John Steinbeck (1902—1968) was an American writer. He wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath, published in 1939 and the novella Of Mice and Men, published in 1937. In all, he wrote twenty-five books, including sixteen novels, six non-fiction books and several collections of short stories. In 1962 Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize for Literature.

References

Of Mice and Men

• A behind-the-scenes book and documentary about The Muppet Show were titled Of Muppets and Men.

• The Muppet Babies episode title "Of Mice and Muppets" is a nod to Of Mice and Men.

• On Dog City, the character of Bowser, in his mentality and dialogue, is frequently reminiscent of Lennie from Of Mice and Men (especially as played by Lon Chaney, Jr. in the 1939 film). In "Boss Bruiser," the closing dialogue exchange has Bowser asking Bruno to "tell me about the rabbits, boss," ala Lennie.

• Animal spoofed Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men (with a mouse and a man) in an installment of Animal Theatre on Muppets.com.

The Grapes of Wrath

• A Sesame Street "Theater in the Park" sketch titled "The Grapes of Math" is a parody of Steinbeck's book The Grapes of Wrath.

Cannery Row

• In Follow That Bird, the Dodos live on Canary Row (a reference to Steinbeck's 1945 novel Cannery Row).

Trivia

• A film version of the Rodgers and Hammerstein muscial Pipe Dream, based on Steinbeck's novel Sweet Thursday, was once proposed to star the the Muppets.^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ Mandelbaum, Ken. Not Since Carrie: 40 years of Broadway Musical Flops. New York: St. Martin's Griffin, 1992. p. 99.