News Update: January 27, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: January 27, 2011

This past Sunday in San Francisco, Brian Henson sat down to be interviewed by awesome person and Muppet fan Neil Patrick Harris. The contents of this interview are still mostly unknown but The Jim Henson Company did showcase a great picture of Brian and NPH from the event (see right). If any of our great readers were at this event, email Ryan Dosier at ryguy102390@gmail.com--we'd love to talk to you about writing something about the event!

Another cameo has been confirmed for The Muppets in the form of Modern Family's "Manny Delgado," Rico Rodriguez. The young actor tweeted last Saturday saying, "My childhood is coming alive right now. I'm filming with the muppets for their new movie! It's pretty epic!" I don't know if you've seen Modern Family or the work of Rico Rodriguez... but he's absolutely perfect for a Muppet movie. This is quite a bit of cameos... so check out The Muppet Mindset tomorrow for our attempt to name all of the cameos appearing in the film (that we know of).

Speaking of The Muppets, Examiner.com has posted an incredible video of the filming that went down at The El Capitan Theater last week. The video includes such great moments as Chris Cooper yelling at the Muppets, the Muppets goofing around, Fozzie slapping Kermit around, and much, much more. It really is incredible and you should definitely check it out.

Extremely sad news this week as we report the loss of Sesame Street show writer, song writer, and composer Tony Geiss (1924-2011). Geiss worked on Sesame Street for years and his credits are almost innumerable as you can see on his Muppet Wiki page. Geiss was the conceptual mind behind the Honkers and Abby Cadabby. He wrote the first Sesame Street movie Follow That Bird and some favorite Sesame songs including "Elmo's Song," "I'm Proud to Be a Cow," "That's What Friends are For," and, my personal favorite, "Sing After Me." Thankfully, Geiss's legacy will live on forever with his wonderful songs, writing, and memories.



After that... how about a cheer up? Check out this magnificent video of Kevin Clash and Elmo making a pregnant woman's day at the Sundance Film Festival during a Q&A after a screening of Being Elmo.



And, to conclude, today we're celebrating the 500th post here on The Muppet Mindset! Yes, after 500 posts we're still here--and even more amazingly, you're still here. We're so, so thankful to all of you for being so supportive of us through all 500 of these posts. The support and love you show us is nothing short of incredible! So, to celebrate, watch as I present a gorgeous piece of artwork heinously edited by yours truly!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier