The Mippet Show: A Look at Phony-Baloney Muppets

THE MIPPET SHOW!

Jarrod Fairclough - Yes, you read right.  The title of this article is The Mippet Show.  That is not a typo.  Nor is it a glitch in your computer.  Although if you want to rip your laptop open and check, go for it by all means.

You’re done?  Are you sure?  Why is there an extra screw on the table?  Make sure you put it somewhere safe just in case you need it later on.  Okay, so, on with the article.

My friends, you may be wondering as to why I called this article “The Mippet Show”.  The answer is very simple.  It is because it is a blatant rip off of the title “The Muppet Show”.  And that is what I’m here to discuss.  Something so horrible, something so awful, that the initial sight of it made me actually open my mouth in shock.

Let me set the scene for you, my Muppet fan friends.  I was sitting in a movie cinema with two friends of mine, waiting to see Alice in Wonderland (good movie, by the way).  I’m not sure whether or not it’s the same for America or in other countries (I’m Australian) but before the previews of future films, local businesses can advertise on the big screen.  So I’m sitting here, eating my popcorn, chatting away to my friends, watching ads for pancake houses and massage parlours.  And then an ad for a business I’ve never heard of appears.  I don’t want to put anyone in hot water here, so for the sake of this article we’ll call the business “The Lawn Doktor” – and no, once again, that isn’t a typo.  The name of this business is “The (such and such) Doktor”.  That should give you a clue as to how bad this is going to get.  Finally, after a crappy little 30 second ad, the logo for “The Lawn Doktor” appears.

Now, before we continue with our tale of horribleness, I’m assuming everyone is familiar with the stock standard image of Bunsen and Beaker, used for most things.  If not, here it is:

Pretty good, right?  Not bad Photo Muppets, definitely not as bad as some we’ve seen.  All in all, thats Bunsen and Beaker in a funny little pose, and that’s definitely a trademarked product of The Jim Henson Company and Disney etc.

So, on with our story:

The logo for “The Lawn Doktor” appears and I am immediately stopped in my tracks.  I stopped talking, I stopped listening.  I just stared at the screen in front of me.  My two friends turned and looked at me with horror.  They aren’t big Muppet fans, but they knew I am.  So there we are, just staring at this horrible image, my gut churning.  And the horrible image that did this to me?  Well, be prepared, Muppet fans, because what you’re about to see may shock and surprise you.  You may throw up, in which case find a bucket.  This is the horrific image:

Are you okay?  Do you need a moment to clean up?  I’ll wait here.

What the heck did they do to Bunsen and Beaker!  This is no co-incidence, my friends.  This is blatant Muppet murder!  So many questions ran through my head when I saw this.  Like for instance; why does Beaker have a beak?  Why does Beaker look like he just said something sleazy?  Why is he an albino red head with a crazy sleeve?  Why does Bunsen have crazy claws?  Is that a comb-over?  Is he wearing socks and sandals?  Clearly someone knew they were ripping off The Muppets when they made this, so how did it get this far?  “Shall we use this image of those Muppet scientists and just change it a little, Doktor Lawn?” “Certainly, Nurse Grass.  Make the green guy pink and the pink guy white.  Give him a beak too.  His name is “Beak-er”, after all”.  And then they’d chortle and drink cheap imitation wine and draw Miss Piggy with wings.

I had to fight every urge in my body not to send these guys an e-mail with my thoughts on their logo.  I had to refrain from giving my contacts at Henson the website so they could kick these guys Copyright infringing butts!

Steve Whitmire once told a story about buying Jim Henson a ripped-off Ernie product, to which Jim looked sincerely upset about.  I wonder what he’d think if he saw this now?

But that’s enough from me; I have to send an e-mail to Henson pitching a new character.  Here’s my mock-up of what he’ll look like.  I call him Mermit the Rabbit:

Enjoy your day, Muppet fans.  I’ll try my best.  Now to delete that terrible image off my laptop!

Cheers,
Jarrod, your Aussie in the know...











The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier