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User:MuppetArchives/Today on Muppet Wiki Archive 05

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Archive of Today on Muppet Wiki, February - March 2007.

March 2007

Character
  • March 29 • Sesame Street Magic Slates: Western Publishing released a series of "Magic Slate Paper Saver" toys featuring Sesame Street characters, from the 1970s through the 90s. Each slate is a piece of stiff cardboard, with a sheet of cellophane over a soft waxy surface on the front. Using the included red plastic stylus, a child can draw on the cellophane, and then lift the page to erase and start over. The illustrations on the slates feature an odd assortment of characters, including the Amazing Mumford, Farmer Grover, and Biff and Sully.
  • March 28 • Muppet Meeting Films are a series of short films produced for public screenings during business meetings and training sessions. The films are about three minutes long, and provide some comic relief in a long, dull meeting. The early films in the series, produced in 1975, featured puppets that would soon become stars on The Muppet Show -- Kermit, Sam the Eagle, Janice, Gonzo and Waldorf. In 1979, Jim Henson and Frank Oz created a new comedy team for the films -- Leo, a master speechmaker and wordsmith, and Grump, a cynical crank. This article is the latest to be awarded Quality article status on Muppet Wiki. Visit the Quality nominations page to nominate and vote for the best pages on Muppet Wiki!
  • March 27 • Fraggle Rock Sing-Along Book was released as a book-and-record/tape set in 1984. The book includes lyrics for all of the songs -- which is especially helpful for the "Beetle Song", as the words speed up at the end into a tongue-twister.
  • March 26 • Hello: A key moment in Sesame Street's history was the release and marketing of the show's educational and entertaining musical content in the form of albums and singles. "Hello" was an audio skit featured on the first Sesame Street single released in 1970. The skit introduces the main street characters to listeners who may not be familiar with the show or its characters. This rare skit was included as the B-side to the "Sesame Street Theme" on a 45 single and has never been made available or re-released on any other album or single. We've got a transcript.
  • March 25 • Snuffy's Parents Get a Divorce: In 1992, the producers of Sesame Street tested an episode in which Mommy Snuffleupagus and Daddy Snuffle get a divorce. After a series of arguments, Daddy Snuffle moved out of the cave, and their children, Mr. Snuffleupagus and Alice, have to deal with the emotional fallout of a breakup. In testing, however, the topic proved too difficult for the show's young audience; children who watched the episode thought that Snuffy would never see his father again. The episode was shelved, and the Snuffleupagus family is still intact. This article is the latest to be awarded Quality article status on Muppet Wiki. Visit the Quality nominations page to nominate and vote for the best pages on Muppet Wiki!
  • March 24 • Fat Mamma Jefferson was a blues composer who wrote a short piano piece played by Rowlf as a prelude to "God Bless the Child" in episode 516 of The Muppet Show. In warming up for a number with Gladys Knight, Rowlf cites her as his favorite blues singer. Gladys doesn't remember her right away, until Rowlf explains that she was a spotted basset hound. Then Gladys recalls that she's the one who wrote the classic, "I Won't Hang My Head In Shame 'Cuz I Step On My Ears When I Do."
  • March 23 • Gertha is one of the stars of "DragonTime" as seen in the Puppetman pilot. Aptly described in the script as "an ugly battle-axe," Gertha is a rotund, bitterly sarcastic dragon, with two horns and an earring, who resides with the other puppets in the DragonTime Castle. Gertha is in some ways the Oscar the Grouch or Statler and Waldorf of "DragonTime", offering a sharp counterpoint to the prevailing sweetness and light. Gertha saves most of her ill-humor and jibes for when the show goes off the air, constantly insulting hostess Rita, at one point calling her a tramp. Though Gertha has a puppeteer, Del, she seems to have a mind of her own, often arguing with him, and represents the cynical, insulting side of his personality.
  • March 18 • The Great Muppet Caper!: The Making of the Masterpiece is a behind-the-scenes book that reveals the not-quite-true story of the filming of The Great Muppet Caper. The section on editing reveals that there were rumors around Hollywood that the "best" parts of the movie had been left on the cutting room floor: "the scene in which Fozzie parts the Red Sea; the panic-in-the-square sequence, in which the Electric Mayhem band is squeezed into a baby carriage and goes careening down a long, broad sweep of steps while playing their rock-Dixieland version of 'Midnight in Moscow'; and the (already infamous) 'shower scene', in which Lew Zealand is seen taking a shower."
  • March 15 • V CAST is a video streaming service provided by Verizon Wireless. User subscriptions include access to a network of programming available from various vendors which are accessible from select Verizon compatible cellular phones. Clips of Sesame Street and Plaza Sésamo are currently available on the V CAST service, including a special "Sesame Favorites" section, dedicated to memorable moments from Sesame Street's 37 years of programming for fans of all ages.
  • March 14 • Puppetman was a sitcom pilot produced for CBS, which aired on July 3, 1987 as part of "CBS Summer Playhouse," a weekly dumping ground for unsold pilots. The proposed series, developed by Jim Henson jointly with Bernie Brillstein's Brillstein Productions, was set backstage at a TV kid's puppet show. Fred Newman starred as Gary, the lead puppeteer, with veteran Muppeteer Richard Hunt as Gary's partner, whose puppet characters seem to have minds of their own. This is the latest article to be awarded Quality article status on Muppet Wiki. Visit the Quality nominations page to nominate and vote for the best pages on Muppet Wiki!
  • March 13 • Tickle Me Land is the place that Dorothy sees in her head, as revealed in a song which appears on a new DVD, Elmo's World: What Makes You Happy? In Tickle Me Land, "everything everywhere is furry and red" -- to be exact, everything is a variation of Dorothy's owner, Elmo. Everyone laughs in Tickle Me Land -- a phenomenon that anyone who's ever been tickled could understand. The song relays Dorothy's declaration that the listener can go to Tickle Me Land just by imagining what they can be. Indeed, Rocco proves that Dorothy is not the only one able to invoke Tickle Me Land, when he imagines Elmo as a rock in Elmo's World: Friends.
  • March 12 • Justine Johnston was a character actress on Broadway, and occasionally in film and television. Often cast as snobbish dowagers or matrons, she appeared in the Sesame Street video Big Bird Gets Lost as a prim customer. Attired in an ornate feathered hat and yellow suit, a crouching Johnston is mistaken by Maria for Big Bird, prompting an indignant "I beg your pardon!" Faced with this tower of respectability and dignity, Maria tries to explain the situation: "I thought your hat was my friend's behind."
  • March 11 • Philip Glass is a composer of contemporary classical music. He is most famously associated with the minimalist movement in music, although the majority of his work is more accurately described as theatre music written for the concert hall. In 1977, Glass wrote a series of short vocal and instrumental pieces for Sesame Street. These include a series of animated films which employ geometric curves traced to various points on a circle to reveal other geometric shapes and colors.
  • March 10 • The Pizza Twins: Fozzie and Kermit disguise themselves as the Pizza Twins, a pair of identical twin pizza delivery boys, during "The Great Muppet Caper". They bring a pepperoni pizza to the guard of The Mallory Gallery. In the movie, the two play twin brothers, and the only distinguishable difference between them is that normally only bears wear hats. Because both wear hats as part of the Pizza Twins costume, Fozzie speaks in a ridiculous (and poor) Italian accent to differentiate himself from Kermit, and to help the audience tell the two characters apart.
  • March 9 • Pop Off is a soft drink which employs brightly colored roadside billboards, creating a convenient hiding place for bears whose cars have recently been repainted by a rock band.
  • March 8 • Evelyn Glennie is a world-renowned, award-winning, classical virtuoso percussionist with a post-lingual hearing impairment. She appeared in a segment on Sesame Street with Linda playing the marimba and a series of other percussion instruments, including drums. Before she begins, she instructs Linda to join the performance when she's signaled. Linda shows enthusiasm for her participation, but by the end of the piece she has nearly fallen asleep. Glennie alerts her with a tap of the shoulder and Linda closes with one strike of a cymbal. When Linda recives the most praise from the audience, including flowers from a little girl, Glennie leaves the stage in a huff.
  • March 7 • Muppet Babies train playset: Playmates Toys produced this Muppet Babies battery-operated toy train playset, which includes a clover-shaped track and four playstations. As the train stops at each of the four corners, the amusement ride is activated by the train. The train cars are shaped like cupcakes and shoes. The set comes with eight Muppet Baby figurines; the figurines can ride on the train and in the amusement rides.
  • March 6 • Wormy Gras is the biggest worm holiday there is; where worms all over the world celebrate the joys of worminess. Festivities include dressing up in costumes and taking part in a parade with Dixieland band music. The holiday was celebrated on Sesame Street in episode 3856; Slimey the Worm spends most of his day before the parade deciding what to wear, finally settling on a grouch costume.
  • March 4 • Fat Cat is a song performed on Sesame Street by Bip Bippadotta and three Anything Muppets in sunglasses. The Anything Muppets say a list of rhyming words (such as "fat," "cat," "sat," and "hat"), and then Bip interrupts with a sentence combining all of the words in a fast-paced scat, much to his companions' dismay.
  • March 2 • Alligators and Crocodiles are different species belonging to the order crocodilia, of the class reptilia. To the layman, the two species are easily confused. (The main visual differences are that alligators have a broader snout, and crocodiles show both sets of teeth when their mouths are closed.) Alligators and crocodiles have appeared in several Muppet productions over the years, with the same puppets used interchangeably for both species. The same puppet who appeared in the "Never Smile at a Crocodile" and "Crocodile Rock" numbers on The Muppet Show also appeared as an alligator in The Muppets at Walt Disney World and The Earth Day Special. Just in case anybody's keeping track, which we are.
  • March 1 • Astro-Grover: "Look up in the stars! It's Astro-Grover and he's all set to have some close encounters with the friendly Zips from the planet Zap. Children help Grover count the Zips and if they are right, GROVER will fly out to meet them. In case of a wrong answer, the Man-in-the-Moon will shake his head and encourage the child to try again. As children develop their number skills, a series of correct answers results in the building of Grover's beautiful city or the launching of a zippy spaceship." Seriously. It was made in 1987 for Apple II computers. Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

February 2007

Producer
  • February 28 • Learn Along with Sesame is a collection of online videos produced by Sesame Workshop, currently available via the iTunes Store. The free downloads of educational resource videos launched this month on the iTunes Store, as full video downloads. The collection currently has 6 episodes, including "A is for Asthma", in which Elmo and Rosita meet an asthmatic friend, and "Talk, Listen, Connect", in which Elmo's father Louie is in the military.
  • February 27 • The Natural History Project was the working title for a feature film about dinosaurs conceived by Jim Henson in 1986, as his next big fantasy feature. In 1986, the project was developed as Henson's next big fantasy feature. The story involved a gruff old parasaurolophus who serves as a guide and teacher to a young corythosaur named Cory. Sketches also exist for a pair of dim-witted pachycephalosaurs, a woeful ankylosaur, a haughty styracosaur and a trio of villainous velociraptors to provide comical relief for the film's villainous monster, a Tyrannosaurus rex. However, almost a year after the script had been approved and pre-production design work had been completed, production halted. The studio decided to hold off on the project when it was discovered that another dinosaur film, The Land Before Time, was in production by Universal Pictures. The movie was never completed, although it may have served as the inspiration for the TV series Dinosaurs.
  • February 26 • Rosita's Easter on Sesame Street is a new storybook about the preparations for the Sesame Street Easter picnic. In the book, Rosita observes her friends preparing for the picnic, and then brings a surprise of her own. Baby Bear is among the excited participants, bringing Easter Braided Bread to the party, although it was established in the 2002 video Elmo's World: Happy Holidays! that he's Jewish. Of course, Easter on Sesame Street is all jellybeans and marshmallow chicks anyway, so it's more of a celebration of Springtime and sugar.
  • February 25 • Will Lee played Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street, from the show's debut in 1969 until his death. Lee was 61 years old when he began playing the kindly owner of Hooper's Store, and he had a long career before taking up residence on the Street. In the 30s and 40s, Lee worked with New York City theater groups that performed Communist-themed plays, and was one of the founders of the Theater of Action. He also had parts in several films, including a small part in Alfred Hitchcock's 1942 thriller Saboteur. Lee was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1948, and was blacklisted for several years. There's lots more, but you get the general idea. This is the latest article to be awarded Quality article status on Muppet Wiki. Visit the Quality nominations page to nominate and vote for the best pages on Muppet Wiki!
  • February 24 • McDonald's Muppet Workshop Happy Meal Toys: In 1994, McDonald's made a set of Muppet Workshop Happy Meal toys, which came in Muppet Workshop-themed Happy Meal boxes. Each toy was a plastic figure with a hinged mouth, which came with two accessories which could be exchanged with the other toys to create slightly different characters. The toys were a tie-in to a larger merchandising push for the "Muppet Workshop" brand, a line of craft kits which also included the Muppet Workshop Puppet Kits.
  • February 23 • Sesame Street Gangsters: Although Sesame Street is meant to represent a child-friendly, and somewhat idyllic, New York City street, the neighborhood has a network of seedy underground criminal organizations. These groups are run by criminals most commonly for the purpose of shady and illegal activities such as alphabet trafficking, black marketeering and robbery. Comprised mainly of Anything Muppets, these gangs are typically composed of a crime boss and his lackeys (often named Lefty).
  • February 22 • Snuffleupaguses are furry, pachyderm-like mammals native to the world of Sesame Street. A Snuffleupagus has a large proboscis, similar to an elephant's trunk, called a "snuffle." The snuffle is a Snuffleupagus' most important and versatile appendage. It is used for lifting small items, feeding, hugging, quick-blow-drying, waving, performing puppets, playing musical instruments and conducting musical arrangements. However, as Snuffy learned in Episode 3806, a snuffle cannot be used to communicate in American Sign Language. This is the latest article to be awarded Quality article status on Muppet Wiki. Visit the Quality nominations page to nominate and vote for the best pages on Muppet Wiki!
  • February 21 • Do De Rubber Duck was a reggae song sung by Ernie, who was joined by several other Muppets in the bathroom for a special dance. Near the end of the song, Bert stands outside the bathroom door and listens in on the song.
  • February 19 • Bruno the Trashman is a sanitation engineer on Sesame Street who acts as personal chauffeur to Oscar the Grouch. He appeared on the series from Season 9 through Season 24. During the 1970s, the Sesame Street cast made live performances across the country, but there was no effective way to get Oscar to enter the stage. Caroll Spinney, inspired by a puppet character on The Gong Show, conceived of a full-body garbage man who could physicially carry Oscar. Since his arms are usually just holding onto the can, Caroll Spinney was able to perform Oscar as well as Oscar's right hand. The trash can was connected to an opening in Bruno's stomach.
  • February 17 • Tommie Through the Years: Tommie is one of the main characters from Sesamstraat, the Dutch co-production of Sesame Street. Tommie is a six-year-old dog-like character, who's energetic, creative and inventive. The puppet has been redesigned significantly since his debut in 1976, when he looked more like a teddy bear than a dog. The color of his fur has changed, his eyes have changed, and he's lost his arm rods. A lot can happen in thirty years!
  • February 15 • Itzhak Perlman is an Israeli virtuoso violinist and teacher, one of the most famous violinists of the late 20th century. So what's he got to do with the Muppets? Plenty. In 1980, he recorded three segments for Sesame Street -- playing a duet with Telly Monster for violin and tuba, and singing along to "Put Down the Duckie". In 1986, Perlman appeared on a number of volumes in the Shalom Sesame home video series, alongside the American characters from Sesame Street and the Israeli characters from Rechov Sumsum.
  • February 13 • Bureaucracy is a concept in sociology and political science referring to the way that the administrative execution and enforcement of legal rules are socially organized. In fiction, bureaucrats are often portrayed as impersonal or even rude, valuing the rules over any personal beliefs or attachments. The Muppet Show bureaucrats include Inspector LaBrea, a government noise inspector who threatens to shut down the show in episode 413, and Clive Cahuenga, the singing civil servant from episode 316. The Sinclair family battled a number of bureaucrats, notably the Job Wizard and the Office of Male Supremacy, and the world was ultimately destroyed by the bureaucratic Vogons. For more information on bureaucracy, see also every other aspect of your life.
  • February 11 • MuppetFest Memories is the latest article to be awarded Quality status, having been voted one of the best articles on Muppet Wiki. This article is a synopsis of the panels at MuppetFest, the 2001 Muppet fan convention, and it includes lots of quotes and pictures from the event. To nominate, discuss and vote on Muppet Wiki's best articles, visit the Quality article nominations page.
  • February 9 • The Earth Day Special was a two-hour special which aired on ABC on April 22, 1990, featuring an all-star cast addressing concerns about global warming, deforestation, and other environmental ills. One scene featured the Muppets; Kermit the Frog and Robin, surrounded by other frogs and animals in a devastated swamp, watch the broadcast, and discuss how the polluting ways of mankind harm animal life and lead to extinction. We have a transcript of the scene, with photos. It's pretty depressing.
  • February 8 • The Muppet Mobile Laboratory is an in-development theme park exhibit for Disney's California Adventure. Part of Disney's "Living Characters Initiative" project, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker will be "brought to life" through the use of advanced Audio-Animatronic remote-control-puppeteering technology. Planned to start in January 2007, Bunsen and Beaker will travel in their Muppet Mobile Laboratory vehicle through the Hollywood Pictures Backlot, part of California Adventure. The Audio-Animatronic puppet versions of the characters will encourage park visitors to take part in their experiments and antics.
  • February 7 • Jim Henson Bench: In 1991, a bench in Central Park was dedicated to Jim Henson, on Literary Walk between 66th and 72nd Streets. The inscription reads: "To the joyful life of JIM HENSON, who loved this walk in the park".
  • February 5 • Labyrinth Bubble Gum: The marvelous thing about Muppet Wiki is that it never loses the power to surprise. I had no idea that Topps made bubble gum to tie in with the 1986 release of Labyrinth. Now I know, and my life is the better for it.
  • February 4 • Don Sahlin was Jim Henson's main designer and puppet builder in the 1960s and '70s, and a key influence on the overall aesthetic of the Muppets. Sahlin first worked with Henson on the design for Rowlf the Dog, who was originally built for a series of Purina Dog Chow commercials and went on to become the Muppets' first star. Beyond building specific characters, Sahlin contributed two significant concepts to the Muppet aesthetic, "the Magic Triangle" and "the Henson stitch." This article has been voted by Muppet Wiki contributors as a Quality article, one of the best articles on the wiki. You can participate in this process, too! Visit the Quality article nominations page to nominate and vote for the best articles on Muppet Wiki.
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