News Update: December 22, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: December 22, 2011

USA Today's Pop Candy Blog has named The Muppets the #1 People of 2011!! In their annual "100 People of [Insert Year Here]" countdown, The Muppets beat out the likes of superstars Oprah, Melissa McCarthy, Tina Fey, Adelle, Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone to take the #1 spot. As the website says, "1. The Muppets. OK, so they're not human. They often wear no pants. But who cares? Our furry friends made a welcome comeback this year, partly thanks to the talented Jason Segel. Here's hoping we see more of Kermit, Animal, Gonzo and company in the years to come." This is a huge win for the Muppets. Being named the most welcome entertainers of 2011 by one of the biggest news outlets in the country? Nothing wrong with that.

The Muppets Studio and Disney have created a brand new interactive application on Facebook called Muppet Messenger. The cool new feature allows you to send a video and text message to your friends' Facebook walls featuring Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, or Bunsen and Beaker. You can provide a personalized message to your friends complete with video of their favorite Muppet! For the holidays, you can add lights and snow, but you can also have a basic message which hints that this feature will stick around for awhile!

Friend of the blog Jacquie Coe, owner/operator of JacquieLongLegs.com, has sent us a link to her latest craft project: making a Kermit the Frog sleep mask! The instructions are simple, the result is great, and your eyes and dreams will thank you. I love the use of ping pong balls for eyes... what else would you use, after all? This would also make a great, easy, cheap Christmas gift for the Muppet fan in your family! Bonus points if you make a Kermit collar to go with it.

Last week Oscar the Grouch appeared on NBC's special A Michael Bublé Christmas (don't worry, I didn't watch it either) where he performed with the titular Michael. As always, Caroll Spinney is magnificent as the grouch as he heckles the cheeriness of the season throughout the song. Check out the video, discovered by our friends at ToughPigs.com, below!



Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller recently sat down with the LA Times to discuss writing for the Muppets and The Muppets. The video included features the two writers talking about various plots they worked through, including the often-referenced Walter as a ventriloquist dummy plot, and some new information about multiple oil barons trying to destroy the Muppets. It's confusing, and I'm so glad they revised the script, but it's incredibly intriguing to hear about what could have been.

Finally, in major awesome production news, the Muppets have created a brand new interactive adventure game for Disney Cruise Line and the Disney Fantasy Cruise Ship, set to launch next year. The Muppets "The Case of the Stolen Show" Interactive Game features the Muppets as they lose all of their favorite belongings, and its up to you (and Kermit and Pepe and more) to solve the mystery! To read all about the game, check out SitchKingdom.com and their press release. But for a hilarious behind the scenes video featuring Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Camilla, Beauregard, Rowlf, and Pepe at his finest, look below!



And don't forget that the Muppets will be appearing on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon on NBC TOMORROW, December 23rd! It was previously announced that Kermit and Robin will be appearing to sing "When the River Meets the Sea," but that is subject to change... but my fingers are absolutely crossed that the two frogs will be there!

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

"The Muppets": New Posters, A Bazillion Likes, and more!

A slew of four brand new posters for The Muppets debuted online yesterday. From what I've been told, these posters are intended for bus stop coverings and will apparently be seen all across the country on bus stops. This is very reminiscent of the posters seen on bus stops for Toy Story 3 a few years ago and is also used to promote nearly every big movie from big studios. Check out all four posters below! (Beware the creepy Kermit mouth in the last one.)

Be on the lookout for these posters in your region! (And resist the temptation to destroy the bus stop to take them home with you.)

Also debuting yesterday was Kermit the Frog's promotional video for The Muppets Fan-A-Thon where he asks the internet for a bazillion "Likes" on Facebook for The Muppets. Check out Kermit's video below, followed by Miss Piggy's video as well and then go like The Muppets on Facebook!! Why haven't you done so already? If The Muppets get to a bazillion likes we get to see an advanced screening of the movie!










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

Jim Henson's 75th Birthday

Ryan Dosier - September 24th is always a special day in the lives of Muppet fans, and this year is no different. 2011 marks 75 years after the birth of Jim Henson. Jim is responsible for everything you see here on this webpage and we truly wouldn't be anything without his being born on this day 75 years ago. Emotions are an odd thing on this day as well. We feel sad that Jim isn't here, but we feel happy that 75 years later, we're still talking about this kid from Mississippi who took his mother's coat, sewed up his dream, and created a legacy that continues to grow and inspire every day.

