How Many Muppets Are There? Thousands?

[beaker]

Next year marks the 55 year anniversary of the Muppets, and it got me thinking...
Out of boredom I went to http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Wiki and was randomly looking at all the characters listed simply for the Muppet Show/Muppet brand, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Bear in the Big Blue House(which itself boasts an insane amount of characters) and was thinking...

How many "Muppet" characters ARE there? If we were to include every single puppet character and background character from say...

The Muppet Show
All Muppet specials/tv appearances/talk show gigs
Online shows(From the Balcony, etc)
Sam and Friends
Sesame Street
ALL International Sesame Streets
Fraggle Rock
Fraggle Rock Animated
Bear in the Big Blue House
Jim Henson Hour
Dinosaurs
Sid the Science Kid
Mopatop
Hoobs
Puppet Up
Emmet Otter
Muppet Musicians of Bremman
Bunny Picnic
Dog City
Scary Scary Monsters
60's and 70's Muppet specials
Big Bag
Animal Jam
Skrumps
Animal Show w/ Stinky and Jake
Late Night Buffet/Dels Comedy Buffet
Tinseltown
Unstable Fairy Tale dvd series
Land of Gorch
City Kids

I mean, you add it all up....thats a LOT of Muppet/Henson/Sesame brand related characters!

Does Disney even have that many characters?
I'm guessing we're talking in the thousands if you tally every
single puppet and digital puppet character from the above mentioned shows and brands.

 

[animalrescuer]

I would say that there are hundreds, maybe up to a thousand or two thousand Muppets all together, Disney can't even measure up to that many characters at one time. Although you'd be crazy to count all the Muppets ever created on the Muppet Wiki. If they all came together to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Muppets, it be extremely crowded!

 

[muppetmonster]

Do not forget these:

The creatures from "Labyrinth" and "the Dark Crystal" (is "the Mirror Mask" also one?)

"Eureka's Castle"

"The Puzzle Place"

"Between the Lions"

There was also a show, which premiered on T.V. around 1993 and was shown on Nick Jr. I think it was called "Goober", but I am not sure. If I remember correctly, Goober was a muppet kid who was working at a store for someone. He had a yellow head, orange hair, and wore green clothes.

I do not know if Audrey 2 from "Little Shop of Horrors" or Yoda from "Star Wars" count, but if they do, do not forget them.

Were there muppets on the old T.V. show, "Kidsongs"?

The characters from the toddler shows, "the Hugga Bunch" and "H.R. Pufnstuf", might not count, but if they are muppets, then they do.

By the way, do you mean muppets Jim Henson created or had a part of, or muppets from television shows, movies, and etc all around the world?

Muppetmonster

 

[beaker]

I would say that there are hundreds, maybe up to a thousand or two thousand Muppets all together, Disney can't even measure up to that many characters at one time. Although you'd be crazy to count all the Muppets ever created on the Muppet Wiki. If they all came together to celebrate the 55th anniversary of the Muppets, it be extremely crowded!

I believe under "Muppet characters" alone(strictly relating to The Muppet Show itself, specials, and movies) there's a couple thousand alone listed on the wiki.

By the way, do you mean muppets Jim Henson created or had a part of, or muppets from television shows, movies, and etc all around the world?

Muppetmonster

I strictly only mean puppet characters that have appeared on Jim Henson Company related shows/specials/appearances 1955-2009(even post Disney buyout of the "Muppets" brand)

I personally would not count shows that Muppet performers have worked on at all(Yoda, Eureka's Castle, Avenue Q) I would include
say, anything under the Henson Alternative brand however, even though it's post Disney buyout; due to the frequent use of
Muppet/Mopatop/City Kids/etc puppets. I would also include Sid the Science Kid, as it retains a distinct Muppet look and it has the Jim Henson company signature.

I would include all tv commercial created characters by the Jim Henson company, from of course Wiltkins and Wonkins, La Choy Dragon and Baskerville hound to Flat Eric and Dominoe's Bad Andy.
And I would Ive begun to now include Dinosaurs as part of Muppetdom instead of strictly "Fantasy Worlds", due to the frequent cameos of Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock characters.

The UK Muppet show "Mopatop" is a great example, along with HA! brand "Puppet Up" of what can happen when puppets from all Henson/Muppet brands are re-used to great effect.

 

[RedPiggy]

Dinosaurs as part of Muppetdom instead of strictly "Fantasy Worlds", due to the frequent cameos of Muppet Show and Fraggle Rock characters

Other than Gunge, who else was there? O_O

 

[animalrescuer]

I wouldn't count shows like "Between the Lions", "The Puzzle Place" and "Wimzie's House" as Muppet projects, besides they weren't really created by the Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop. Even though they are puppetry shows.

 

[The Count]

Corey... Have you not been keeping up with my Muppet Listings threads? They answer the very question you posed here, or at least attempt to. This makes me have to shelve my current counting character creations in order to finish the latest version, the 19th one, which I was planning to post this summer precisely for the anniversary.

The Muppet Universe is already 55 years old. You may not realize this, but the very very first Muppet characters were Longhorn, Shorthorn, and Pierre the French Rat who appeared on The Junior Morning Show back in 1954.
Also, Between the Lions was created by Christopher Cerf, long-time music writer for SST. Many of the puppeteers from Sesame have worked on BTL, and Sesame characters have even appeared in cameo form on the show.

My Muppet Listings 19 will contain the following:
TJMS = The Junior Morning Show.
CityKids.
Tinkerdee = Tales of the Tinkerdee and The Land of Tinkerdee.
LMM = Little Muppet Monsters.
The Land of Gorch.
The Hoobs.
Panwapa.
Telling Stories with Tomie DePaola.
Puppetman.
Dog City the TV Series.
S&F = Sam & Friends.
TGSCS = The Great Santa Claus Switch.
GOFH = The Ghost of Faffner Hall.
Tales from Muppetland = Hey Cinderella! The Frog Prince, and The Muppet Musicians of Bremen.
Muppet Commercial Characters.
MGS = Mother Goose Stories.
Muppet Videos =
a. Play Along Series = Wow, You're A Cartoonist! Hey, You're as Funny as Fozzie Bear! Sing-Along Dance-Along Do-Along, and Neat Stuff to Know and to Do.
b. Sing-Along Series = Billy Bunny's Animal Songs, It's Not Easy Being Green, MTI Sing-Along, Muppets on Wheels, and Things That Go.
c. MCT = Muppet Classic Theater.
BITBBH = Bear in the Big Blue House.
Henson Alternative = Puppet Up! Late Night Buffet, and Tinseltown.
JHCC = Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Christmas Toy and The Secret Life of Toys, Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree, and the 2008 Emmet Otter Stage Show.
Muppet Characters from various miscellaneous TV appearances over the years.
JHAS = Jim Henson's Animal Show.
FR = Fraggle Rock.
MT = Muppets Tonight.
JHH = The Jim Henson Hour.
Mopatop's Shop.
TMS = The Muppet Show.
SST = Sesame Street.

I've yet to add SST, but so far all other productions add up to 3,258 entries.

Plans for version 20 will see addition of the following:
Animal Jam.
Big Bag.
The Dark Crystal.
Dinosaurs.
Labyrinth.
The StoryTeller the TV Series.
The StoryTeller the Greek Myths.

Productions which I'm not sure should be added are:
Between the Lions.
Farscape.
Pajanimals.
Sam Plenty, either on its own or added to Henson Alternative.
Sid the Science Kid.
Unstable Fables.
The reason for the uncertainty is due to my questions regarding these stemming from my visual acuity. When I'm ready to move on to the 20th listings, I'll be sure to come back and ask, as ideally I'd like to have 40 productions as the highlight of Muppet Listings 20 would be the new entries from SST's 40th season.

Hope this helps and have a good night.

 

[beaker]

I wouldn't count shows like "Between the Lions", "The Puzzle Place" and "Wimzie's House" as Muppet projects, besides they weren't really created by the Jim Henson Company or Sesame Workshop. Even though they are puppetry shows.

Well...given the extremely similar look of Between the Lions to Sesame Street, those wonderful PBS commercials featuring both
Between the Lions and Sesame characters, and the frequent Sesame character guest spots on Between the Lions...I can certainly see *why* people would think they are part of Sesame Workshop.

