Kermit's induction into the Hollywood Walk of Fame

[Phillip]

In just a few hours Kermit will be officially receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. We'll likely be seeing a lot of press releases and such later today and this week. This thread is for you to post any news stories and photos or video footage that will be released in the coming hours. Please also post about any TV appearances that you may hear about.

Feel free to post your thoughts on today's induction as well. Fans are invited to attend and several Muppet Central friends are planning on being there.

Here's the annoncement from June and a list of the others who are receiving stars in 2003...

http://www.muppetcentral.com/news/2002/062202.shtml

The Hollywood Walk of Fame Web site is here...

http://www.hollywoodchamber.net/walkoffame/frameset.html

Also National Public Radio had a tribute for Kermit this morning. You can listen to the nine minute segment at the link below...

http://discover.npr.org/features/feature.jhtml?wfId=841807

Kermit was on Craig Kilborn last night talking about the honor...

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3364

Let us know what you think of all the happenings!

 

[mdstudio]

Great experience

Hi all,

I've been visiting MC for quite awhile (and really appreciate it) but didn't have a good reason to post until now.

I live just north of LA and had the good fortune and opportunity to attend the ceremony today. I'm self-employed and am a bit bogged down with work & responsibilities so I almost didn't make the drive. I'm really glad I did.

There were lots of Muppet fans and members of the press there in front of the new Kodak theatre (new home of the Oscar ceremony and the last "American Idol" episode) on Hollywood Blvd.

Johnny Grant ('mayor' of Hollywood) did a long introduction and was joined by Kermit at the podium. Johnny seemed genuinely surprised that Kermit joined him at the beginning and they traded lots of quips back and forth which were quite funny. The crowd was loving it. I was quite amazed about how bright Kermit's green coloring was.

Charlie Rivkin (president of Henson) then spoke and quipped with Kermit as well. There were several mentions of the upcoming TV movie.

At this point, out of the corner of my eye, as I was videotaping, I saw a guy dressed in a bright green suit pass by me. He was introduced soon after as David Arquette. He spoke for a few moments and didn't seem to have anything prepared to say. Kermit thanked him for coming and afterwards said to the audience "Have you guys seen David's wife? Wow!" The audience really cracked up.

During the event, Tippi Hendrin (actress & animal rights supporter) and several members of the Henson family (I only saw Brian & Jane) were aknowledged but did not speak at the podium.

Kermit spoke at the end and talked about how happy he was to get this honor and how much he appreciated all of the fans (with his trademark humor thrown in). He ended his speech by quoting the end speech from The Muppet Movie about having a dream and making people happy.

The humans moved down to in front of the podium where the star was. Kermit disappeared and Sweetums (John Henson) talked to the crowd (and presumably stalled for a bit of time while Steve rested and drank some water).

Afterwards, they unveiled the star and Kermit joined them on a stair near the ground. There were a lot of photos taken by the press of kermit with family & friends.

When that was done, a group of ladies (who Kermit referred to as "the Henson ladies") crowded around Kermit on the stair and I saw part of a brown bad appear. Then, the ladies dispersed and moved a plant on top of where Kermit was sitting. The frog had left the building.

The crowd and media either dispersed or swooped in on the celeb in the green suit. I and a few others, waited for the man under the stage to appear.

While I waited, I noticed Jane standing nearby and I said hello and reminded her that we had met about 9 years ago when she had signed my Kermit puppet. She was very nice and sweet.

About 10 minutes later, Steve came out and signed several things (including I think the official proclamation that the day was "Kermit the Frog day in Hollywood) and had some pictures taken in front of the star witha few people including David.

Afterwards, he came over to chat with a few of us fans and to sign a few autographs. One lady I was standing next to had a Kermit tatoo and he signed her leg at her request. I had brought my Kermit puppet and he very nicely signed his back (alongside Jane's and Brian's autographs from 9 years ago). He then put it on his hand and did a bit of talking with it. Too cool (especially since I have a photo of Jane doing the same thing years before)and a really nice guy. He seemed very kind and genuine. Steve left after that to do an interview "upstairs."

Before I left, I took a few photos of the new star and underneith the stage where you could see the foam that Steve rested on while performing and the rods that helped him control Kermit's arms. Very cool.

Here's a webpage I threw together to share some of the pics.
http://www.mydesignprimer.com/kermit

Here are photos from Yahoo that the press took:
http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news?c=news_photos&p=kermit

Let me know if anyone has any questions about the event. I'll be glad to answer them!