I always prefer to spotlight the happy over the sad when I have the choice, and on someone's birthday I think that's the best thing we can do. Just look at all the amazingly happy things happening for Jim on his birthday!

Google has changed its homepage design in honor of Jim Henson's birthday. Their current Google Doodle features six controllable puppet characters who are subject to your every mouse click. Click around, play with the keyboard, and have fun seeing what these Henson creations can do! This hilarious, heart-warming, wonderfully designed, and technically innovative piece is everything that Jim was about. Puppets, humor, technology, and weird. Be sure to check out Google and Henson's "Making of" video to find out even more about the Google Doodle!

The Jim Henson Company has been going wild on social media outlets over the past few days in celebration of Jim's birthday. Their Twitter feed has been overflowing with fantastic quotes about and by Jim, all with the hashtag #Henson75. If you want to join in the fun on Twitter, just tag your posts with #Henson75! Let's get it trending! On YouTube they've been posting a horde of classic Henson content including some content featuring Kermit and the rest of the Muppets owned by Disney. In honor of Jim's 75th, the fine folks at Disney have allowed The Jim Henson Company to post some great videos including "Rainbow Connection," "Mahna Mahna," Harry Belafonte's "Turn the World Around" from The Muppet Show, the Pigs in Space sketch from the Carol Channing episode of The Muppet Show, and the magnificent finale from The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. Plus, YouTube's spotlight for today is on Jim Henson's 75th Birthday with tons of puppet videos for your enjoyment!

Sesame Street has uploaded and shared a plethora of incredible new content from its upcoming 42nd season, which starts on Monday, September 26th. Here we see Jim's legacy living on and on through the likes of Elmo, Grover, Cookie Monster, and the multitude of Anything Muppets on the show. Some of the incredible clips shared by Sesame Street on YouTube include "The Heaviest Catch" (with a character performed by Frank Oz), "Measure, Yeah, Measure" with Elmo and a Justin Bieber look-alike, Craig Ferguson and Elmo experimenting with chickens, Grouchology with Jason Jones, and the hysterical (and accurate) Glee parody called "G," which you can see right here below!

In case you'd forgotten, The Muppets is coming out in November and the promotion from Disney is currently all over the place. We've got a brand new, unfinished website about the movie on Disney.com (which also happens to be the number one featured link on all of Disney) and, both on Facebook and Twitter, The Muppets Studio has been getting our excitement level rising, saying "Rumor has it we’re announcing something huge on Monday. And yes, that’s right…we just started that rumor here." and later having Statler and Waldorf, who are still running the Twitter feed, chime in with, "All we keep hearing around the #Muppets theater is about Monday's "exciting news for our fans". You two are in for a real treat! Oh ho ho!" So... who knows what this big news could be, but I bet it really is just as exciting as they're making it sound (at least I hope it is)!

For even more Henson 75th celebrations, check out the ToughPigs.com thoughts on how to celebrate the big day!

And, finally, we'll finish out our Happy Birthday post with another Happy Birthday post... a brief piece written by Brian Henson for Google about his dad. It's really fun and touching, and you can read it all below! Following the piece is a tribute to Jim video shown at MuppetFest in 2001 which, I think, really says it all.

Remembering my dad, Jim Henson
When we were kids, my brother and sisters and I were always allowed to stay up late to watch our father’s appearances on The Tonight Show or The Ed Sullivan Show. No matter how late it was or how young we were, my mother would wake us up and trundle us down to the living room television. We’d be giddy—like Christmas. When he came home, he’d head down to the garage where he had a workshop, and repair everything that we broke while he was away—or build a dollhouse for one of my sisters. Jim never stopped making things.

He also loved games—card games, board games, all kinds of games. He was one of those rare parents who was always ready to play again. He loved dogs, particularly goofy ones. And he lived for those moments when everyone laughed so hard they couldn’t talk. I often walked onto the Muppet set to find everyone just laughing hysterically.

Although he loved family, his work was almost never about “traditional” families. The Muppets were a family—a very diverse one. One of his life philosophies was that we should love people not for their similarities, but for their differences.

Jim often had a little lesson about the important things in life: How to be a good person. How to believe in yourself and follow your dreams. And above all, how to forgive. If anything was stolen from one of us—like when the car was broken into—he would always say, “Oh well, they probably needed that stuff more than we did.”

He loved gadgets and technology. Following his lead, The Jim Henson Company continues to develop cutting-edge technology for animatronics and digital animation, like this cool Google doodle celebrating Jim’s 75th birthday. But I think even he would have found it hilarious the way today some people feel that when they’ve got their smartphone, they no longer need their brain.

