News Update: February 16, 2014

JANUARY 16, 2014

Miss Piggy and the Muppets will be offering up their talents to home-shopping channel QVC next month in connection with both Muppets Most Wanted and "Miss Piggy's Haute Tote," a tote bag designed by the divine swine herself. Miss Piggy will be on QVC's Red Carpet Style event on February 28 at 9:00pm to exclusively debut her tote bag. But that's not all, because on March 16th, the Muppets (it's unclear which ones) will appear on QVC throughout the day to promote the movie, sell stuff, and probably wreak havoc. For more information, including a chance to enter to win a trip to the Muppets Most Wanted World Premiere, visit the QVC website.

Speaking of our favorite porcine princess, Miss Piggy received some major news this week with the reveal of her brand new wedding dress, which will be featured in Muppets Most Wanted. The dress was designed by beloved designer Vivienne Westwood. The dress is made entirely from recycled water bottles. You can learn more about the dress details and read a brief interview with Piggy and Westwood on Harper's Bazaar. Check out the dress below, and join us in speculating who Piggy will walk down the aisle with in Muppets Most Wanted.

Our friends at Sesame Street won the internet this week with the release of a new cell phone game: Flappy Bert. The game is based off of Flappy Bird, an addicting and challenging game released last week that was subsequently taken down by the developer. This led to a slew of rip-off games, but many people have agreed that Flappy Bert is the best of the lot. Plus, the game features the voice of Frank Oz, which is crazy in itself. You can play the game here: http://www.sesamestreet.org/cms-static/flappy_bert/

The Jim Henson Company has a new animated kid's show, Doozers, all about the little green working creatures from Fraggle Rock. Doozers will arrive with a 52-episode debut on Hulu starting April 25th. Jim Henson Company CEO Lisa Henson said, "Our pod squad is right at home with Hulu Kids, because Hulu is a company of builders and innovators like the Doozers, and because kids can learn from and spend time with these characters on-demand like never before." For more information on the new series, check out The Hollywood Reporter's report.

A whole bunch of exciting merchandise for Muppets Most Wanted is arriving in the coming months. Our friends at Muppet Stuff (who just started an awesome new website) shared a number of the new things coming up, including a talking Kermit plush, Kermit shoes (see right), OPI nail polish, and more. Not mentioned in the post are Muppet puppets coming to Toys R Us and FAO Shwartz, plush at Walgreens, and a number of other awesome things. Hope you've been saving your money, Muppet fans!

The Muppets are appearing in a new promotion for Subway restaurants coinciding with Muppets Most Wanted. Check out their new commercial, featuring Kermit, Miss Piggy, The Swedish Chef, and Subway's Jared below!



Earlier this week, a new Valentine's Day-themed spot for Muppets Most Wanted debuted online. The spot features lots of Tina Fey's Nadya character expressing her undying love for Kermit. I laughed. Multiple times. Watch it below.



Yet another promo for the movie debuted last night during the Winter Olympics and appeared online immediately afterwards. The Twitter review aspect of the commercials have reached their peak with this one. Watch below...



We close this week on a very sad note. John Henson, son of Jim and Jane Henson and performer of Sweetums from the late 80s to the early 2000s, passed away Friday night at age 48. The Jim Henson Company confirmed John's passing on Saturday and we join the rest of the Muppet community in sending our thoughts to his family and friends. John was a wonderful talent, a partner of The Jim Henson Company, and is remembered as a kind, generous, and thoughtful person. Thank you for sharing your talent with the world, John. You will be missed.

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

Review: My Muppets Show App

Michael Wermuth - "My Muppets Show" is an app for phones and tablets that was released this summer. In fact, as I was searching the Mindset articles from the last few months, I was surprised to see that there wasn't a review of this yet, so let's give it a belated review! The plot-line has Bunsen and Beaker inventing a digitizer, which players can use to digitize Muppet characters to appear on a number of stages. Scooter guides the player to let them know what to do. So far there are three stages, the main stage, the kitchen, and the roof top. Hopefully more will be added (the rooftop was added last month). I'd like to see a Pigs in Space, Muppet Labs, or Koozebane-themed stage.

