. Still no word yet on what they're presenting, but with Kermit and Piggy it's sure to be fantastic. You can actually see Kermit and Piggy talking with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president, Tom Sherak, in an exclusive clip from Entertainment Weekly. Piggy grabs her Oscar... but she doesn't get to keep it.

Tonight is also a huge night for The Muppets (the movie) because, as you obviously know, "Man or Muppet" is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It only has one song ("Real in Rio" from Rio) as its competition, so confidence in the Muppets winning their first ever Oscar is running high. Song writer Bret McKenzie will be present at the ceremony, but there's no word on whether or not Jason Segel will be there as well. There are various rumors of a few "Muppet surprises" at the ceremony... but nothing specific has been mentioned. Either way, I'm sending all my support to Bret McKenzie and whoever else is there representing The Muppets as "Man or Muppet" goes up for its award!

But the Awards telecast isn't the only place you can see Muppets. Yesterday it was confirmed that Glee's talented singer Darren Criss would be performing "Rainbow Connection" with Kermit the Frog on E!'s Red Carpet coverage today as well. No word on when exactly Kermit and Darren are performing, however, because "E! Live from the Red Carpet," when they're performing, starts at 5:30pm/4:30pm central time and ends at 8:30pm/7:30pm central time. I've recorded the whole thing on my TiVo... so somehow I'll be seeing Kermit and Darren Criss perform! Criss actually has a fantastic voice, so this should be a great performance. You can see a live streaming of E!'s actual Red Carpet coverage on E! Online.

It has been confirmed (by a picture tweeted by Kelly Osbourne of all people) that Kermit and Miss Piggy are walking the Red Carpet tonight as well!! They'll probably appear on both ABC and E!'s coverage of the Red Carpet. ABC's Red Carpet coverage starts at 7:00pm/6:00pm central time. However, nothing is confirmed, so if you can only watch one, E! is probably the way to go.

So... in conclusion: Kermit and Piggy are presenting, "Man or Muppet" doesn't have much competition, and Kermit and Darren Criss are singing "Rainbow Connection" and it'll probably all be awesome.

Image of Kermit and Miss Piggy practicing their Red Carpet walk tweeted by Kelly Osbourne

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

Kermit and Miss Piggy on the Academy Awards

Just yesterday a huge announcement came from Disney and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as both of them tweeted that Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy (not sure if you've ever heard of them) will be presenting an Oscar at the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, February 26th (a week from tomorrow)! Check out the official tweets below!

@DisneyD23 - BREAKING NEWS: Hollywood's "IT" couple, Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, will present at the 84th Academy Awards® on 2/26 on ABC!

@TheAcademy - We're excited to announce that THE MUPPETS will be presenting at this year's Academy Awards! #Oscars


@MuppetsStudio (Statler and Waldorf) - The frog and the pig are presenting at the #Oscars? Good -- gives us time to see what else is on TV! Oh ho ho!

That's three! Three very official confirmations that the frog and the pig will be at the Oscars! This marks the fourth appearance of both Kermit and Miss Piggy at the Academy Awards ceremony. Kermit appeared in 1980 performing "Rainbow Connection" when it was nominated and Miss Piggy presented an award with Johnny Carson, Miss Piggy and Kermit appeared in 1982 performing "The First Time it Happens" when it was nominated, Kermit appeared with Scooter in 1986 to present an award, and Miss Piggy appeared again in 1996 to heckle Whoopi Goldberg.

Unfortunately, it still doesn't look like we'll be seeing the Oscar-nominated "Man or Muppet" performed during the ceremony, since the Academy heinously ruled that no Best Original Song performances will be done this year. However, there is still the petition with over 60,000 signatures to get the Academy to change their mind. So keep signing and sharing the petition and maybe we can make it happen!

But either way, we will have Muppets at the Oscars this year after all! A true victory for the Muppets and their fans alike. Look out below for Kermit and Piggy's performance of "The First Time it Happens" from the 1982 Oscar ceremony!










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

News Update: February 16, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: February 16, 2012
Miss Piggy was chosen to host the BAFTA Red Carpet ceremony in London this past weekend and, as you would guess, she did an amazing job. She mingled with the likes of Daniel Radcliffe, John Hamm, Gary Oldman, and plenty of other major stars all showing up for the British Academy awards. You can check out an eight minute video of Piggy's hosting gig below!



ToyFair 2012 was this past weekend as well, and our good friends at ToughPigs stopped by the convention to look out for Muppet stuff! They found some awesome Sesame Street toys coming soon, along with some cool Muppet toys as well! You can check out the full coverage on ToughPigs proper, but we wanted to spotlight some cool stuff below. First up is another look at the Funko POP! Muppet figures coming soon. The artwork shown here reveals pupils on the figures, along with fantastically awesome Mahna Mahna and Snowth figures! Looky looky!

Also from Funko are some incredibly awesome Muppet bobbleheads--also coming soon. How amazing is it that we'll be getting a Dr. Teeth bobblehead before too long?! Must have!

It was a slow week for Muppet news, but here we have an article from Empire Online in which they interviewed various celebrities to find out their favorite Muppets. There are some spectacularly obscure choices (Simon Pegg loves Floyd, Ricky Gervais loves Robin the Frog, etc.) and some hilarious and aggravating, incredibly wrong choices as well. Someone asserted that Walt Disney was a Muppet, Ryan Reynolds made an off-color comment about Gonzo, David Yates like something called Ernie the Frog. But mostly, it's just neat to hear celebrities talking about Muppets!

Finally, the petition telling The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to let the Muppets sing at the Academy Awards next Sunday, February 26th, has reached nearly 60,000 signatures. It's over halfway towards its goal of 100,000, so if you haven't already sign and share the petition with everyone you know! We could get the Muppets at the Oscars! Come on, Muppet fans!

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