News Update: May 30, 2014

MAY 30, 2014

On Wednesday night, Sesame Workshop held it's 12th Annual Gala honoring those who contribute to children's education. As always, the event was a Muppet and celebrity filled spectacular. Among the attendees were Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Michael Buble, and George Stephanopoulos. And of course, the Muppet performers, the Sesame Street Muppets, and Sesame Workshop personnel, such as Joan Ganz Cooney. Below are some of the pictures from the official Sesame Workshop Facebook page.

Joan Ganz Cooney, Michael Buble, and the Sesame Street Muppets (and their performers) 

Joan Ganz Cooney, Michael Buble, and the Sesame Street Muppets (and their performers) 

Barbara Walters and the Sesame Street Muppets

Joan Ganz Cooney and Michael Buble 

Diane Sawyer and the Sesame Street Muppets

Joan Ganz Cooney, Chloe Kimball, and Big Bird 

Michael Buble and Elmo

Ali Wentworth, George Stephanopoulos, and the Sesame Street Muppets

Every year, one person receives the special honor at the annual gala. This year, the recipient was the extremely deserving Joan Ganz Cooney. At the gala, the video below was played as part of Joan's recognition ceremony. It's a beautiful and moving video that is not to be missed.



Our friend John Burke is a talented musician and piano soloist. He recently composed and performed his own piano solo version of "Rainbow Connection." Luckily for us, John recorded himself playing the song on piano. It's beautiful and truly made my day when I first listened to it. Check it out below.



In extremely sad news, poet laureate and acclaimed author, poet, and thinker Maya Angelou passed away on Wednesday at the age of 86. Maya Angelou was a great friend to Sesame Street, appearing multiple times throughout the show's history and acting as narrator for 1996's Elmo Saves Christmas TV special. Beyond that, Maya Angelou was one of the most profound and respected writers of her era. Even till the end, Maya Angelou was spreading her message of love, acceptance, and equality. She will be very missed.

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

Muppetology 101: Advanced Property Ownership

Michael Wermuth - Ten years ago last month, The Walt Disney Company purchased the Muppets from The Jim Henson Company, without buying the whole company. To casual fans, it can be confusing to figure out what all Disney owns, exactly. It should be obvious that Disney owns the Muppet characters and properties from The Muppet Show and related productions, but it can still be confusing. After all, there’s several productions that aren’t related to any specific show, some of which feature characters who would later become major, or feature appearances by Kermit, some of which are retained by Henson and some included in the Disney deal. And while the Muppet name would be more commonly associated with those characters introduced on The Muppet Show and similar productions, The Jim Henson Company had continued to use the “Muppet” name to refer to its characters from most of its productions (save the Creature Shop stuff) until 2004. This article is intended to educate you on who owns what. There’s  a number of Muppet specials that crossover various properties owned by different companies. And there’s also the fact that many Henson productions were distributed by other companies, who still own the distribution rights while Henson or Disney owns the characters and such.

First, let’s talk about Sesame Street. Sesame was always produced and distributed by Sesame Workshop (formerly Children’s Television Workshop), but until 2000, The Jim Henson Company retained the rights to all characters created for the show. Henson did produce a handful of Sesame Street productions (often with Sesame Workshop), including the specials Out to Lunch and Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting, as well as the film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.

In 2000, The Jim Henson Company, under ownership of German company EM.TV, sold the rights to the Sesame Street characters to Sesame Workshop. However, while Sesame Workshop does not own the “Muppet” trademark, Sesame Workshop is allowed to use the Muppet name to refer to its characters. Sesame Workshop is also allowed to continue releasing existing Kermit the Frog appearances, and The Jim Henson Company still constructs the Sesame Street Muppet characters. And the distribution rights to a number of Sesame Street specials and movies are owned by other companies: ABC owns Out to Lunch, Bob Banner Productions owns A Special Sesame Street Christmas, Warner Bros. owns Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird, The Jim Henson Company owns Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting, and Sony owns The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.

