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KermiClown
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On Friday, March 6th, I attended the kick-off of the Muppets, Music & Magic film screening series at the Orange County Regional History Center. Hosted by Heather Henson (Jim Henson's youngest daughter) and Craig Shemin (former Jim Henson Company staff writer and vice-president of The Jim Henson Legacy), Muppets 101 was an overview of the history of the Muppets from their very beginnings up through The
Muppet Show years.
The presentation featured lots of film clips, many of which even I had never seen. The history lesson began with a couple of Sam and Friends segments and some Wilkins Coffee Commercials. These were followed by some of the Muppets' first national exposure on a number of television variety shows, including The Tonight Show with Steve Allen.
The history lesson continued with Sesame Street. Since so many of the clips from Sesame Street are so readily available for viewing (and many are still even used on current episodes), Heather and Craig showed us the Sesame Street pitch reel with Rowlf and Kermit and a board room of Muppet "executives" trying to come up with a name for this new educational program.
Finally, it was Muppet Show time. Again, rather than showing Muppet Show clips that are fairly easily found, we were shown the Muppet Show pitch reel, but with the ending segment that was edited out of the version on the Season One DVD box set of Kermit stepping in front of the CBS logo following the frantic sales pitch by Leo to say "What the **** was that all about?" Very funny, and very disappointing that scene is not on the DVD release.
The pitch reel was then followed by a series of 15 and 30 second Muppet Show promos that were produced each week to promote the upcoming Muppet Show episode ("This week on The Muppet Show..."). These segments followed a standard format, but were mostly improvised, usually with Kermit doing the promo while Fozzie clowned around in the background or goofed off with some random prop or teased Kermit. A few of these can be seen on The Muppet Show Season One Bonus Feature disc, but it was a treat to see probably 20 of these promos back to back. Easily the funniest stuff I've ever seen the Muppets do. I had tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard! Hopefully, more of these promos will find their way onto future DVD releases.
These were followed by some of the Muppet Show UK spots. Craig explained that they had very little time and money for these short spots, and they were usually filmed in one take. In one of the segments we were shown, Craig pointed out that one of the background characters had lost one of the pupils in his eyes, but there wasn't time to do a second take of the song, so the song appears as is, pupil-less Muppet and all.
Following the film presentations, Heather and Craig were joined by former creative director Michael Frith and former Muppeteer Kathryn Mullen for a questions and answers segment.
The following night, I attended a special Muppet event for Walt Disney World passholders at Disney's Hollywood Studios. After checking in in front of the Backlot Tours attraction, we were escorted backstage to the screening room in the Feature Animation building.
About 10 minutes before the presentation began, we were treated to a viewing of the pre-show video from the old Here Come the Muppets live show featuring Rowlf playing the piano and singing, with interruptions from Sam the Eagle.
Craig Shemin once again hosted this event, which began as another brief overview of Muppet history. However, it was a treat to get to see a different set of film clips rather than a repeat of the screening from the previous night.
The history lesson again began with the Sam and Friends era, but this time we were shown clips of Sam and Friends sketches that were performed on The Today Show with Dave Garroway in 1961: "Yes, We Have No Bananas" and "Old Black Magic." These were followed by some Wilkins Coffee Commercials.
As an example of the Muppets' appearances on variety shows, we were shown the "Glow Worm" sketch, but a unique edit that combined different "Glow Worm" performances from sources like The Jack Paar Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace and, finally, The Muppet Show into one presentation, allowing us to see how the sketch evolved over the years.
Craig was then joined by a very special guest, Dave Goelz. Dave shared some of his memories of working with Jim Henson and the fun of filming The Muppet Show. They showed some of the behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the "In The Navy" viking musical number from the Of Muppets and Men documentary. As an example of how much fun they used to have playing around, Dave pointed out a scene where you can see a
pig operated by Steve Whitmire with a piece of styrofoam stuck in his nostril that Dave placed there when Steve wasn't paying attention.
We were then treated to a different set of the Muppet Show promos - still the funniest stuff I think I have ever seen the Muppets do!
Since the event was a Disney event, it was only natural that they talk about some of the Muppet projects for Disney, starting with MuppetVision 3D. Since the actual film itself was available for viewing just inside the theme park, we got to see some behind-the-scenes footage of the making of MuppetVision 3D. Dave Goelz explained that the cameras necessary for filming the 3D effects were so loud that all of the dialogue had to be re-recorded later. He also talked about the scene where Bean Bunny is blowing bubbles. Dave operated Bean's hand that held the bubble wand. It took so many takes to correctly line up the hand with the bubble wand in front of the air hose through Bean's mouth correctly that Dave was covered in bubble soap by the end of the day.
The final set of film clips we were shown were outtakes and bloopers from The Muppets at Walt Disney World TV special.
Craig and Dave were then joined by another special guest: The Great Gonzo! Dave and Gonzo fielded questions from the audience, and then they stepped out into the lobby for photo ops.
As the guests were taken one row at a time into the lobby to take pictures with Gonzo, the rest of us engaged in a Muppet trivia contest led by Disney Chief Magic Officer Justin Muchoney. I really became aware of what a Muppet geek I was as I answered several questions that nobody else knew the answers to(and even I'm not sure why I knew the answer to some of them, but there the answers were filed away in my Muppet-obsessed head). The questions I answered were:
"Who were the only father and daughter to appear on different Muppet Show episodes?"
"What performer from 'The Lady and the Tramp" was the inspiration for Miss Piggy's original name?"
"How many points on Kermit's collar?"
The answers:
Candice Bergen and Edgar Bergen
Peggy Lee
Eleven
There were prizes galore, and I went home with a 50th Anniversary Kermit pin and a Kermit tie.
All in all, it was a delightfully Muppety weekend with some wonderful rare Muppet footage and some unforgettable Muppet guests.
Muppet Show years.
The presentation featured lots of film clips, many of which even I had never seen. The history lesson began with a couple of Sam and Friends segments and some Wilkins Coffee Commercials. These were followed by some of the Muppets' first national exposure on a number of television variety shows, including The Tonight Show with Steve Allen.
The history lesson continued with Sesame Street. Since so many of the clips from Sesame Street are so readily available for viewing (and many are still even used on current episodes), Heather and Craig showed us the Sesame Street pitch reel with Rowlf and Kermit and a board room of Muppet "executives" trying to come up with a name for this new educational program.
Finally, it was Muppet Show time. Again, rather than showing Muppet Show clips that are fairly easily found, we were shown the Muppet Show pitch reel, but with the ending segment that was edited out of the version on the Season One DVD box set of Kermit stepping in front of the CBS logo following the frantic sales pitch by Leo to say "What the **** was that all about?" Very funny, and very disappointing that scene is not on the DVD release.
The pitch reel was then followed by a series of 15 and 30 second Muppet Show promos that were produced each week to promote the upcoming Muppet Show episode ("This week on The Muppet Show..."). These segments followed a standard format, but were mostly improvised, usually with Kermit doing the promo while Fozzie clowned around in the background or goofed off with some random prop or teased Kermit. A few of these can be seen on The Muppet Show Season One Bonus Feature disc, but it was a treat to see probably 20 of these promos back to back. Easily the funniest stuff I've ever seen the Muppets do. I had tears rolling down my face from laughing so hard! Hopefully, more of these promos will find their way onto future DVD releases.
These were followed by some of the Muppet Show UK spots. Craig explained that they had very little time and money for these short spots, and they were usually filmed in one take. In one of the segments we were shown, Craig pointed out that one of the background characters had lost one of the pupils in his eyes, but there wasn't time to do a second take of the song, so the song appears as is, pupil-less Muppet and all.
