virmup
From Muppet Wiki
virmup is a phrase used to tag a series of original viral videos starring the Muppets and posted to several online video sharing websites.[1] The series includes videos posted by Sam the Eagle, Gonzo, Beaker, the Swedish Chef, Statler and Waldorf, Fozzie Bear, Rizzo the Rat, and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew followed.
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Releases
The series launched on June 27, 2008 with Sam the Eagle's "Stars & Stripes FOREVER!" posted to YouTube, MySpace and Vimeo. Three abstract music videos followed on July 16 posted by Gonzo, Beaker and the Swedish Chef.
Fozzie Bear added a video on October 20, 2008 of the Muppets' visting Tyson the skateboarding bulldog at Huntington Beach. Rizzo the Rat launched a profile on October 20th as well; and posted a video response to Fozzie's video featuring Rowlf the Dog on October 23rd.
On October 26, 2009 three new Halloween videos were posted on YouTube. The Swedish Chef's pumpkin carving video, and two Muppet Lab sketches posted by Dr. Bunsen Honeydew ("Carve-o-matic" and "Ghost Hunter").
Each video closes with critical comments by Statler and Waldorf, who also posted four independent heckling shorts under their own account in July 2008.
Muppet Studios head Lylle Breier stated at a 2009 D23 presentation that more viral videos were planned for 2010 - including such titles as "Dust in the Wind," "Bohemian Rhapsody," American Woman," "Popcorn," "Carol of the Bells," and "Stand By Me".[2][3][4]
In fall 2009 the first four shorts were made available for download at The iTunes Store.
Beaker's "Ode to Joy" was also posted on Muppets.com and the three Halloween videos from October 2009 were also showcased on Disney's Haunted Holidays website.
Development & production
Steve Whitmire spoke of the development of the project in a 2008 interview, stating:
| The idea for that came from the whole department at Disney. Actually it was Dave Cook who decided we should originally be involved in that. So kudos to the executive force, you know? I had a lot to do with putting it together, making it work, along with the guys from a company called Soap Box, which I think is an outside production company that was brought in to produce the pieces. Great group of guys.[5]
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The initial set of videos were directed by Kirk Thatcher.[5]
Awards & recognition
Beaker's "Ode to Joy" video was nominated for a People's Voice Webby Award in April 2009. (A previous Muppet video series, From the Balcony, won a Webby in 2007.) The public was invited to vote in the Webbys' "People's Voice." Two campaign videos were posted on several of the Muppets' accounts in to support the effort. It was announced in May that "Ode to Joy" won the People's Voice award. [6]
Videos
| Picture | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | June 27, 2008 | Stars and Stripes FOREVER!! Sam the Eagle leads a penguin, the Swedish Chef, a chicken, Bobo the Bear, Beaker, Animal and Crazy Harry. Sam attempts a reading of the U.S. Constitution as the others perform a rendition of "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Phillip Sousa. American patriotic images such as the Statue of Liberty, Mount Rushmore and hot dogs cascade behind them.
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 | July 16, 2008 | Ode To Joy Beaker performs nine parts of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" chorus from his 9th Symphony.
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 | July 16, 2008 | Classical Chicken Gonzo and some chickens perform "The Blue Danube Waltz" by Johann Strauss II.
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 | July 16, 2008 | Habanera The Swedish Chef and Beaker perform the "Habanera" aria from Georges Bizet's opera Carmen. Animal provides assistance and the Chef eats Beaker at the end.
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| July 17, 2008 | Hrmph An insulting response to a popular YouTube video by Statler and Waldorf; on other websites, the videos stand alone as random critical curmudgeonism.
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| July 17, 2008 | Mmph An insulting response to a popular YouTube video by Statler and Waldorf; on other websites, the videos stand alone as random critical curmudgeonism.
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| July 17, 2008 | Blech An insulting response to a popular YouTube video by Statler and Waldorf; on other websites, the videos stand alone as random critical curmudgeonism.
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| July 17, 2008 | Meh An insulting response to a popular YouTube video by Statler and Waldorf; on other websites, the videos stand alone as random critical curmudgeonism.
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 | October 20, 2008 | Rolling with the Skateboarding Dog Fozzie records a skateboarding dog at the beach with comments from Rowlf, Rizzo the Rat and Gonzo.
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 | October 23, 2008 | The Skateboarding Dog Gets Served Rizzo and Rowlf make a skateboarding dog video of their own.
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 | October 26, 2009 | Muppet Labs Experiment 2Q975: Carve-O-Matic Bunsen tests out his pumpkin carving machine with Beaker.
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 | October 26, 2009 | Muppet Labs Experiment 5T832: Ghost Hunt Bunsen and Beaker investigate a haunted house.
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 | October 26, 2009 | Cårven Der Pümpkîn The Swedish Chef tries to carve a pumpkin for Halloween.
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Promotional videos
| Picture | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
   | April 24, 2009 | Webby Awards: Beaker for the Win A campaign video for Beaker to win the 2009 "People's Voice" Webby Award. The video was posted under various Muppet profiles with varying names, including "Beaker for the Win" and "Beaker Never Wins." The original version contained music from Clint Mansell's score for Requiem for a Dream. This was replaced with a version using stock music on April 28. This video was removed from Youtube after the Webby voting ended. |
 | April 27, 2009 | Auto Tune - Ode To Joy - Beaker For The Win!! A campaign video for Beaker to win the 2009 "People's Voice" Webby Award featuring a remixed version of Beaker's "Ode to Joy" using an auto-tuner on the vocals and included instructions on how to vote for the Webbys. The video was posted under various Muppet profiles with varying names, including "T-Pain's in Love with a Beaker", "Kanye West Spoof - Beaker Auto-Tune!", and "Auto Tune - Remix Ode To Joy!" The video was removed from Youtube after the Webby voting ended, however a copy of the video is still available on Viemo.
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 | December 8, 2009 | Glad all Over A lip-synch video for featuring clips and outtakes from A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa was posted under the various Muppet profiles to promote the premiere of the NBC special. This video was removed from Youtube after the special aired, however a copies of the video are still available on Viemo. The video was also posted on Muppets.com and was included as a special feature on the DVD release of A Muppets Christmas.
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Video gallery
Stars & Stripes FOREVER! | Ode To Joy |
Classical Chicken | Habanera |
Hrmph | Mmph |
Blech | Meh |
Rolling with the Skateboarding Dog | The Skateboarding Dog Gets Served |
Muppet Labs Experiment 2Q975: Carve-O-Matic | Muppet Labs Experiment 5T832: Ghost Hunt |
Cårven Der Pümpkîn |
Sources
- ↑ See the image on right for an example of the "virmup" tag on YouTube.
- ↑ Muppets at D23: Movies, DVDs, and Merchandise News!
- ↑ The Muppets at D23
- ↑ D23 Update: Special Muppets Presentation
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Tough Pigs Interview
- ↑ 13th Annual Webby Awards Nominees and Winners, Webbyawards.com.
External links
YouTube channels:
- Sam Eagle (patrioticeagle)
- The Great Gonzo (weirdowhatever)
- The Swedish Chef (deumnborkborkbork)
- Statler & Waldorf (heckleu247)
- Fozzie Bear (wockawockabear)
- Rizzo the Rat (rizzratz)
- Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (themuppetlabs)
Vimeo accounts:
MySpace profiles:
- Sam Eagle (proudbaldamerican)
- The Great Gonzo (bluenosedgeek)
- The Swedish Chef (deumnborkborkbork)
- Statler & Waldorf (heckleu247)
- Fozzie Bear (wockawockabear)
- Rizzo the Rat (rizzratz)