As for Disney’s Muppet properties, Disney owns the Muppet name as well as all associated characters, including everyone from Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, and Angus McGonagle. Muppet properties owned by Disney include the television shows The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, the Muppet portions of The Jim Henson Hour ("MuppeTelevision," "Miss Piggy’s Hollywood," and "Secrets of the Muppets"), and Muppets Tonight, the Muppet movies, and countless Muppet specials, home video productions, and viral videos. Additionally, Disney owns the distribution rights to a number of productions that might seem like a surprise: "The Muppet Meeting Films," the specials Hey Cinderella!, The Frog Prince, The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, Tale of the Bunny Picnic, and Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree, the series Little Muppet Monsters, the Play-Along Video release "Neat Stuff to Know and To Do," and the "Muppet Time" interstitials.

The 2004 Disney deal also included the rights to Bear in the Big Blue House, and by extension Disney also owns Bear in the Big Blue House Live and Breakfast with Bear. Disney has also always owned the distribution rights to Dinosaurs, though I’m not sure whether the characters are owned by Disney or Henson. Additionally, regarding distribution rights, before the 2004 deal, Disney has always owned the rights to The Muppets at Walt Disney World, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and Muppet Treasure Island. The distribution rights to The Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppets from Space, and Kermit’s Swamp Years are owned by Sony, It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie is owned by NBC Universal, and the two John Denver and the Muppets specials are owned by John Denver’s estate. Disney owns the big crossover specials between the Muppets, Sesame Street, and Fraggle Rock (The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years and A Muppet Family Christmas) but still need permission to release the specials with the characters they do not own.

There’s The Jim Henson Company, which owns everything else from the company. Primary properties include Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Farscape, The StoryTeller, The Animal Show with Stinky and Jake, and Emmet Otter’s Jug-Band Christmas, as well as the various Henson Alternative programming and CGI shows such as Sid the Science Kid and Dinosaur Train. Obviously, the company owns the rights to various live-action non-puppet projects from the company, including Time Piece, Youth ’68, The Cube, and Family Rules. The company also owns the non-Muppet portions of The Jim Henson Hour, including Song of the Cloud Forest and Monster Maker, as well as Dog City (which heavily features Rowlf).

And of course there are Henson Company properties that other companies own the distribution rights to. Sony owns the distribution rights to Labyrinth, Buddy, and Mirror Mask, Warner Bros. owns The Witches, and Nelvana owns the Dog City TV series.

There are also some productions that I’m not sure who the owner is (some lecture this is!). I know that NBC Universal owns Sam and Friends, but I’ve always been unclear who owns those characters. I always thought Henson owns the characters (except for Kermit), as the company has put a clip from the show on its YouTube channel and in recent years and Yorick had been rebuilt for Puppet Up!, but then the recent book The Muppets Character Encyclopedia has a section on Sam and Friends characters. I’m not sure which company owns Tales of the Tinkerdee (I would think Disney). I also wonder which company owns the rights to the recently-found "Cinderella" pilot from 1965. And there’s also the question of who owns The Jim Henson Hour pilot "InnerTube," which mainly features characters who would never be seen again, but also heavily features Digit, and has a fair amount of Kermit, not to mention The Jim Henson Hour Pitch Reel, which heavily features Muppets and Creature Shop characters, but also promotes Jim Henson’s plans for the show, which was a big mix of Muppets and other Henson stuff.

Well, that’s a lot of knowledge on who owns what (a lot of which I don’t even know). Due to all this ownership splits, there likely won’t be many crossovers like A Muppet Family Christmas again. But then again, did any of us expect the three companies to work together to have their characters included in "Jim Henson’s Musical World" in April, 2012? How many of us thought there’d be a new Kermit photo on the cover of the Sesame Street video "Silly Storytime"? And who would have thought a Sesame Street clip with Kermit (when there’s scores of Kermit clips Disney could have used for free) would appear in Muppets Most Wanted?

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

Sesame Workshop Wants to See Your Puppetry Skills

Some hugely exciting news this week from our friends Matt Vogel and Martin P. Robinson at Sesame Workshop. Sesame is holding a workshop for highly talented puppeteers, age 18 and over, who are looking to develop and hone their on-camera puppeteer skills. If you are familiar with the Sesame Street style of puppetry, and interested in the opportunity to participate in a puppeteer workshop in New York City in early 2014 please click here for more information:

http://www.sesameworkshop.org/puppeteer-workshop/

For a chance to attend the workshop, you simply have to create a three minute video of you puppeteering. The link above has more specific details. This is a huge, thrilling chance to perform for and alongside Sesame Street's finest puppeteers. Workshops like this are the best way to get your talent seen by the people at Sesame Workshop. Please note: this is not a training camp for inexperienced puppeteers, this is an effort by Sesame to find talented puppeteers and give them a chance to hone their skills with the best of the best.