Jim was clearly a great visionary. But he also wanted everyone around him fully committed creatively. If you asked him how a movie would turn out, he’d say, “It’ll be what this group can make, and if you changed any one of them, it would be a different movie.” Every day for him was joyously filled with the surprises of other people’s ideas. I often think that if we all lived like that, not only would life be more interesting, we’d all be a lot happier.

Posted by Brian Henson, Chairman of The Jim Henson Company



Happy 75th Birthday Jim Henson! We love you, miss you, and will never forget you! Thank you for leaving us with a legacy of wonder that will never, ever die as long as we believe in it.

Plus, Happy Birthday to Steve Whitmire as well! Thank you for everything, Steve. Because of you, Jim Henson's legacy, and frog, live on in the hearts, minds, and eyes of people everywhere.






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

News Update: May 6, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: May 6, 2011

Sesame Workshop recently debuted three new animated shorts starring Grover on their YouTube channel. These shorts are meant to provide basic safety information to children such as remembering to wear a helmet, buckling your seatbelt, and looking both ways before crossing the street. The videos feature Grover in various outfits and occupations, including astronaut, airplane pilot, and safari guide. They might as well throw in forensic scientist as well, he seems to be just about everything else. According to Sesame Workshop's official information about these videos, "Sesame Workshop has appointed Grover as the Road Safety Ambassador as part of the United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety. In these three Public Service Announcements, Grover promotes road safety behaviors addressing seatbelt, helmet and street crossing safety. The goal is to make road safety a family priority and a shared family experience." Based on the lack of dialogue and international appeal of Grover, these videos are set to go global as part of the United Nations' goal, which is great for everyone's favorite Road Safety Ambassador Monster.

In more Grover news, a third Sesame Street video game for Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS is coming in August. Ready, Set, Grover! stars Grover, Elmo, and Abby Cadabby as they play through an exciting obstacle course filled with active movements and adventure. According to the official website for the game (which includes some awesome screenshots) the game promotes healthy life habits including physical activity, nutrition, hygiene, and rest. As with the previous two Sesame games, Ready, Set, Grover! includes an exclusive Grover Wii-Remote cover or a jumbo Grover stylus for the Nintendo DS.

In even more Grover news, he, Elmo, and Cookie Monster made quite a few live appearances at various airports around the country to promote the brand new Sesame Street DVD Elmo's Travel Songs and Games, which was released this past Tuesday. The monsters traveled to numerous Delta terminals including ones in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, LaGuardia Airport, and Atlanta Airport. According to Sesame Street's Twitter feed, Cookie Monster was in charge of getting guests to board the plane, which went predictably poorly. "The downside of having Elmo, Grover, and Cookie here? No one is boarding the plane! We hope the flight doesn't leave without the passengers!"No word yet on if all passengers made it to where they were going. I know I would have just stayed...

The Muppets Studio actually posted something on Facebook on Wednesday, which is usually very exciting, and this time was no different. In the post, seen here, they posted the picture of Jason Segel with the Muppets from Entertainment Weekly that we've all seen a million times already. But what is notable about this post is that they also linked to two Facebook fan pages. One for Kermit the Frog and one for Miss Piggy. We're still not positive if these are official fan pages, but the fact that Muppets linked to them and currently also have them listed under their "Likes" points to them being very official. So go "like" them yourselves, Muppet fans!

Another random cameo has been announced for this fall's The Muppets, but this time it isn't a person, it's a place! The Bonanza Casino in Reno, Nevada has been revealed as a location for the new movie, specifically where Fozzie Bear will be seen performing with "The Moopets," a Muppet tribute band that Fozzie joined up with after the Muppets split. KTVN News in Reno has a scoop on the filming, but it's not known whether shots of the casino were just used to establish location or if the Muppets actually filmed inside.

And, finally, thanks to our friends over at ToughPigs and their handy-dandy countdown clock to The Muppets at the top of their home page, we now know that it is exactly 200 days until The Muppets comes to U.S. theaters! That may seem like a lot... and that's because it is. But we're getting closer and closer all the time which is ridiculously exciting.  And... that's all I have to say about that.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

An Ode to Rocco

A colleague of mine wrote me a lovely note this afternoon appealing for more press coverage for his colleague, Rocco the Rock of Sesame Street. Rocco being one of my favorite characters, I of course agreed. What follows is the culmination of these events.
  
Ryan Dosier - Rocco. Wouldst a rock by any other name sound as sweet? I think not. For what other name speaks such monumental achievement as that of Rocco? For a staggering 12 years, Rocco has been firmly established as a rock-solid character on Sesame Street. Making his first appearance in the show's third decade of entertainment, Rocco has been a part of Sesame Street ever since, becoming someone that we all too often take for granite--er... granted.

As Zoe's pet rock, Rocco the basalt rock has displayed his versatile acting skills by dressing as a ballerina, a doctor, and he even got to play the bass in the Rock Rock Band. Rocco also has an extended family who visit him on his birthday including Rocky, Rockmoninov, Uncle Rock, Aunt Rock, and Little Rock; all of whom are exceptionally proud of the great work Rocco is doing in the show business.

But Rocco's greatest achievement is perhaps his ability to bring out a more three-dimensional side of Elmo. Whenever Rocco is present, Elmo displays jealousy, anger, resentment, and disbelief. Zoe often uses this to her advantage, claiming that Rocco would prefer going to the park as opposed to saying the alphabet. (However, true fans of Rocco know that he is a rock who appreciates his letters.)

Rocco has amassed quite a following in his tenure on the Street. The praise for the talented young rock actor seeps through interviews with the likes of Fran Brill and Kevin Clash. Fran Brill loves Rocco so much that she has even started a Facebook fan page that Rocco has since used as his own outreach to his many fans.

The page is riddled with wonderful tidbits about Rocco and his work, including his many personal interests:
"[Rocco] Enjoys skipping, splelunking, rappelling, '40s swing music, and decent masonry. Rocco can often be found dressed up in embarrassing costumes (not his choice). He is a great raconteur and tells side-splitting jokes."

Truly Rocco's vast filmography, versatility, and wonderful sense of humor have set in stone the career path of this shining young star. His talent is seemingly limitless and the peak of his career can't be far off. Recently, Rocco could be seen in the background of the Academy Award nominated film 127 Hours. He was up for the part of the rock that crushed James Franco's arm, but the producers decided to go with a boulder actor.

What does the future hold for Rocco? One can only speculate... and become a fan of him on Facebook to follow the career of this stalwart performer. A rolling stone may gather no moss... but there's nothing saying it can't gather a few Facebook fans along the way.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: December 2, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: December 2, 2010

The latest news from the set of The Muppets with Jason Segel is that there are, well, Muppets on the set! Yes, a few days ago, On Location Vacations posted quite a few new pictures from the set featuring Jason Segel, Walter (who is looking wonderful), Miss Piggy, Kermit, Gozno, Janice, Zoot, Beaker, Bunsen, part of Scooter, and more! This is hugely exciting and the Muppets look AMAZING. More please!

There have also been three more celebrity cameo announcements for The Muppets: Mickey Rooney, Ricky Gervais, and Emily Blunt. Mickey Rooney was pretty much confirmed when a close friend of Rooney's posted a picture of two directors chairs; one that said, simply, "The Muppets" and another that said "Mickey Rooney." One would have to assume that means he's in the movie. Gervais and Blunt have been reported as being in the film by The Hollywood Reporter... but who knows what that means. What are your thoughts on these possible cameos?

Unless you live under a rock, then you've surely seen Cookie Monster's brilliant audition tape to be a host of Saturday Night Live. If you haven't (or if you have and just want to watch it again), check it out now...



The video has over one million views and the Facebook campaign page has over 100,000 members. With numbers like that, it seems highly likely that we'll be seeing Cookie Monster on SNL sometime in the near future. I for one am thrilled by this prospect and think that it would be an awesome, awesome outlet for the Sesame Street characters. Let's make it happen!!

Have a wall? Like the Muppets? Well then, you should consider ordering some Muppet FatHeads! What are FatHeads, you ask? Good question. FatHeads are basically a cross between stickers and posters. They're high-quality materials and are shaped like sports players, movie stars, and more. And now, there are Muppets! Check out the picture and see for yourself! As you can see, there are plenty of Muppets included: Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Swedish Chef, Bunsen, Beaker, Rizzo, and Pepe. The cost is over $100... but if you have the wall space, it's definitely worth it!

There is some sad news for BOOM! Studios and The Muppet Show Comic Book as Roger Langridge announced that he is leaving the comic after the upcoming next arc ("The Four Seasons"). Langridge cited his reason for leaving as just wanting a change and a readjustment in his life which is entirely understandable. While we'll miss Roger an extreme amount, we at The Muppet Mindset would like to wish him a smooth transition and we sincerely hope he continues to make people happy with his incredible talent.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: New Facebook Pages and New iPhone Applications

It's a small Sesame Street News Update today! Yesterday was a fun day for Sesame Street, as they unveiled five new character profile pages on Facebook and released two new iPhone applications on iTunes.