You get coins and diamonds which can purchase things (and you can also use real money to buy diamonds, but it's not necessary unless you are really impatient). While a few Muppets can be purchased with coins, most Muppets get digitized by Muppet combinations, though the correct combination won't always work the first time (or first twenty times). You can also feed characters to level them up--characters get leveled up as high as level 15, but they have to be at level 4 before you can combine them with other characters.

Among the characters that can be digitized include Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Walter, and The Electric Mayhem, as well as many original characters, including Jax Strumley, Big Mo, Durwood Clapper, Kizzy, and Bloosman. I don't really like that they included original characters, given the scores of existing characters. I'm sure that including characters as obscure as Lips or Angus McGonagle would have the same effect on casual players as these new characters. And there's a LOT of characters casual fans would be familiar with who (currently) can't be digitized, including Bunsen (though Beaker can be digitized), Robin, Sweetums, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Strangepork, Lew Zealand, and Crazy Harry. Though I do like the looks of some of the new characters, like Bloosman and Durwood Clapper.

Not every character in the game appears on all the stages. For example, The Swedish Chef is currently exclusive to the kitchen. Frustratingly, there are no stages where you can digitize the entire Electric Mayhem. Dr. Teeth and Janice are currently only available on the rooftop, where Floyd isn't available (he was available there for a limited time, which has passed, but it was insanely rare to digitize him). I hope the next stage that gets added can digitize the whole band. In addition to characters you can also purchase various props and backgrounds, including things from The Muppet Show and the movies such as a gorilla detector and an 8-foot prune.

When digitizing characters, it can take awhile. On the theater stage it's usually shorter, but by the time you get the rooftop, it can take half a day if not a whole day. And since character combinations do not always get the expected character on the first try it can be especially frustrating to wait a whole day and NOT get who you were expecting. The stages are often filled with things in the way, which also cost coins to get rid of and take awhile for them to fully go away. It also costs coins and can take hours to upgrade things. With the current season of Sesame Street having a curriculum in waiting, maybe there should be a Sesame Street game like this.

And for some reason while most of the performers (Steve Whitmire, Bill Barretta, Eric Jacobson, and Matt Vogel) provide voices in this game, Peter Linz, Dave Goelz, and David Rudman are not in this game. As a result their characters don't speak (Scooter's dialogue is in text). I wish I knew the reason for their lack of involvement.

Despite all its flaws I would recommend adding this app to your phone. I was surprised to see that it's free, so getting it isn't a waste of money. Of course I'd like it a lot better if you could control the characters you get. It's a good game and a whole lot of addicting fun.

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

News Update: June 21, 2013

NEWS UPDATE: June 21, 2013
This week Disney Mobile released a brand new iPhone application called "My Muppets Show" which features a virtual Muppet Show with unlockable characters and props. Unfortunately, and immensely frustratingly, the app is currently only available in Australia. The Facebook fan page for the app suggests that it will be released wider soon... so cross your fingers, Muppet fans. Thanks to our friend Zac Parker, we have some exclusive screenshots from the app, so check them out below!

As we reported last weekend, the 40th Daytime Emmy Awards were held and Sesame Street won a lot of shiny statues. But a meaningful piece of news came after viewers had time to upload the ceremony to YouTube, including the In Memoriam segment, which featured both Sesame Street director/writer Emily Squires but also Muppeteer Jerry Nelson. Watch the video below for the full segment (which starts at 3:10).



I don't know if we've mentioned it on the site before... but our friend Brian Jay Jones is in the finishing stages of his new, all-encompassing book Jim Henson: The Biography, which will be released on Jim's birthday, September 24th. The book already has a lot of buzz around the internet including a newly released blurb from none other than Frank Oz, who had this to say about the book: "I worked with Jim for over thirty years.  He was one of my closest friends. And yet I found out things about him in Jim Henson that were new to me.  Brian Jay Jones has captured the layers of Jim’s genius and humanity as well as the flaws that made Jim, like all of us, so delightfully imperfect. Jim needed this book to be written. I thank Brian for giving Jim life again. This book has captured the spirit of Jim Henson." You can pre-order the book on Amazon now, and check out the awesome cover art to the right!