This is an almost unprecedented opportunity for highly talented puppeteers. If you think you have what it takes, then get to work and submit your video now! There is no reason not to--and every reason that you should. How often do you get the opportunity to work with Matt Vogel and Marty Robinson? Not often. So hop to it, Muppet fans and puppeteers! Get your videos made and submit them before October 11th!

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

News Update: April 27, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: April 27, 2012

Awhile back we told you that our friend Rocco Fonzarelli (which still is not his legal last name) got to puppeteer for musician Jill Scott's latest music video along with veteran Muppeteer Bruce Lanoil. Well, the music video is finally online and you can check out our pal Rocco's dynamite work for yourself! (He's performing the Rokko Whatnot Muppet, Bruce Lanoil performs the weasel.) Watch it below!



Another one of our good friends, Sesame Workshop's Louis Henry Mitchell, recently created some awesome chalk drawings for the 8th floor of Sesame Workshop's offices. He made chalk renditions of Elmo, Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, Grover, and Big Bird on the walls and they are truly beautiful. (See an in-progress drawing at right.) Sesame Workshop was awesome enough to put a Making Of article up on their website written by Louis. It's very, very cool to hear about the creative process and even more cool to see pictures of our buddy Louis hard at work. Congrats, Louis!!

Next year is 2013, and by all mathematical calculations, that means that Fraggle Rock will be turning 30 next year. The Jim Henson Company has decided to celebrate in style with a whole myriad of exciting high-end and affordable products being made available for the 30th anniversary. Perhaps the most exciting offering is A DESIGN CONTEST they're running where fan artists can design products for the 30th anniversary. The winning design not only gets produced for the product line, but the winning artist receives a private tour of The Jim Henson Company and attendance to Fraggle Rock's 30th anniversary party, a framed copy of their artwork, a feature on henson.com, and $2,500. So to all you Muppet fan artists out there... get to designing!! Designs must be submitted by June 20th and voting lasts from June 21-June 28, with a winner declared July 12th.

Over on Facebook, our friend Chris Stulz has started a brand new fan page for Muppet collectibles, aptly named Muppet Stuff. Chris plans to share Muppet collection photos, new Muppet merchandise and where to get it, and highlighting some old Muppet merchandise as well. Already there have been some fun posts to enjoy, so head on over to Facebook and "Like" Muppet Stuff!

Finally, over on Twitter, Muppet writer and keeper of the flame at The Jim Henson Legacy and Jim Henson Company, Craig Shemin, posted an incredible video of legendary Muppeteer Jerry Nelson recording the tune "Get Yourself Free Happy Little Song" from his incredible album Truro Daydreams. (If you don't own Truro Daydreams yet that must be amended immediately... head over to CDBaby.com/NelsonJerry right now and buy a copy--you'll never regret it.) The video is marvelous and it's such a joy to watch Jerry sing. Check it out below:








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

News Update: February 4, 2012

NEWS UPDATE: February 4, 2012

Remember those awesome guys in the band OK Go who did that even more awesome music video with the Muppets for their cover of "The Muppet Show Theme Song"? Well, OK Go has gone and produced another amazing video, this time on Sesame Street! There are no Muppets in the video with them, but the guys in the band have basically solidified themselves as honorary Muppets anyway. Plus, this video is too cool not to share! Check it out below:



I'm sure you all heard about FOX News' rant a few months ago about how the Muppets were brandishing a Liberal agenda and brainwashing children against business and the oil industry with Tex Richman (who, you know, they thought was actually a Muppet, not a human character played by Chris Cooper). Well, it took awhile, but Kermit and Miss Piggy (mostly Piggy) finally responded to the outrageous claims in brilliant fashion. Check out the video below and see for yourself (and smirk at the irony of Kermit saying, "That's going to be all over the internet!"):



And if that weren't enough, FOX News had to mention the rebuttal by the frog and the pig on the air. Bill O'Reilly, host of The O'Reilly Factor, showed the clip and responded, "Well, we still like the Muppets. But they'd better watch it." I sincerely hope he was doing it with an air of joking about him... but you never know with Papa Bear Bill. Anyway... you can see that video as well and decide for yourself.