There are five new Facebook pages for Murray, Telly, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, and The Amazing Mumford. Truly we are witnessing Mumford's most amazing magic trick--getting himself a Facebook fan page! Seeing such a relatively unknown fan-favorite character receive the Facebook treatment gives hope to seeing other not-as-popular characters as well. Here's hoping for Gladys the Cow!

The new iPhone applications released by Sesame Street yesterday were "Bert's Bag" and "Count TV." The two apps, just like the Sesame Street apps before them, were developed with IDEO Toy Lab and each are available for $2.99 on iTunes. I've played a little bit with both of them and they're both a lot of fun. It's always great to see Bert in any capacity and counting with his bag is great. In his app, the Count introduces classic Sesame Street clips to count along with. Look for a review of both of these apps sometime next week!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: More Facebook Fun

Remember a few weeks ago when I reported the new Facebook pages for everyone's favorite Sesame Street characters? Well just as they said they would, Sesame Street has added even more pages for even more characters: Big Bird, Snuffleupagus, and Count von Count to go along with the pages for Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Rosita, Bert and Ernie, and Grover. As The Count would report, that is ten! Ten Facebook pages! Ah! Ah! Ah!

So if you are a fan of Sesame Street and if you want to finally prove to all of your friends that the Snuffleupagus you've been seeing is real, then there's no better thing to do than become fans of all of these wonderful Sesame Street Facebook pages!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: March 25, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: March 25, 2010 
Do you have a Facebook? Did you know that a bunch of Sesame Street Muppets do too? That's right, Sesame Workshop has recently created official fan pages for Elmo, Abby Cadabby, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Grover, and Rosita. The Sesame Street Facebook fan page says that even more pages for characters are on the way. I wonder if Oscar accepts anyone's friend request?

The Jim Henson Company has released an hysterical new video as part of its podcast. It's only two minutes long and it'll probably make your day, so why aren't you watching it already?

Our ergonomic (look it up) friends at ToughPigs have analyzed the character of my personal favorite Muppet, The Great Gonzo. While I don't necessarily agree with everything they said, it's still very well written and an extremely entertaining read (just as everything on ToughPigs is).

Be sure to come back to The Muppet Mindset tomorrow. I had the fabulous opportunity to interview yet another Muppeteer and part one of that interview will be going up tomorrow. Trust me... you won't want to miss it!

And, to close, remember to go vote in round 2 of The Muppet Madness Tournament! Elmo is in a heated race with Bert and Ernie and Fozzie is currently ham-hocking the pig with 66% of the vote. So if you're not pleased with that (or if Miss Piggy is paying you to be not pleased with that) go vote! As for me? I'm with the bear all the way!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

New Muppet Badges and More with Walt Disney World on Facebook!

Walt Disney World is obviously the happiest place on earth (unless of course you're a bakery that Cookie Monster has wandered into), but did you know they also have the happiest Facebook Profile on earth as well? Well... that might not be true, but, starting today, for Muppet fans it is pretty darn chipper.

Disney debuted a brand new "Give a Day" section to their Facebook profile. And who is the first Disney character you see on this brand-spanking-new page? Why, none other than Sam Eagle, of course (of course?)! Sam is the first of Disney's "Volunteer Spotlights," a selected volunteer who has an incredible story to tell about their volunteering experience. I don't know what makes Sam's story so heroic, but it does have a nice quote from him: "Painting the house red, white, and blue."

But that's not terribly exciting is it? Well, lucky for you there's more! The site also features some really cool "badges" that you can attach to your own Facebook profile or to your blog or other website (see Gonzo and chicken at right).

Did I mention these badges are completely free and look absolutely gorgeous? Because they are. And they do. Yet another reason for Muppet fans to be proud of the job Disney is doing with our favorite fuzzy friends. We're finally seeing some new, quality poser puppet pictures featuring more than just Kermit and Miss Piggy. It's truly a wonderful time to be a Muppet fan.

The Facebook profile also features all of the Muppet TV commercials in one convenient location (as if having them all on The Muppet Mindset wasn't convenient enough for you...). Yet another reason to check out this neat addition to the Muppet "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day." promotion timeline!

So have you volunteered yet? Do you have any interest in volunteering yet? If not, what the heck do these Muppets have to do to inspire you? They're working their non-existent rear ends off here!Give 'em a break, eh? After all... they've been volunteering since September!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier