A Muppets movie without Muppets?

The newest addition in the string of awesome Muppets trailers shows us how a Muppets movie without Muppets would look like. It's safe to say that this idea at the very least would make for a unique movie. Enjoy:

Click here to watch it on Youtube

Muppeteer John Henson passes away

Last friday Muppeteer and son of Jim Henson has passed away due to a sudden heart attack. The Henson company announced the death on their Facebook today.

As a Muppeteer John was perhaps best known for performing the part of Sweetums form the late eighties through 2005, taking over the role from Richard Hunt. John's Sweetums was seen in productions such as MuppetVision 3D, The Muppets Wizard of Oz and Muppets from Space, amongst other productions.

The Henson company released the following statement:

"It is with great sadness that we confirm that John Henson, son of Jim and Jane Henson and brother to Lisa, Cheryl, Brian and Heather, died at age 48 of a sudden massive heart attack on Friday, February 14, while at home with his daughter. John served as a shareholder and board member of The Jim Henson Company. He leaves two daughters, Katrina (15) and Sydney (10) and his wife Gyongyi. A private service is being planned."

Muppets join Jimmy Fallon to perform "The Weight"

With Jimmy Fallon heading to the Late Show the last epsiode of Late nightwith Jimmy  Fallon show needed something special to go out with. Things always get more special when you add Muppets and great music so the Muppets joined Jimmy Fallon to perform the 1968 smash hit "the Weight" by The Band for the so called "last waltz" of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. Thankfully, the show's Youtube channel is very quick with uploading segments from the show so we can all watch it as much as we want now:

New Muppets Most Wanted TV Spot released

With the release of the movie coming closer everyday (March 21st for all you US readers and April for just about the rest of the world) more and more Muppet marketing is released upon the world. This time we have a new 30-second TV spot. Enjoy:

Muppets Super bowl commercial now online

Advertising and the Muppets have a long history together. Rowlf, arguably the first Muppet character to get the spotlight debuted in a series of Purina dog food commercials.

The Jimmy Dean Show soon followed and slowly but surely the Muppet characters gained more traction in the entertainment world.


Times have changed since then but The Muppets' brand can still be just as effective in advertising as then. Case in point is the new Toyota Super Bowl ad starring the Muppets and Terry Crews. It will of course air during the Super Bowl but luckily Toyota has also put it online on YouTube. Enjoy:

Muppets Most Wanted 'outrage' trailer released

Remember how The Muppets 2011 had those funny, original trailers? It seems like the advertising for  its sequel are heading the same way.

Recently, Muppets Studio released a new trailer which documents the outrage surrounding the new movie but it's a kind of outrage you would not expect. Enjoy:

Muppets Most Wanted trailer released

Disney has posted the full trailer for Muppets Most Wanted on Youtube today. The sequel to 2011's The Muppets  won't be in theatres for a while but it looks like it will be worth the wait.

MMW will be a direct sequel to The Muppets and features the gang going on a global tour. Trouble is lurking however when they get tangled up in a crime caper courtosy of the World's Number One Criminal, Constantine who looks exactly like Kermit.

While it will still be a while before we can watch the movie in theatres (a March 20th release for the United States will probably mean a May/June release for Europe) we can at least be comforted by the thought that it looks like the Muppets Studio put a lot of effort in it instead of cashing in on the franchise revival and releasing yearly sequels.

Muppets Frog-E-Roke posted on Youtube

To promote the upcoming Bluray release of the Muppet Movie. The Muppets Studio released a Frog-E-Roke version of Can You Picture That from said movie on their Youtube channel. Frog-E-Oke is a Muppets form of Karaoke where the images, fonts and style of the letters and video reflect the song and the Muppets who sing it, in this case Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. 

The upcoming Blu Ray release of the Muppet Movie will feature Frog-E-Oke versions of Can You Picture that ass well as Rainbow Connection and Movin' Right Along. 

Teaser trailer for The Muppets most wanted released

Disney has released the first trailer for the Muppets most wanted today which features Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and of course a whole lot of Muppets. Needless to say, the trailer is funny and shows promise for a worthy sequel.

Besides Gervais the movie will also feature Tina Fey and Ty Burrell. Brett McKenzie returns to write new songs for the movie, after winning an Oscar for the first movie's "Man or Muppet" song.

Let's hope this teaser will be followed by spiffy parody trailers like the first one was.
The movie is slated for a March 21, 2014 (US) release.

Muppets sequel gets an official title plus first stills.

Disney announced today the official title of the new Muppets movie which will be called "The Muppets....Again." This movie puts the Muppets in London as they're famous again after the first movie and are touring Europe. However, Constantine, the World's Number One Criminal is pursuing them, along with his henchman, played by Ricky Gervais. To make things worse, Constantine is Kermit's doppelganger.

Besides Gervais the movie will also feature Tina Fey and Ty Burrell. Also, Brett McKenzie returns to write new songs for the movie, after winning an Oscar for the first movie's "Man or Muppet" song.

The movie is slated for a March 21, 2014 (US) release.