Sesame Workshop, the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street, has launched a brand new website at its same old location: www.SesameWorkshop.org. The website is incredibly informative and gorgeous with loads of pictures, information, and ways that you can get involved with the Workshop's mission. It highlights all of their current (and some of their future) projects as well as showcasing individuals and groups involved with the Workshop. I think my favorite section is the Sesame News section where the website gathers Sesame-related news articles from various places around the web (Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, etc.). Explore the site for yourself and marvel in the greatness that is Sesame Workshop all over again!

In Fraggle Rock news (and I honestly can't remember the last time I said that), shoe company Native Spring are launching a line of advertisements for their children's shoes featuring Red Fraggle and Traveling Matt. The shoes aren't Fraggle themed and it does seem like an odd choice to have Red and Matt promoting shoes... but I'm not complaining, because we were also treated to three brand new pictures featuring new Red Fraggle and Traveling Matt posers! Could this mean that more Fraggle material is coming? Probably not... but who knows. Check out the pictures below:

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

Sesame Street Saturdays: When Families Grieve

Ryan Dosier - Last night I plopped myself down on the couch with a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a runny nose and turned on my TiVo to watch Sesame Workshop's newest entry into the "Talk, Listen, Connect" series: "When Families Grieve." This newest installment is quite amazing and something Sesame Workshop and everyone involved with the special should be immensely proud of.

The special opens with Katie Couric meeting Elmo in what I can only assume is her house to... hang out? I'm not entirely sure why they're both there, but they get on the topic of Elmo's Uncle Jack, who we soon learn has passed away. Katie explains to Elmo that a lot of families deal with this same situation of losing a loved one and goes on to show us four of them.

Each of the families has a different back story. The first family lost a husband and a father in the war in Iraq, the second lost a husband and father in a similar way, the third lost a wife and mother to breast cancer, and the fourth lost a husband and father after he committed suicide. After that, we hear from each family about how it was to live with the loss of such an important family member.

Later, we meet Elmo's cousin Jessie (performed by Leslie Carrera-Rudolph), Uncle Jack's daughter. We see, in a series of flashbacks, how Elmo's father, Louie (performed by Bill Barretta) helps both Elmo and Jessie to cope with the loss, while also learning to deal with it himself. These are my favorite moments from the special because it all seems so real. Bill Barretta's Louie is absolutely fantastic and he gives such a moving performance that you truly start to feel for him and Jessie and Elmo.

The final segment with the families features them with Katie in a round-table type discussion about how they as parents dealt with the loss of a spouse. This is intended to give insight to other parents out there who might be in this same situation and the insight it gives is invaluable.

In the end, Elmo, Jessie, and the families all send off balloons to their lost loved ones with mementos that each one of them wrote attached and we the viewers are left with an overwhelming sense of hope, a smile, and maybe even a tear or two.

This special was actually my first exposure to the "Talk, Listen, Connect" series, but it certainly won't be my last. Sesame Workshop and everyone involved in this tremendous special should be extremely proud of the work they're doing to help families in need. In the special we get to see how other families have learned to cope and manage after such monumental loss and families that need to have learned some important tips on how they might cope and manage as well.

Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop certainly can't solve all of the problems of the world or help everyone, but little by little they prove that they can make a difference and they can indeed be there for families in need.

To view the special for yourself, please visit Sesame Workshop's Talk, Listen, Connect webpage.

Sesame Workshop also offers more information for grieving families about Finding Comfort Together.

For even more from Sesame Street and Sesame Workshop, be sure to watch the 28-minute, online-exclusive video starring Elmo, Jessie, Louie, and their family as they show how they have grieved and found comfort in each other.

And for more information on Sesame Workshop, be sure to visit SesameWorkshop.org.














