Muppet questions you were afraid to ask...

[Daffyfan4ever]

Originally Dave Goelz wasn't comfortable with Zoot. He couldn't quite figure out the voice and personality, so whenever Zoot had lines, Dave would try to hand them off to another character. Well after awhile, Zoot just had a reputation for being the saxaphone player who didn't really talk much at all. People started coming up to Dave saying "I know a saxaphone player who's just like Zoot," so Zoot just sort of stayed relatively silent. However, off the top of my head, I can think of at least two full sentences he has said:

1.) "Oh, he's just upset about missing the Rembrandt exhibit at the National Gallery"- The Great Muppet Caper, talking to Kermit, refering to Animal.
2.) "Hey man, I can't figure out what side we're on. Are we with the pirates, or the frog captain?"- Muppet Treasure Island, talking to Floyd, refering to... um... well, he sort of sums it up himself...

And of course there was his famous line about the orangatang and the geranium using the same toothbrush.

 

[superfan]

And Zoot had a full out conversation with Nigel on the Muppet Show album arguing about playing a piece of music.

"Forgive me Charlie Parker wherever you are."

 

[ryhoyarbie]

In the show "sex and Violence" there is a skit where a muppet is reviewing a movie and there is a pig that is performed by Jerry nelson that sounds like Strangepork but has a beard. Would that be Strangepork or is that just a random pig Jerry performed.

ryan

 

[Ryan]

Okay, I've got one...

How does Lew Zealand get his fish to boomerang? I've bought fish and thrown them hoping they would come back but all I got was a big mess. So I guess what I'm asking is...Is it the fish or the wrist technique?

You're kidding.....right?

 

[AndyWan Kenobi]

How does Lew Zealand get his fish to boomerang? I've bought fish and thrown them hoping they would come back but all I got was a big mess. So I guess what I'm asking is...Is it the fish or the wrist technique?

You have to buy "Boomerang Fish"--they're hard to come by. Sometimes the fish department of the store has them, but then they're out, but then they come back again. Gotta be patient...

 

[Blue Weirdo]

Another thing to remember about Kermit's collar is that he didn't originally have it. Kermit first wore a collar in the Frog Prince special. And if I'm not mistaken Kermit actually wore a double collar for Frog Prince. This is also the first time he had flippers. In fact this was the first time Kermit was officially identified as a frog, before that he was just a sort of lizard-like whatnot creature. A good place to notice this is on the Muppet Magic dvd with the old Ed Sullivan skits. (Though you may notice though Kermit has no collar he's usually wearing clothes) Originally his feet just ended in knobs with no flippers or even toes. (We could possibly argue that Kermit was young and not fully developed out of tadpole form when he did these shows)

 

[minor muppetz]

Another thing to remember about Kermit's collar is that he didn't originally have it. Kermit first wore a collar in the Frog Prince special. And if I'm not mistaken Kermit actually wore a double collar for Frog Prince. This is also the first time he had flippers. In fact this was the first time Kermit was officially identified as a frog, before that he was just a sort of lizard-like whatnot creature. A good place to notice this is on the Muppet Magic dvd with the old Ed Sullivan skits. (Though you may notice though Kermit has no collar he's usually wearing clothes) Originally his feet just ended in knobs with no flippers or even toes. (We could possibly argue that Kermit was young and not fully developed out of tadpole form when he did these shows)

Actually, the first time that he was called a frog was in a special called The Muppets On Puppets, and as far as I know the first time he had a collar was in Hey, Cinderella. Of course, these were both made before Sesame Street but not broadcast untill shortly after the premier of Sesame Street, where Kermit had a collar and was identified as a frog.

Also, when Kermit first got his collar, he wore one collar. Starting in The Frog Prince (or possibly earlier) he wore a double collar, which stayed untill The Muppet Show, when he went back to wearing one collar.

 

[minor muppetz]

In the show "sex and Violence" there is a skit where a muppet is reviewing a movie and there is a pig that is performed by Jerry nelson that sounds like Strangepork but has a beard. Would that be Strangepork or is that just a random pig Jerry performed.

ryan

That pig was called Dr. Nauga. When The Muppet Show debuted, Dr. Naugas hair, facial hair and glasses were removed and he had brown hair and was a random pig. The, in the second season, the hair was replaced with white hair, he was given glasses, and was called Dr. Strangepork.

 

[muppetmonster]

I have a question that I always wanted to find out the answer to:

Ernie has a muppet counterpart in "The Muppet Show": Lew Zealand, of whom looks nearly identical to him, talks like him, acts like him, and even shares a similar interest with him, such as playing with and showing off a toy of his own. But, Bert does not have a muppet counterpart in "The Muppet Show"; no muppet who looks nearly identical to him, talks like him, acts like him, or even share any similar interests with him. Why is this? If Ernie has a counterpart, then Bert also needs one.

Muppetmonster

I have another question, but it is not as relevant as my other one: why is there a "Sesame Street 3-D" attraction only in Universal Studios, Japan and not in other Universal Studios theme parks? Come on!

 

[Vic Romano]

I don't think Lew is meant to be Ernie's counter part; but rather just a coincidence.

I have more questions though myself:
• Can anyone explain more of this Muppet Babies music video with Jim in it?

• Why isn't there any info on "Dinosaurs" at Henson.com?

• I saw a clip where Rowlf is selling the idea of Sesame Street to Kermit. Is this the only time a TMS muppet (besides the picture of Ms. Piggy) appeared on SS, even though this was a pitch for SS and not actually SS?

• Does anyone know how Jim and Francis Ford Copola met? Or did they ever work on anything together?