Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy.
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28 Facts About Muppets
2.
Muppets originated in the short-form television series Sam and Friends, which aired from 1955 to 1961.
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3.
Muppets were created by puppeteer Jim Henson in the 1950s; Henson claimed, but later recanted, that he coined the term Muppet as a blend of the words marionette and puppet.
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4.
Originally conceived for an adult audience, the Muppets were introduced in 1955 in Sam and Friends, a short-form television series produced for WRC-TV in Washington, DC Developed by Henson and his future wife, Jane Nebel, the series was the first form of puppet media not to incorporate a physical proscenium arch typical of such works, relying instead on the natural framing of the television set through which it was viewed.
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5.
Exceptions included the Sesame Street characters; the Fraggle Rock characters, which were retained by Henson; the distribution rights to four films: The Muppets Take Manhattan, Muppets from Space, and Kermit's Swamp Years, which were retained by Sony Pictures Entertainment; and It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, retained by NBCUniversal Television Distribution.
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6.
The Muppets made appearances on Disney Channel and starred in the ABC television film, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
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7.
In 2010, the Muppets starred in The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora, which co-starred Cat Cora and showcased cooking demonstrations.
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8.
That same year, Disney used the Muppets to promote their volunteerism program at the company's theme parks.
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9.
In 2011, the Muppets were featured in an eponymous seventh film, intended to serve as a "creative reboot" for the characters.
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10.
In March 2012, the Muppets received a collective star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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11.
Muppets Most Wanted was released in 2014, and starred Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey, and Ty Burrell.
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12.
Disney Theatrical Productions announced in 2013 that a live show based on the Muppets was in active development and that a 15-minute show had been conducted by Thomas Schumacher to see how the technical components would work.
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13.
The Muppets was canceled after one season, which concluded on March 1,2016.
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14.
In September 2017, the Muppets performed a live concert series at the Hollywood Bowl, hosted by Bobby Moynihan.
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15.
Muppets Haunted Mansion, a Halloween special based on the attraction of the same name, was released on October 8,2021.
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16.
Peter Linz joined the main cast in 2011, debuting the role of Walter in The Muppets, before inheriting four characters then-currently performed by Whitmire, and Robin the Frog from Vogel, in 2017.
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17.
The Muppets are currently performed by a core cast of six principal puppeteers: Vogel, Jacobson, Goelz, Barretta, Rudman, and Linz, with the occasional ensemble of "additional" Muppet performers that includes Julianne Buescher, Tyler Bunch, Alice Dinnean, Bruce Lanoil, Mike Quinn and others.
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18.
The majority of the Muppets are designed as hand puppets, with several characters utilizing rods.
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19.
Muppets are distinguished from ventriloquist dummies, which are usually animated only in the head and face, in that their arms or other features are animated.
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20.
One consequence of this design is that most of the Muppets are left-handed, with the performer using their right hand to operate the head while operating the arm with their left hand.
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21.
Creative use of different technologies has allowed for scenes in which the Muppets appear to exhibit complex movements wholly independently of the performer.
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22.
When interacting with them, children believed that Muppets were living beings, even when the performers were present.
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23.
Legal music publishing rights to The Muppets songs are controlled by Fuzzy Muppet Songs and Mad Muppet Melodies, imprints of Disney Music Publishing.
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24.
Similar to other Disney characters, the Muppets appear at the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, having first appeared at Walt Disney World in 1990.
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25.
In 2010, the Muppets were the face of the "Give a Day, Get a Disney Day" charity campaign.
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26.
The Muppets appeared in television and print ads for the campaign and were featured prominently on the campaign's Web site.
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27.
Only Muppets film adapted as a comic book was The Muppets Take Manhattan.
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28.
The Muppets have a collective star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with Kermit having been previously individually inducted in 2002.
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