Following the film presentations, Heather and Craig were joined by former creative director Michael Frith and former Muppeteer Kathryn Mullen for a questions and answers segment.
The following night, I attended a special Muppet event for Walt Disney World passholders at Disney's Hollywood Studios. After checking in in front of the Backlot Tours attraction, we were escorted backstage to the screening room in the Feature Animation building.
About 10 minutes before the presentation began, we were treated to a viewing of the pre-show video from the old Here Come the Muppets live show featuring Rowlf playing the piano and singing, with interruptions from Sam the Eagle.
Craig Shemin once again hosted this event, which began as another brief overview of Muppet history. However, it was a treat to get to see a different set of film clips rather than a repeat of the screening from the previous night.
The history lesson again began with the Sam and Friends era, but this time we were shown clips of Sam and Friends sketches that were performed on The Today Show with Dave Garroway in 1961: "Yes, We Have No Bananas" and "Old Black Magic." These were followed by some Wilkins Coffee Commercials.
As an example of the Muppets' appearances on variety shows, we were shown the "Glow Worm" sketch, but a unique edit that combined different "Glow Worm" performances from sources like The Jack Paar Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Hollywood Palace and, finally, The Muppet Show into one presentation, allowing us to see how the sketch evolved over the years.
Craig was then joined by a very special guest, Dave Goelz. Dave shared some of his memories of working with Jim Henson and the fun of filming The Muppet Show. They showed some of the behind-the-scenes footage of the making of the "In The Navy" viking musical number from the Of Muppets and Men documentary. As an example of how much fun they used to have playing around, Dave pointed out a scene where you can see a
pig operated by Steve Whitmire with a piece of styrofoam stuck in his nostril that Dave placed there when Steve wasn't paying attention.
We were then treated to a different set of the Muppet Show promos - still the funniest stuff I think I have ever seen the Muppets do!
Since the event was a Disney event, it was only natural that they talk about some of the Muppet projects for Disney, starting with MuppetVision 3D. Since the actual film itself was available for viewing just inside the theme park, we got to see some behind-the-scenes footage of the making of MuppetVision 3D. Dave Goelz explained that the cameras necessary for filming the 3D effects were so loud that all of the dialogue had to be re-recorded later. He also talked about the scene where Bean Bunny is blowing bubbles. Dave operated Bean's hand that held the bubble wand. It took so many takes to correctly line up the hand with the bubble wand in front of the air hose through Bean's mouth correctly that Dave was covered in bubble soap by the end of the day.
The final set of film clips we were shown were outtakes and bloopers from The Muppets at Walt Disney World TV special.
Craig and Dave were then joined by another special guest: The Great Gonzo! Dave and Gonzo fielded questions from the audience, and then they stepped out into the lobby for photo ops.
As the guests were taken one row at a time into the lobby to take pictures with Gonzo, the rest of us engaged in a Muppet trivia contest led by Disney Chief Magic Officer Justin Muchoney. I really became aware of what a Muppet geek I was as I answered several questions that nobody else knew the answers to(and even I'm not sure why I knew the answer to some of them, but there the answers were filed away in my Muppet-obsessed head). The questions I answered were:
"Who were the only father and daughter to appear on different Muppet Show episodes?"
"What performer from 'The Lady and the Tramp" was the inspiration for Miss Piggy's original name?"
"How many points on Kermit's collar?"
The answers:
Candice Bergen and Edgar Bergen
Peggy Lee
Eleven
There were prizes galore, and I went home with a 50th Anniversary Kermit pin and a Kermit tie.
All in all, it was a delightfully Muppety weekend with some wonderful rare Muppet footage and some unforgettable Muppet guests.
)
). For example, my bedroom is filled with dozens of Henson memoribilia. People sometimes think I'm obssessed, and they're probably right, but I'm not ashamed of it at all. Anyway, I hope the event comes closer to where I live next time. Glad you had fun though.