Bicycles

Flippers and pedals in Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.

Bicycles have been featured prominently as a mode of transportation in Muppet productions, and appear to be a particular favorite of Kermit the Frog.

Early specials

Biking to Hollywood in The Muppet Movie.

Jim Henson operating hand-puppet Kermit for close-ups.

The first instance of Muppet biking occurred in The Muppets Valentine Show. He rode a bicycle in the "Froggy Went A Courtin'" number until he crashed it into a fence. For this number, the bicycle's wheels spun in place while the surrounding scenery moved past.

Kermit then rode a bicycle in Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas. In the special's opening moments, Kermit cycles down a bumpy country lane before being blindsided by the Riverbottom Nightmare Band. A scale model bicycle was constructed, ridden by a special marionette Kermit created and operated by Frank Oz.

The Muppet Movie

Muppets on wheels!

In The Muppet Movie, Kermit begins his journey on a Schwinn bicycle. The bike this time has seemingly not been adjusted to puppet scale. However, the same effects applied.

In close-up shots, Kermit was a hand puppet, operated by Jim Henson from a low-rolling dolly. The two types of shots were intercut repeatedly to enhance the illusion.

The scene of Kermit riding the bicycle is the first shot in the movie-within-a-movie that features a Muppet out in the real world; it's a striking image that captures the audience's attention.

In 2007, director James Frawley remarked, "Every time I show the film -- whether it's to film students at USC or UCLA or I'm going to a festival -- that's always the first question: How did Kermit ride the bicycle? And my stock answer is: I put him on a three-wheeler until he got his balance, and then I put him on the two-wheeler."

The Great Muppet Caper

In an interview promoting The Great Muppet Caper, Frank Oz recalled:

“It's amazing, though, you work and work on the most difficult things and people say, 'That's nice.' Then something easy will occur and it will be all anyone talks about! In the first movie it was Kermit riding a bike. It was very easy to do that. It was just a simple marionette with strings. In the same film there was that whole complicated sequence with Gonzo in the balloon, crashing into the sign and landing in the car. It took forever to film that -- and all the talk was about the bike! That's why we have a whole bicycle parade in (Caper ). ”

The Great Muppet Caper featured bicycle riding at the center of the musical set-piece "Couldn't We Ride". Kermit and Miss Piggy renew their courtship in a London park on rented bicycles. They are soon joined by a crowd of Muppet characters, riding close together.

For this sequence, in addition to radio controlled mechanisms and marionette devices, the multiple bikes were wired together. The bikes were then pulled by a fleet of over-sized tricycles and bikes behind them, ridden by Brian Henson and other performers.

Just as in The Muppet Movie, bike-riding Muppets were hand puppets in close-up shots. Some shots featured Kermit in the foreground as a hand puppet, with Piggy as a marionette behind him, and other such mixtures of technique.

Jim Henson explained all this in the Jim Henson Hour episode "Secrets of the Muppets," adding that the rig that allowed Kermit and Piggy to ride their bikes around in opposite circles and then come up next to each other "was so complicated that you're going to have to figure that one out for yourself."

Other bicycles

Scooter rode a bike in two brief scenes in The Muppets Take Manhattan, once during the song "Saying Goodbye" (in a wide shot), and again when looking for Kermit (in a close-up shot).

Kermit rode bicycles in The Jim Henson Hour opening, Muppets on Wheels and in a commercial for the Ford Hybrid.

The Muppet Show episode 409 features a story about Kermit's bike getting stolen in the theatre's back alley. His poor choice in parking spots would later be illustrated in a puzzle released by Milton Bradley.

On Sesame Street, Elmo rides a tricycle. It was Kevin Clash's idea to have Elmo ride a tricycle, and he purchased the tricycle, which had an adjustable frame and seat that could be made bigger or smaller. At first the idea to have Elmo ride a tricycle was rejected due to budget, but two years later Elmo got to ride a tricycle on the show. The Elmo puppet was radio-controlled when he rode his tricycle. Matt Vogel operated the tricycle via a small black box with an antenna and some switches, while Kevin Clash used a radio-controlled mitt to transmit signals to Elmo.

See Also

• Elmo's World: Bicycles