Trevor

 

[JohnFranklin]

in honor of the ceremony, steve received a letter from kermit. the letter was written in kermit's signature funny style and said (paraphrasing):

"thanks for giving me a hand for so many years" and "I would resort to a lot of cheap puppet jokes, but i won't because you'd look down on me and that would be a shame since you've looked up to me for so long."

jf

 

[Phillip]

Kermit the Frog Gets Hollywood Star
Courtesy of Yahoo News
November 14, 2002

For once, it was easy being green for Kermit the Frog.

The Jim Henson (news)-created puppet, who has lamented his verdant color in the song "It's Not Easy Being Green," was honored Thursday with the 2,208th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Other fantasy characters with names embedded in the walk include Mickey Mouse, Big Bird, Woody Woodpecker and Bugs Bunny, according to the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce.

Puppeteer Steve Whitmire, who has worked with the Muppets since 1978, manipulated and voiced Kermit from beneath a Hollywood Boulevard stage constructed for the ceremony, which attracted scores of onlookers.

Among the celebrity guests was actor David Arquette (news), who appears in the upcoming NBC special "It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie." Jane Henson, widow of the late Jim Henson, and members of her family also attended.

The Muppets first appeared on a local Washington, D.C., television program "Sam and Friends." Kermit made his debut on the show, which won a local Emmy in 1959.

Henson, who died in 1990, brought his puppets to the big screen in 1979 with "The Muppet Movie," followed by "The Great Muppet Caper" in 1981 and 1984's "The Muppets Take Manhattan," which ended with the marriage of Kermit and longtime paramour Miss Piggy.

Kermit was also the star of the 1976-1981 "The Muppet Show." A miniature version of his character appeared in the cartoon show "Muppet Babies".

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20021114/ap_en_tv/kermit_honored_1

 

[BlueFrackle]

John,

Awww, Thats nice for Steve !


see ya

 

[Muppetto]

For my first post, I will say, "Shouldn't it be called the Hollywood Wokk of fame?"

Wokka! Wokka!

No seriously, congrats to all involved with the Muppets! It's about time!

 

[murgatoad]

Originally posted by the wokkanator
For my first post, I will say, "Shouldn't it be called the Hollywood Wokk of fame?"

Wokka! Wokka!

No seriously, congrats to all involved with the Muppets! It's about time!

Well, seriously, how big an honor is it, really? Sorry to sound so cynical, but after all, I mean those stars, in case you didn't know, are PURCHASED, not awarded per se. But I will say it's nice publicity...although neither "Entertainment Tonight" nor "Access Hollywood" seemed to think it worth their notice (at least not on tonight's broadcasts).

What's with your signature line, BTW? Or should I say, who are you REALLY?

 

[Salmoto]

Yeah, now Kermit can't complain anymore about the hollywood honorers snubbing frogs and pigs and chickens and......whatevers.

 

[mdstudio]

Not just PR

They're not really purchased per se. You have to be nominated and that's free. If the committee chooses to accept it, there's a $15,000 fee and the celeb has to appear at the ceremony. They give one posthomus star a year.

I don't remember where I read this but I believe the committee receives a lot of applications and turns down many of them. In the end it is PR but so are the Academy Awards. The nominees (or their reps/studio) spend a ton of money in promotion.

To me, it's a nice acknowledgment of the character and all the people who have helped to create him. It's also rather cool to be able to walk down Hollywood Blvd. and see the star.

I wish that Kermit's could have been closer to Jim's but being in front of the Kodak is pretty cool placement.

I know AccessHollywood was there. They were one of the cameras blocking my view--I had to hold my video camera above my head for 20 minutes -- kind of like a Muppeteer!

Those syndicated shows produced on the West Coast have very early deadlines (to accomodate the East Coast air times). As this wasn't earth-shaking news, I'm betting they'll have coverage tomorrow night.

Trevor

 

[murgatoad]

Re: Not just PR

Originally posted by mdstudio
They're not really purchased per se. You have to be nominated and that's free. If the committee chooses to accept it, there's a $15,000 fee and the celeb has to appear at the ceremony. They give one posthomus star a year.

I don't remember where I read this but I believe the committee receives a lot of applications and turns down many of them. In the end it is PR but so are the Academy Awards. The nominees (or their reps/studio) spend a ton of money in promotion.

>snip<I know AccessHollywood was there. They were one of the cameras blocking my view--I had to hold my video camera above my head for 20 minutes -- kind of like a Muppeteer!

Those syndicated shows produced on the West Coast have very early deadlines (to accomodate the East Coast air times). As this wasn't earth-shaking news, I'm betting they'll have coverage tomorrow night.

Trevor

Surely you're not suggesting that Oscars are awarded according to who spends the most money on promotions? I don't really think it's a valid comparison.

As for your observation about when/if the star ceremony shows up on AH, you could very well be right.