Finally, we now have confirmation that The Muppet Movie Original Soundtrack will be re-released in conjunction with the film on Blu-ray on August 13th by Walt Disney Records. Still no cover art or track information (though we can probably guess the latter with some accuracy). However, you can pre-order the soundtrack on Amazon.com and check out the announcement from our friends at StitchKingdom.com for some more information about the re-release.

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

News Update: January 21, 2013

NEWS UPDATE: January 21, 2013

ESPN's SportsCenter has a brand new cafeteria chef who seems to get along famously with hockey player Henrik Lundqvist. Check out the video below for a fantastic example of Disney cross-promotion:



Ricky Gervais, confirmed human star of the next Muppet movie (tentatively titled The Muppets... Again), has been making interview rounds recently promoting some other upcoming projects. He was bound to talk about the Muppets eventually, and he did on the UK talk show This Morning. Check out the clip, handily cut down by our friends at Muppet Musings, of Ricky talking about how excited he is to be working with the Muppets!



Sesame Workshop has teamed up with mobile phone company Qualcomm to create an interactive, exciting new iPhone application starring Big Bird! Check out the video below for five minutes of awesome footage of Big Bird and a Qualcomm Birdkateer demonstrating the really cool app. Even cooler, Caroll Spinney came out to perform Big Bird for this presentation. Awesome.



Finally, we have an amazing first look at the five covers for the first issue of the upcoming Sesame Street comic book, due out in April. Check out the amazing spread of the five covers featuring just about every main character from Sesame (except Zoe for some odd reason), drawn gorgeously by our friend Amy Mebberson, below! Make sure you click the picture to see it in all its beautiful glory!

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

News Update: July 14, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: July 14, 2011

Earlier this week, we linked to two preview songs from the upcoming Muppets: The Green Album which features Muppet songs covered by some of music's most popular and talented artists. The songs we linked to were "The Muppet Show Theme" by OK Go and "Halfway Down the Stairs" by Amy Lee... both of which have been removed unceremoniously for copyright reasons. Well, fear not, Muppet fans, because Spin.com has an exclusive listen to "Our World" (from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas) as performed by My  Morning Jacket. I love it--a lot. Give it a listen and judge for yourself!

Speaking of The Green Album, Disney has launched a new website called MuppetsMusic.com (http://www.muppetsmusic.com/) to promote the release of both The Green Album and the soundtrack for The Muppets (which the website reveals is to hit stores on November 22--the day before the film is released in US theaters). On this new site you can purchase one of two exclusive combo packs which include The Green Album, an exclusive poster, and a t-shirt featuring the winning design from the Threadless contest. The combo pack that includes the physical CD of The Green Album costs $40, while the one that includes a digital download of the album is $35.

It's impossible to argue that SesameStreet.org isn't the best of the best when it comes to official websites for Muppet characters. Disney's Muppets.com, for instance, pales in comparison when you see the countless video clips and interactivity options presented to you on Sesame Workshop's crowning achievement. Well, this wonderful site has gotten even better thanks to an updated page on the Sesame Street Muppets. This page features links to numerous "profile pages" for numerous Sesame favorites. This includes classic, hugely popular characters like Big Bird, Elmo, and Cookie Monster but shockingly and wonderfully includes pages for practically unknown or retired such as Little Chrissie, Ovejita, Little Murray Sparkles, Clementine, Fluffy, and Big Jeffy. It's crazy, it's awesome--therefore, crazy awesome--check it out!

The iTunes Store has been erupting with great new--and old--Sesame Street content over the past week. There's a new iPod Touch and iPhone app called, simply "iYip" starring the Yip-Yip Martians as performed by Matt Vogel and David Rudman. The app lets you hear the Martians spout words and phrases such as "You Betcha," "Booya," and, my favorite, "Awesome." You can also set yourself an alarm clock and be woken up by the Martians random words. It's awesome and well worth the $1.99 price tag just for the fun of it.


But the most exciting iTunes release for Sesame Street this week was the incredible Sesame Street Classics, Vol. 1 which, for $17.99 gives you twelve full, hour-long episodes of Sesame Street from Seasons 1 to 20 and, when purchasing the full season, a "Behind the Street" segment and, free to everyone, a Sesame Flashback retrospective. The fact that it is listed as Vol. 1 makes it seem that we'll see even more classic Sesame Street coming to iTunes very soon... so buy it if you can to encourage the release of even more--and because it's absolutely awesome. Trust me.

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

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

Muppets on Your iPhone: Elmo's Monster Maker

MUPPET ALERT
The Muppets appeared on The Nerdist Podcast yesterday to be interviewed by very big nerd Chris Hardwick. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Pepe, Swedish Chef, Bunsen, and Beaker all appeared for the occasion. They discuss "Bohemian Rhapsody," The Webby Awards, what they do in their spare time, and so much more. This is a can't miss Muppet appearance, so click the link and give it a listen for free!

Elmo's Monster Maker

$3.99 on iTunes

Ryan Dosier - Today I sat down and played with Elmo, and I'm not ashamed to say it! (Okay, so I wouldn't do it in public, but I'm not ashamed to say I did it in private!) Yes, today I played Elmo's Monster Maker, an iPhone Application that allows you or your preschooler to design a monster Muppet who then dances and plays with Elmo.

The premise is very simple and the game is very easy to control. You simply touch the monster's face to add or change the eyes, nose, or headgear for your monster. The game doesn't need to be complicated or strategic, it's just a lot of innocent fun. Isn't that what Elmo is all about?

The monsters featured in the game vary in size, shape, and color. After you've selected a monster body, you have to pick a pair of eyes, a nose, and a hat for your monster by touching its face and the top of its head. The options for eyes, noses, and hats change depending on the monster body as well, so there are literally hundreds of combinations that can be made.

After you make your monster there are three different options: dance, play with Elmo, and take a picture. And they are all pretty straight-forward options, so I won't go into too much description of them. It's fun to see your creation play with Elmo for a little bit and dancing Muppets are always fun. When Elmo takes a picture of your monster, the picture is saved to your iPhone or iPod Touch's Photos section where you can view it at any time.

This app really is a lot of fun. Even yours truly, a 19 year old Muppet fan, had fun playing with Elmo and making monsters. However the initial appeal did dissipate fairly quickly for me. There are so many times you can watch a monster dance with Elmo in a day.

However, I'm sure this app is a huge hit with preschoolers and parents of preschoolers. They must get a kick out of seeing something they actually made play with their friend Elmo. I'm sure their parents also get a kick out of checking their Photos on their iPhone and finding 350 new monsters.

So, in conclusion, I can't recommend this app enough to parents of preschoolers who love Elmo (and what preschooler doesn't?). But if you're an older fan, you might want to save your $3.99 for "Grover's Number Special," which is a lot more fun for older fans (and which will be reviewed sometime next week).

And, with that... it's time to BOOGIE!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppets on Your iPhone: Rosita's Jump Count

Ryan Dosier - Today on The Muppet Mindset we start a new series of product reviews called "Muppets on Your iPhone." In this series we'll review all of the new iPhone and iPod Touch applications featruing those lovable furry things. (No, not peaches.)

Rosita's Jump Count

$2.99 on iTunes

 


Rosita's Jump Count stars Rosita (go figure), her jump rope, and you. The premise is extremely simple: You jump and Rosita counts. Rosita will sometimes give you a number count to or sometimes she'll just let you jump however many times you feel like (from 1-100) while she counts. She also counts in both English and Spanish, alternating between the two.

I suppose this application isn't directly aimed at adults--which it shouldn't be, Sesame Street is for kids after all--but beyond the initial appeal of having Rosita actually talk to you and play your exercise coach, there's not much here anyone over the age of 5 or 6 can really appreciate.

I do love Rosita. She's adorable and extremely fun, and thankfully she's  no different here. After you jump a large number in the free jump, she'll laugh and dance and shout "Oh, yeah!" a bunch of times. It's pretty fantastic if I do say so myself.

