Changes: Kermit the Frog Through the Years

Revision as of 13:26, 17 October 2011

The Evolution of Kermit the Frog (1955-present)

Image	As Seen in	Year	Notes
	Sam and Friends	1955-1965	The original Kermit is an abstract character, and not yet a frog. His feet are rounded, and he doesn't wear his signature collar yet.
	The Ed Sullivan Show	1965-1968	Kermit sports a red sweater as his trademark attire during this period. By 1966, Kermit's skin becomes a brighter shade of green. Also, a distinctly angular arch begins to develop on his snout.
File:Kermitthefrog1969.jpg	Sesame Street Season 1	1968-1970	Kermit is now officially a frog. From this redesign, he gains a single collar with thirteen points,^[1] a more rounded body, and flippers. The position of Kermit's eyes give him an almost cross-eyed appearance.
	Sesame Street	1970-1976	Kermit sports a double collar, although it's never visible when he wears his reporter outfit for the News Flash segments.
	The Muppet Show	1976-1978	When The Muppet Show begins, Kermit's collar is a single layer with eleven points.^[1]
	The Muppet Movie	1978-1981	In 1978, the company that produced the green cloth from which Kermit was made went out of business.^[2] From The Muppet Movie onward, Kermit has been built from antron fleece, giving him a sleeker, cleaner look. This puppet would also be used for the remaining production run of The Muppet Show (starting with Episode 314) and surrounding projects of the time.
	The Great Muppet Caper	1981-1982	The arch down the middle of Kermit's snout (held together by what's known as "the Henson stitch") is more prominent on this puppet.
	A Muppet Family Christmas.	1982-1990	This version of Kermit has more of a pointer mouth.
	The Earth Day Special	1990-1996	Kermit's skin is lighter than the previous version.
	Muppets Tonight	1996-2002	His eyes are slightly repositioned.
	Promotional photo	2002-2005
	The Muppets' Fan-A-Thon	2005-present
Alternate Kermit Puppets
	Disney's Honorary VoluntEars Cavalcade	2010 only	A slightly larger "weatherproof" version of Kermit with a much sturdier collar was built for Disney's Honorary VoluntEars Cavalcade parade that ran in early 2010.

Sources

[redbook-1] 1.0 ^1.1 Jim Henson's Red Book entry which discusses Kermit's evolution

[2] Muppet Morsels, Episode 114: Sandy Duncan

[1]

[2]

@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 | [[Image:KermitTMM.JPG|250px]] || ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'' || 1978-1981 || In 1978, the company that produced the green cloth from which Kermit was made went out of business.<ref>[[Muppet Morsels]], [[Episode 114: Sandy Duncan]]</ref> From ''The Muppet Movie'' onward, Kermit has been built from antron fleece, giving him a sleeker, cleaner look. This puppet would also be used for the remaining production run of ''The Muppet Show'' (starting with [[Episode 314: Harry Belafonte|Episode 314]]) and surrounding projects of the time.
 |-
-| [[Image:Gmckermit.jpg|250px]] || ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'' || 1981-1982 ||
+| [[Image:Gmckermit.jpg|250px]] || ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'' || 1981-1982 || The arch down the middle of Kermit's snout (held together by what's known as "the Henson stitch") is more prominent on this puppet.
 |-
 | [[Image:KermitMFC.JPG|250px]] || ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]''. || 1982-1990 || This version of Kermit has more of a pointer mouth.