The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

2010 Christmas Wishlist to Muppets Studio and Sesame Workshop

As you remember, yesterday on The Muppet Mindset we posted a list of Muppet things you should put on your Christmas list and ask for from Santa for Christmas this year. Well, unfortunately, there are just some gifts that Santa can't hand out, so instead we ask The Muppets Studio and Sesame Workshop. Our good friend Michael Wermuth, Jr. returns with his Christmas 2010 wishlist from Disney and Sesame.

NOTE: This wishlist was made before "Bohemian Rhapsody" debuted on YouTube.

Wishlist for Christmas 2010

Michael Wermuth, Jr. - Well, Christmas is coming up very soon, and there are a lot of Muppet items that I really want. Unfortunately, the things that I want don't exist... Yet. Hopefully, the good people at The Muppets Studio, Sesame Workshop, and The Jim Henson Company will see this and decide to make my wishlist a reality. But even if they do, it's most likely too late to get whatever I want released in time for this Christmas, so I'll make my Christmas wishlist for 2010, so that the companies can make it possible for me to get what I want next Christmas... Or earlier. Heck, I'd rather have this stuff for my birthday, since that's sooner than Christmas 2010. And I don't mind buying the stuff myself, if it means getting this stuff sooner.

First, what I want from the Muppets Studio: I know that The Muppet Show: Season Four is planned for next year, so I don't have to put that on my wishlist. But I think I can still wish for special features. So I'd like for the season four release to include some promos for those episodes, audio commentary by Frank Oz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, and Dave Goelz on select episodes. And considering that the last two seasons had stuff made years after or before the series ended, I'd like the set to have some of the Muppets 1992 appearances on Good Morning America (I think Disney owns that program, so it shouldn't be hard) and some of the music videos (Kokomo, Wipe Out, and She Drives Me Crazy). And maybe some of the Virmup videos.

I'd also like some more Muppet DVDs in general, not just releases of The Muppet Show, movies, and recent productions. I'd like DVD releases of The Muppets Go Hollywood, The Muppets Go to the Movies, and The Muppets at Walt Disney World (maybe with the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" commercials as bonus features). And it would be great if Disney and Henson would work out a special deal to get a full, complete, uncut release of The Jim Henson Hour on DVD. If this is too impossible, then I'll settle for just a release of all of the Muppet Television segments. Speaking of negotiations, Disney, please, allow for Henson to release Emmet Otter, The Christmas Toy, and other Henson properties with Kermit UNCUT! Those were made back when Henson still owned the Muppets, so it's not like it's a new appearance, and they are all quiality productions.

Outside of video, I'd like some new CDs of Muppet songs. Maybe put out a Muppet Show CD that has Muppet Show tracks that haven't been released on CD, like "Rockin' Robin," "In the Navy," and Beaker's rendition of "Feelings." Or maybe a multi-disc release of Muppet songs from many different productions, including The Jim Henson Hour, Muppets Tonight, and Letters to Santa.

A new non-fiction book or two about the Muppets would be nice as well. And maybe also some new Muppet storybooks. Or a book that reprints the Muppet comics from the 1980s. And some new Muppet video games, in all formats (platforms, competition, and so on).

What I want from Sesame Workshop: I know that Warner Home Video will get the rights to release Sesame Street productions on DVD, and I'm hoping that we'll get some Sesame Street DVDs aimed at collectors. And hopefully we can get quite a few, maybe 2-4 a year. I'd like a third "Old School" set, and maybe some additional sets featuring full episodes from the first 20-25 years. And some multiple disc collections of only inserts (and maybe some bonus features) would also be nice. Maybe some chronological character sets like what Disney did with the Walt Disney Treasures sets, or some sets focusing on recurring sketches (I think only 2 or 3 discs would be needed for a complete Monsterpeice Theater box set). A box set of animated and film inserts might also be great.

And I'd like some new albums. Koch records has so far only reissued past albums. I think there should be some albums with newly-released contents. Maybe a release of newly-recorded music, plus new releases of songs that haven't been released. Sesame Workshop could check out my article about the top ten songs that haven't been on any albums, and there have also been countless songs form the last ten years that haven't been released on CD.

Well, that's my Muppet christmas wishlist for next year. I hope it comes true, making next Christmas more Muppety and merry.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier.