The Muppets

The Muppets are a group of puppets and costume characters, and the company created by Jim Henson. Individually, a Muppet is properly any one of the puppets built by the Jim Henson Workshop. Though the term is often used erroneously to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show and Sesame Street characters, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark linked to the characters created by The Jim Henson Company. The Muppets are now owned by The Walt Disney Company.

Famous Muppets

Famous Muppets include Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Elmo, and Oscar the Grouch. The most widely known television shows featuring Muppets are Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and The Muppet Show. Muppets also appeared on some early episodes of Saturday Night Live. Other, less popular series have included The Jim Henson Hour and Muppets Tonight. The puppet characters of Farscape, The Storyteller, The Hoobs, and Dinosaurs, as well as from the films Labyrinth, The Empire Strikes Back, and The Dark Crystal, are not considered Muppets, although they were also made by the Jim Henson Creature Shop. For a history of Jim Henson's Muppets, see Jim Henson.

Related Topics:
Kermit the Frog - Miss Piggy - Fozzie Bear - Gonzo - Big Bird - Bert and Ernie - Elmo - Oscar the Grouch - Sesame Street - Fraggle Rock - The Muppet Show - Saturday Night Live - The Jim Henson Hour - Muppets Tonight - Farscape - The Storyteller - The Hoobs - Dinosaurs - Labyrinth - The Empire Strikes Back - The Dark Crystal - Jim Henson Creature Shop - Jim Henson

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After earlier unsuccessful attempts, in 2004, The Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets. Exceptions include characters appearing on Sesame Street (as they were previously sold to Sesame Workshop), the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock, along with the above-mentioned non-"Muppet"-brand characters.

Related Topics:
The Walt Disney Company - Sesame Workshop - Fraggle Rock

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The show's popularity has been so expansive that Muppet characters have been treated as celebrities in their own right, including presenting at the Academy Awards, making cameos in Rocky III and An American Werewolf in London, and being interviewed on the newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Kermit the Frog was also interviewed early on in Jon Stewart's run on The Daily Show.

Related Topics:
Academy Awards - Cameos - Rocky III - An American Werewolf in London - Newsmagazine - 60 Minutes - Kermit the Frog - Jon Stewart - The Daily Show

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Muppet-like and Muppet-inspired puppets star in the 2004 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q (which disavows any relationship with Sesame Workshop or the Jim Henson Company).

Related Topics:
Tony Award - Broadway - Avenue Q

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