Disney also released the first stills of the movie, Enjoy.

The Great Cookie caper?

A German bakery based in Hannover had the proud distinction of advertising its store with a real golden cookie in the display. All was well untill yesterday, when it was stolen.

The suspect is none other than a man in a Cookie Monster costume.Along with a picture of the would-be Cookie Monster posing with the golden cookie the German police received a ransom letter in which the cookie thief demands that cookies will be delivered to a German children's hospital. The baker has issued a 1000 Euro reward for information that will lead to the return of the golden cookie.

Muppets on WWE: Tribute to the troops

Wrestling company WWE have posted the Muppets segment from their recent Tribute to the Troops special on Youtube. In this segment Kermit is interviewed by wrestler the Miz who wants to know what the status of  Kermit's and Piggy's relationship is.

Prior to the MizTV segment, WWE reporter Josh Matthews interviewed Fozzie on how Kermit was feeling, about to appear on MizTV, followed by a pretty witty comment by Waldorf and Statler.

Later on in the night, wrestler Daniel Bryan, who got the nickname Goat Face due to his beard, got into a discussion with Animal.

While the combination of Muppets and wrestling may seem odd, the Muppets and WWE have teamed up in the past. The Muppets hosted the Halloween RAW episode in which Beaker even interefered in a match, causing wrestler Santino to win. They also appeared in a video message at last years's TTTT.

Ceelo Green and the Muppets team up again

After letting his song Forget you get covered by the so called Princesses of Poultry in the latest Muppets movie, Ceelo has once again joined forces with the Muppets. This time they star in a Christmas music video called "All I need is Love". Enjoy:

Kevin Clash resigns from Sesame Street


Following the recent controversy surrounding Kevin Clash's personal life Sesame Street announced today that Kevin Clash has resigned from Sesame Street.

Sesame Street workshop has issued the following statement:

Sesame Workshop’s mission is to harness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential.  Kevin Clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years, and none of us, especially Kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization.  Unfortunately, the controversy surrounding Kevin’s personal life has become a distraction that none of us wants, and he has concluded that he can no longer be effective in his job and has resigned from Sesame Street.  This is a sad day forSesame Street.

What happens with Kevin's commitment in other Henson productions like the Muppets is currently unknown but it's nonetheless a sad day indeed. Kevin was mostly known for taking over the role of Elmo from Richard Hunt and made the red monster the superstar that he is today. Besides Elmo, he is also known as puppeteer of The Muppets' Clifford and Dinosaurs' Baby.

Besides puppeteer he was also senior creative advisor" at Sesame Workshop.

Accuser of Kevin Clash withdraws statement

The man that accused mr. Clash of having an underage sexual relationship earlier this week has withdrawn his statement. His lawyer has stated that the man was not underage during his relationship with Clash and that nothing happened against his will.

Earlier this week the man stated that he was 16 years old when he had an relationship with Kevin Clash which led to tge Muppeteer temporarily leaving Sesame Street.
Clash responded to the update Tuesday by stating he was glad that this painful accusation was shoved aside and wished to give no further no further comments.

Kevin Clash takes leave of absence due to accusations 

Kevin Clash, Muppeteer of a diverse group of Muppets like Clifford, Elmo and Hoots the Owl has announced that he will take a leave of abcense due to accusations that he was involved in an underage relationship.

Sesame Street Workshop has released the following statement concering this situation.

In June of this year, Sesame Workshop received a communication from a then 23 year old man who alleged that he had a relationship beginning when he was 16 years old with Kevin Clash, a Sesame Workshop puppeteer who performs as Elmo.

We took the allegation very seriously and took immediate action. We met with the accuser twice and had repeated communications with him. We met with Kevin, who denied the accusation. We also conducted a thorough investigation and found the allegation of underage conduct to be unsubstantiated. Although this was a personal relationship unrelated to the workplace, our investigation did reveal that Kevin exercised poor judgment and violated company policy regarding internet usage and he was disciplined.

Kevin insists that the allegation of underage conduct is false and defamatory and he is taking actions to protect his reputation. We have granted him a leave of absence to do so.

Elmo is bigger than any one person and will continue to be an integral part of Sesame Street to engage, educate and inspire children around the world, as it has for 40 years.


A shocking accusation, especially since it involves a man who brings life to one the most beloved children's characters around. Luckily, it seems that the accusation is unsubstantiated but I'm afraid lot's of gossip magazines and websites will use this story in order to sell magazines and give both Sesame Street and Mr. Clash a bad name.

