The Muppets
[[Image:Newsdenverxmas.jpg|right|framed|John Denver and the A Muppet refers to the non Creature Shop puppets created by the Jim Henson Company. The term is thought to come from marionette and puppet as Jim Henson's Muppets share characteristics of both, but Henson said in an interview that he happened to like the name.
Muppets are distinguished from ventriloquist "dummies", which are typically animated only in the head and face, in that their arms or other features are also mobile and expressive. Muppets are typically made of softer materials. They are also presented as being independent of the puppeteer, who is usually not visible, hidden behind a set or outside of the camera frame.
Appearance
The most common design for a Jim Henson Muppet is a character with a very wide mouth and large protruding eyes. The puppets are typically molded out of polyfoam, and then covered with felt or artificial fur. Yarn, nylon string, or, most commonly, artificial feathers are used to create hair. Muppets may represent humans, anthropomorphic animals, realistic animals, robots or anthropomorphic objects, extra-terrestrial creatures, mythical beings, or other unidentifed or newly imagined creatures.
Operation
The puppeteer typically holds the puppet above his head or in front of his body, and operates the hands and arms with a Y-shaped control rod. One consequence of this design is that most Muppets are left handed as the puppeteer uses his right hand to control the face and the control rod is operated by the left hand. There are many other common designs and means of operation. In advanced puppets, several puppeteers may control a single character; the performer who controls the mouth usually provides the voice for the character. As technology has evolved, the Jim Henson team and other puppeteers have developed an enormous variety of means to operate puppets for film, including the use of suspended rigs, internal motors, remote radio control, and computer enhanced and superimposed images. This has allowed for scenes in which a Muppet appears to be riding a bicycle.
Films
Jim Henson films:
- The Muppet Movie (1979)
- The Great Muppet Caper (1981)
- The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984)
Brian Henson films:
- The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- Muppet Treasure Island (1996)
- Muppets From Space (1999)
Famous Muppets
Famous Muppets include Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, the Swedish Chef, and Oscar the Grouch. Some of the most widely known television shows featuring Muppets include Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and The Muppet Show. Other, less popular series have included The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight. The puppet characters of Farscape, The Storyteller, and Dinosaurs, as well as from the films Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, are not considered Muppets, although made by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. For a history of Jim Henson's Muppets, see Jim Henson.
After earlier unsuccessful attempts, in 2004. The Walt Disney Company bought the rights of the Muppets that appear on The Muppet Show. The rights of the characters that appear on Sesame Street are owned by Sesame Workshop.
The show's popularity has been so expansive that Muppet characters have been treated as celebrities in their own right, including presenting at the Academy Awards, making a cameo in Rocky III, and being interviewed on the newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Kermit the Frog was also interviewed early on in Jon Stewart's run on The Daily Show.
Muppet-like and Muppet-inspired puppets star in the 2004 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q.
Regional usage
In the UK the word muppet has come to be used as a mild term of abuse, meaning a stupid, incompetent, or possibly geeky person, or the obvious interpretation of someone who is inanimated or somehow not there.
Cultural references
The Simpsons episode 3F15: "A Fish Called Selma":
- Lisa: "Dad, what's a Muppet?"
- Homer: "Well, it's not quite a mop, it's not quite a puppet, but man...[laughs]...so to answer your question, I don't know."