Kermit the Frog's eyes

When the first puppet of Kermit the Frog was made, as an abstract character, his eyes were made from the halves of ping pong balls. As such, this has been brought up many times with characters discussing the frog's appearance.

References

• Rowlf the Dog insults Kermit in The Muppets on Puppets, comparing his eyes to "sawed-off ping pong balls." When Kermit asserts his eyes (which he claims are blue) are beautiful, Rowlf retorts, "I've never seen prettier ping pong balls."

• Dr. Jerry Nelson performs a lecture on the Muppets in an appearance on The Vent Event. Kermit and Fozzie listen in as he describes the first Kermit puppet. After mentioning his ping pong ball eyes, Fozzie realizes, "That's what they reminded me of!"

• During an appearance in the 1978 special Happy Birthday, Bob, Miss Piggy asks Kermit to play the part of Bob Hope as she serenades him with "Secret Love." Kermit claims he won't make a good Bob Hope, citing his "ping pong ball eyes" as a differentiator.

• In episode 415 of The Muppet Show, Miss Piggy ogles Kermit's eyes, comparing them to "two ping pong balls floating in a pond of green algae." Kermit claims to get that type of remark a lot.

• In a Sesame Street sketch, salesman Grover tries to butter up potential client Kermit by complimenting his good looks. He tells Kermit his eyes are like "two ping pong balls floating in a sea of mildew." "I don't know how to take that," replies Kermit.

• When Elmo appeared on Paula's Party in 2008, Paula Deen asked, "Did anybody ever tell you that your eyes are so cute they kind of look like ping-pong balls?" Referencing the Kermit design, Elmo replied, "Elmo thinks Mr. Jim Henson had something to do with that."

• Kermit's iconic eye design has been used as the logo for Muppet Wiki since 2005. Kermit's eye was used as the "private eye" icon for Kermit's detective agency in episode 414 of The Muppet Show and on the first Miss Piggy Calendar and the Muppet Babies episode "The Best Friend I Never Had." It was also featured as a Muppet News Flash widget on Muppets.com (circa 2008).

The Muppet Show episode 414

"The Miss Piggy Calendar 1980" (March)

Muppet Babies episode 302

Muppets.com widget

Characters with similar eyes

The Muppets comic strip as reprinted in The Muppets: Froggy Mountain Breakdown, page 24

Kermit's distinct pupil shape is rarely seen on other Muppet characters. It has been used mainly on impersonators and doppelgängers to Kermit, such as Constantine, Kermit the Pig and Kermit and Fozzie's Dad, or on the tributes in the "Be a Frog" number in episode 406 of The Muppet Show and various impersonations by other characters in the Muppet Babies episode "Fozzie Can't Bear It."

Miss Piggy is drawn to a male pig in the September 3, 1983 installment of The Muppets comic strip with eyes that remind her of her boyfriend's - a pig with Kermit's distinct pupils is seen sitting at the bar.

See also

• Kermit the Frog's collar