Check out this Muppet wiki entry on Between the Lions:
http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Between_The_Lions

Between the Lions is a children's puppet series that airs on PBS, designed to promote reading skills. The basic philosophy of the program is to get kids "wild about reading"; this is literalized through the use of a family of lions running a library: Theo and Cleo and their children Lionel and Leona. Although it is not affiliated with The Jim Henson Company or Sesame Street, it does share many similar characteristics, along with some similarities to The Electric Company. It also features many cast and crew commonly involved with Muppet productions.
edit Appearances

* Several Sesame Street Muppets made special guest appearances during the second season

* In "Tweet! Tweet!" which aired on May 1, 2001, Theo and Cleo scoff at the possibility that birds and dinosaurs could be related. They change their minds when Big Bird enters the library, and introduces himself. As he leaves, the camera pans to Ernie, looking up from a book on Humongous Duckies, and Bert, reading about Humongous Pigeons. Both utter their trademark laughs.

* Bert and Elmo also appeared, as celebrity guests, in "Dance with Smartypants" inserts from that season. Credited guest performers for the collective appearances were Caroll Spinney, Steve Whitmire, Eric Jacobson, Kevin Clash, and John Tartaglia.

* Principal characters from Between the Lions joined Sesame Street and The Muppet Show characters in the "We Are Family" music video.

* Several 2006 and 2007 PBS interstitials for the Ready To Learn Service feature Between the Lions characters interacting with Sesame Street characters:

* "Star Finder" spoofs American Idol with Ernie demonstrating his rhyming skills. The judges are Theo, Emily Elizabeth from Clifford the Big Red Dog, and Oscar the Grouch.
* Another stars Leona and Theo. The segment takes place outside the normal realm of the show, and instead is set in a family living room, spoofing the sitcom genre, complete with laugh track. A brief set of credits appear under a voice over making reference to other PBS shows including Sesame Street. The credits include: Camera Operator - Grover; Art Direction - Prairie Dawn; Leona's Body Double - Elmo Monster; Second, Third and Seventh Unit Director - The Count; and, Gaffer - Big Bird.
* In a Mission: Impossible spoof, Cookie Monster recives instructions from Arty Smartypants, a Between the Lions character.
* Grover was paired with Cleo in spoofs of Casablanca and Superman.
* In a West Side Story spoof, Theo and Ernie sing a variation of "The Jet Song." Oscar makes a cameo.

The co creator of the series is Michael Frith

Michael Kingsbury Frith is the former Executive Vice President and Creative Director for Jim Henson Productions. His contributions to Muppet projects have been extensive and varied.

One of the top Muppeteers, Peter Linz, performs some of the main characters

Also one of the main people on Between the Lions is Kathy Mullens who "co-created, wrote, played Leona, and served as puppet captain for the first two seasons". Mullens of course is another top Muppeteer alumni

Marty Robinson plays another of the main characters, as well as other main Muppeteer Matt Vogel.

Between the Lions is pretty much top to bottom a Henson/Sesame Workshop concept and production, without being so officially and despite it being wholly concieved outside that realm.

Again, I can see the argument for why some might consider it extremely close to being a Henson/Muppet related endeavor

 

[beaker]

Corey... Have you not been keeping up with my Muppet Listings threads? They answer the very question you posed here, or at least attempt to. This makes me have to shelve my current counting character creations in order to finish the latest version, the 19th one, which I was planning to post this summer precisely for the anniversary.

Sir that is amazing! I apologize, I have not seen your thread.
You are by far one of the most amazing historians and minds on here!

And I totally forgot about Pajanimals, Panwapa, and all the 80's to early 90's straight to video specials.
I would say Pajanimals is absolutely Muppets, as would be Sid the Science Kid. Im now reluctant to say Wubbulous World is or Skrumps would be however...due to Skrumps being the work of Jon Chandler's world, and of course Wubbulous being Dr. Seuss.
Farscape, Dark Crystal, Storyteller, MirrorMask and Labyrinth I would unfortunately have to say are not Muppet but "creature shop". My reason for now including Dinosaurs into Muppet worlds instead of merely creature shop, is recognizing the Muppet like interplay, occasional Muppet cameos by background characters,
the fact it's mostly Muppeteers. No other creature shop production is comedic really, and I like how the dvd box set says "And a Jim Henson Company Production" when all previous releases did not feature that.

 

[LamangoNumber2]

Why not just every puppet? Greg the Bunny, Avenue Q, Puppet Up, MST3K,