Muppets Christmas comes early this year

The Muppets' Youtube channel has been updated with a brand new video in which the Christmas cheers come early as the Muppets' chickens sing...erm...cluck "Joy to the World" to celebrate the release of the Blu Ray version of The Muppet's Christmas Carol. Enjoy:

Great Muppet movie spoofs

One of the funniest things the Muppets have done is parodying pop culture. From songs to pop groups to movies to fairy tails, they have done it all. Let's look at some of their more entertaining movie spoofs the Muppets Studios have produced:

Saturday Night Fever

We all know our ABC's and a lot of us learned them by singing the Alfabet set to "Twinkle twinkle little star". Leave it to Sesame Street however to make the Alfabetsong sound like one the funkies songs ever. In this spoof of disco film hit Saturday Night Fever Grover's all decked out as John Travolta's Tony Manero and ready to bust some moves. Proclaimed the king of the disco, like Tony was in the original movie, Grover enters the discotheque  being adored by a group of female monsters.  Grover soon finds himself dancing to what quite possibly is the best arrangement of the Alfabet song ever but unfortunately overestimates his endurance. This skit wasn't the only spoof of SNF as the CTW released an concept album called Sesame Street fever with the cover being an replica of SNF's albu cover, with the Beegees and Travolta being replaced by the Sesame Street Muppets. Unfortunately, the ABC song didn't make it to the album.


The Three Musketeers

The Muppets go to the movies was a tv special in which the Muppets spoofed several movies like Casablanca and The Three Musketeers. The latter is one of the more entertaining spoofs. While the other spoofs in this special went for a kind of appropriate casting, this one just went straight for the laughs. With the vastly different enthousaistic Scooter, the cowardly Link Hobthrob and the careless Gonzo playing the parts of the musketeers, there almost couldn't be a bigger contrast in relation to the original parts. The great thing about this bit is the strong writing when the Musketeers are talking amonst themselves. Great puns, a hilarious fight scene and a crashtastic ending.....all in all, it's classic Muppet fare.  

The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz is a movie that has been spoofed several times by the Muppets, most recently in the disappointing Muppets Wizard of Oz that forced the Muppets in a R'nB direction that was met with a harsh critical reaction upon release which no doubt slowed down the Muppets' return to former glory. Before that however, it was already spoofed in Muppet Babies, even appearing in the series' intro. 
Even earlier, it was spoofed in the same special as the Three Musketeers. Starring Piggy as Dorothy, Gonzo as the tin Woodsman, Fozzy as the Cowardly Bear and Scooter as the Scarecrow, the costumes bear a striking resemblance to the costumes later used in the Disney movie. This spoof was based upon the 1939 classic, originally starring Judy Garland, even beginning in sepia colors, a fact that Rowlf obliviously points out during the sketch. While it doesn't last long, it does feature a medley of the most famous songs of the MGM musical and features a lot of character, something sorely lacking from the Disney full length movie.

Indiana Jones

Picture Kermit. Now picture him with a leather jacket holding a gun. Now picture him shooting Nazis with this gun. Sounds like a Muppets parody made in bad taste. It isn't. The Muppets visit Walt Disney World which was the last Muppets production Jim Henson worked on contained a scene in which all the above happened. As the name implies the Muppets do visit Disney World in this special which was originally part of something bigger with plans of Disney buying the Muppets. Negotiatons fell through when Jim Henson died but Muppet fans at least got this special, along with the MuppetVision 3D movie, which still runs in both Disneyland Anaheim and Disney World. 

Focal point of this article however is the Indiana Jones show where one guest is picked to play the role of Dr. Jones. Kermit is picked and placed in the stage show, which also features Piggy. Conforming to the non-violent character of the Muppets Kermit constantly explains that he's in a stage show with fake weapons and stunts and how he dislikes violence, making for a more comedy oriented bit. Still, we get to see Kermit in a leather jacket, shooting at Nazis. That's pretty unique.

Big Bird a Halloween smash hit

Big Bird, who suddenly got thrown into the presential election craze by candidate Mitt Romney has experienced a boost in popularity which now translates itself to a peak in Halloween costumes purchases.
According to a spokesman of Halloweencostumes.com the outfit wasn't too popular in the past but sold out this year in no time, which surprised the company.

Big Bird made headlines around the world when Republican canditate Romney announced he would cut the funds of PBS, who broadcasts Sesame Street. He did say however that he likes Sesame Street and that he 'loves Big Bird'. Democratic canditate and current president Barack Obama countered this in a satirical commercial in which he described Big Bird as an "evil genious" and "a menace to the economy" and depicted Mitt Romney as being more concerned with cracking down on Big Bird/PBS than on other, more serious problems.

The Sesame Workshop later responded by saying that they didn't like how Big Bird got thrown into the political mix since it's a nonpartisan organisation that doesn't endorse candidates or participate in political campaigns.

                                                       Obama's Big Bird ad

Fraggles return in new Ben Folds Five music video

While Sesame Street and the Muppets have never really faded away, the same can't be said about Fraggle Rock. There is a Fraggle Rock movie in the works but it's still in the writing stages and Fraggle appearances have been rare since the ending of the Fraggle Rock shows in the eighties. 

This ends today however as the Ben Folds Five have released their new music video called Do it anyway  starring none other than the Fraggles. Shades of Weezer's Keep Fishin' video fly by when watching the video. It's a great song and an equeally great music video, enjoy it and be sure to keep watching untill the very end for a special surprise:

Besides just the music video, there's also an interesting and funny Behind the scenes video posted: