D23 Promises

Greetings, Muppet fans! As you all know (probably), last September Disney hosted its first ever fan convention, The D23 Expo, in Anaheim, California. During the event The Muppets made an incredible appearance and The Muppets Studio proceeded to make a ton of extremely exciting announcements of what we could expect to see from the Muppets this year. Well, as I know you're all aware of, it's now over halfway through this year. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at what they've announced that has happened and what we're still waiting for.

The following is the list of Muppet-related announcements from our D23 recap post last September.

• Brand new online Muppet cooking show called "Cooking with Cat Cora" with, shockingly, TV chef Cat Cora.
• STATUS: Not released. Muppet fans are still waiting for this web-exclusive series to debut. The Muppets Studio mentioned that it would start in January of 2010, but it obviously did not. No word on if it will ever see the light of day.
  
• More Muppet YouTube videos to hit the web in 2010
• STATUS: Released! Thankfully The Muppets Studio kept to their word and released numerous Muppet videos on YouTube since the expo. "Ghost Hunt," "Carve-O-Matic," "Pumpkin Carving," "Bohemian Rhapsody," "Carol of the Bells," "Dust in the Wind," "Stand By Me," and "American Woman" have all been released online and the final announced video, "Popcorn" with the Swedish Chef will debut 4th of July weekend.
  
• Muppet Halloween Special slated for release on ABC next year.
• STATUS: Postponed. The announced Halloween special has been held off until further notice to allocate time for shooting of the upcoming feature film.
• Kermit will sing "Jingle Bells" with Andrea Bocelli on The David Foster Christmas special THIS Christmas on PBS.
• STATUS: Released! Kermit wasn't the only one singing with Andrea Bocelli--Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Pepe, and Animal all came too! The song was released on Bocelli's Christmas album and the Muppets performed it with him on The Jay Leno Show as well.
• Kermit will be back at Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, once again singing "I Believe." This time with Disney Channel "star" Tiffany Thornton.
• STATUS: Released! Kermit and Tiffany Thornton not only sang "I Believe" at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but also released a single and music video of the song on iTunes and Disney Channel respectively. And it was good!
  
• Muppet*Vision 3D in Walt Disney World and Disneyland will be receiving an overhaul in Disney Digital 3D. Currently billed as Muppet*Vision 3D Remastered.

• STATUS: Occurred! The digital restoration of Muppet*Vision 3D has already occurred at Walt Disney World and some new Muppet parody posters have debuted in the queue area. Word of a new pre-show was circulating but has not come to fruition.
  
• Steiff plush of Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie coming soon.
• STATUS: Partially released. The plush of Kermit has been released (for $250) but there has been no word on the Miss Piggy or Fozzie dolls.
• New line of Muppet merchandise coming to the Disney Store.
• STATUS: Slowly occurring. The Muppets are slowly starting to be released into the Disney Store fray with water bottles, towels, stationary sets, and t-shirts last year. More is still on the way.
• More Muppet TV cameos and appearances coming next year.
• STATUS: Still waiting. The Muppets have not been making the rounds on TV as much this year as expected. They took over both Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and America's Funniest Home Videos on ABC and appeared in the LOST: Slapdown videos, but beyond that there's been a lack of Muppets on the TV. 
• Muppet iPhone applications planned for 2010. Applications include, "Pepe's Love Meter," "Animal's Drum Set," "Gonzo Grams," and a movie application featuring Statler and Waldorf.
• STATUS: One released. So far only "Animal's Drum Set" has been released on iTunes for purchase. No word on when or if the other apps will be released.
• Statler and Waldorf will be writing a book called "From the Balcony" due out next year.
• STATUS: Nothing. As of writing, Jim Lewis, writer of the previous three Muppet books, had not heard anything more about the book.
• Studio DC: Almost Live! on DVD in 2010.
• STATUS: Released internationally. The DVD has been released internationally in the UK and other countries but still doesn't have a release date in the US yet.
• The Muppet Show: Season 4 on DVD in 2010.

• STATUS: Nothing. Still no word on when Season 4 will finally be released on DVD.
• "Mobile Electric Mayhem Band" coming to Disney parks as part of Disney's "Living Character Initiative."
• STATUS: Nothing. There has been absolutely no mention of this prospect since the D23 Expo. However, Disney's Imagineering plans are usually kept pretty tightly under wraps so work could be getting done on it.
• New line of Muppet merchandise launches next year. Macy's is the new licensing partner.
• STATUS: Nothing. Once again there has been no mention of this since D23.
  
• The Muppet Whatnot Workshop will have branches in both Walt Disney World and Disneyland. New Whatnots with facial hair and "monster fur" are expected.
• STATUS: Partially released. The new monster and facial hair'd Whatnots have debuted on FAO.com, but it appears that bringing the Whatnot Workshops to the Disney Parks has been stalled.
• A new CD titled "Muppets Remastered."
• STATUS: Delayed. The release of this CD has been pushed back indefinitely. Still no word on when exactly this will be released.
• "Muppet Mobile Comics" coming soon. These are moving comics to be downloaded to your phone.
• STATUS: Nothing. No word on this since D23.
• The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made, was announced.
• STATUS: Actually happening. The film announced was The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made but the film being made is Jason Segel's The Greatest Muppet Movie Ever Made. It has already had its first table read and filming is set to begin in September. It will be released on Christmas Day, 2011.
   

So, basically, a lot of stuff hasn't happened but some big stuff has. Hopefully this can only mean we've got a lot more to see from the Muppets in the second half of 2010. Fingers crossed, everybody!