But if you have kids with copious amounts of energy, this app is perfect for you. I can only assume that they will be instantly charmed by Rosita and be eager to jump along with her and her fuzzy feet. However, if you're an adult with no kids and just looking for some Sesame Street fun on your iPhone, I would look elsewhere. Elmo's Monster Maker, for instance, is charming for all age groups.

But in the end just seeing Rosita in fun new material is a pretty okay thing for me. I don't regret spending the $2.99 one bit! (Although I did knock down a few things in my room while I was jumping.)

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: March 4, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: March 4, 2010
I've just been informed that "Elmo's Monster Maker," the iPhone application that allows you to create your own Muppet monster (who subsequently sings and dances with Elmo) has been ranked #72 of ALL iPhone applications in the iTunes Store. This is quite the feat... but is anyone surprised that Elmo's the one who achieved it? Cheeky little Muppet...

I have also been informed that the new upcoming Sesame Street iPhone application is called "Bert's Bag." It stars Harvey Kneeslapper as he fights through legions of Snuffleupaguses (Snuffleupagi?) in order to--Oh, shoot. That's the wrong description. But seriously, the official description of "Bert's Bag" from The Ideo Toy Lab states, "And just to whet your appetite for more, here's a *Sneak Peak* screen shot of our next Sesame Street app, titled 'Bert's Bag' which is set to be released in early April, so stay tuned. This still image is from more original Sesame Street video, which was created for the game!  Yup, Bert is still around sharing his collections of silly stuff with a new generation of kids." So Sesame Street fans definitely have something big to look forward to come April! I'll keep you posted as more information surfaces.

Hey, remember Jerry Nelson? Well then you'll also remember that he released an album, "Truro Daydreams," a few months ago. I'm thrilled to announce that Jerry's CD is available for actual physical CD purchasing through CDBaby.com for on $14. There are also some wonderful quotes on that page from Paul Williams and Frank Oz (no relation to L. Frank Baum). If you haven't already, be sure to order this CD or at least purchase the downloadable copy. It is beyond wonderful and if Jerry gets enough support he'll record another one, so what more of a push do you need?

Our good friends over at ToughPigs have started taking entries for this year's Ugly Toy Contest! This is always my favorite article series ToughPigs does and I'd love to see you, my wonderful readers, contribute! So if you have Muppet, Sesame Street, or Fraggle merchandise that should never be taken out in daylight, snap a picture of it and email it to Ryan@TougPigs.com and you're done! Maybe your ugly little friend will win (or lose). Then you'll always have an item in your home you can tell your friends was the ugliest Muppet toy of 2010--won't they be jealous?!

Finally, be sure to check back here tomorrow for a special announcement from yours truly regarding what to expect on The Muppet Mindset all next week! Trust me... you won't want to miss it.















The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: February 5, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: February 5, 2010

Big news this week as ToughPigs announced that a brand new, old Sesame Street music set will be released on March 23, 2010. The set is being dubbed "Old School, Vol. 1" much like the two DVD sets released a few years ago highlighting the first ten years of the show. This 3-CD set includes three classic Sesame Street albums, "Sesame Street Original Cast Recording," "Big Bird Sings," and "Bert & Ernie Sing-Along." ToughPigs has the track listings for each album. I'll be sure to keep you up to date on any new information as it comes!

Do you have an iPhone or an iPod Touch? Do you long to fondle Elmo? If so, please seek psychiatric help. However, if you're interested in an exciting new Sesame Street application, then keep reading! "Elmo's Monster Maker" is now available on iTunes for only $3.99. In it you can design your very own Muppet monster then watch him or her interact with Elmo right on your iPod! Don't take my word for it, check out this celebrity spokes-monster!

In other news, yours truly, Ryan Dosier, will be appearing briefly on this week's episode of The MuppetCast. I recorded a piece for the show that showcased all of the different things on The Muppet Mindset this week. You may not recognize my voice immediately, but that's part of the fun, isn't it? Be sure to check it out!










The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier