Celebrate Jim Henson's Birthday at the Museum of the Moving Image!

On Sept 22, Museum of the Moving Image in Queens is hosting a day full of events to celebrate what would have been Jim Henson's 88th birthday. 

The day begins with Heather Henson and ToughPigs' Joe Hennes who'll host a musical walking tour through Jim and Jane Henson’s New York City.

Following the tour is a special screening titled "Jim Henson’s Imagination Illustrated: Exploring the Archives of a Creative Mind." 

Join Karen Falk, Archives Director of The Jim Henson Company and Vice President of The Jim Henson Legacy, as she discusses her book, Jim Henson’s Imagination Illustrated. 

This presentation explores Henson’s story through the lens of his “Red Book” journal and personal and production material drawn from his archives, as well as rare video clips illustrating his creative thinking and the arc of his visionary career.

Following the presentation, Jim Henson Legacy President Craig Shemin will lead Henson trivia with giveaways.

There will also be a banjo performance by musician and Kermit collaborator Lucas Ross. 

If that wasn't enough, following the screening there will be a "Swamp Meet" full of Henson fans with "muppet stuff" for sale and trade. We are incredibly grateful to help put this part of the day together and we're working to get some incredible vendors/ fellow fans lined up.

You can purchase your tickets for the Jim Henson VIP Walking Tour with Heather Henson and
Jim Henson’s Imagination Illustrated: Exploring the Archives of a Creative Mind, using the links above and from MOMI. 

The "Swamp Meet" is free and your opportunity to take home a piece of Jim Henson history!

If you're interested in becoming a vendor, please e-mail list@jimhensonlegacy.org for more information. Vendor tables are free, but must be reserved in advance - there are a limited number available on a first-come first served basis.

We hope you can make it to New York Sept 22 to celebrate Jim Henson's Birthday!

Muppet Mayhem Comes to NYCC!

After conquering D23 last week, The Electric Mayhem will promote their upcoming series The Muppets Mayhem at New York Comic Con.

 

The Muppets Mayhem:

It’s time to play the music! Coming to Disney+ in 2023, The Muppets Mayhem is a brand-new series that, for the first time in the Muppets’ over 65-year history, focuses on the legendary Electric Mayhem band as they maneuver their way through the music world of Los Angeles with one goal — to finally record their first album. Join the “human” stars of the series — Lilly Singh, Tahj Mowry and Saara Chaudry — as well as co-creators and executive producers Adam F. Goldberg, Jeff Yorkes and Bill Barretta for exciting news, exclusive footage and more!

The Muppets Mayhem will be held on the Main stage Sunday, October 9 from 11-12:30pm.

Sesame Street will also get a NYCC panel with Playbill Presents: Sesame Street The Musical Panel:

Now playing Off-Broadway, Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Grover, Rosita, Bert, Ernie, Oscar the Grouch, The Count, Gabrielle, and a whole host of Sesame Street favorites have ventured onto the stage to appear in their very own musical– starring… well, themselves. Join us at NYCC as we discuss this all-new stage show featuring live puppetry and classic Sesame Street songs, plus new numbers by Broadway's brightest songwriters! Participants and host will be announced shortly.

Playbill Presents: Sesame Street The Musical Panel will be held in room 401Sun, Oct 9, 2022 from 3:15 PM - 4:15 PM. 

But that's not all. The day before, our friends at ToughPigs will be hosting their own panel about Jim Henson: The Early Years to promote Craig Shemin's new book Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson’s First Television Show.

Panelists include:

Craig Shemin – Muppet writer and author of “Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim                                     Henson’s First Television Show”

Ryan Dillon – Muppet performer

         Rollie Krewson – Master Puppet Designer and Builder, The Jim Henson Company

        Susie Tofte – Archivist / Collections Manager, The Jim Henson Company Archives

        Dave Hulteen – Muppet artist, cover artist for “Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim                                              Henson’s First Television Show”

Jim Henson: The Early Years will be held Saturday, October 8th at 4:45pm Room TBD.

More info about New York Comic Con can be found at NewYorkComicCon.com.

Muppet Fans Did Good, Thank you!

Two weeks ago we joined our friends at ToughPigs for the Muppet Fans Doing Good campaign. 

After the accountants did their thing 110 Muppet fans raised $10,496!

That’s over ten thousand dollars going to charities that help Black communities, LGBTQ+ communities, and the underprivileged.

Muppet fans, we asked you to do good and you delivered!

18 of the 110 donors will be receiving some amazing prizes.

To see if you're only of the lucky winners, head over to ToughPigs. 

Muppet Fans Doing Good – Donate and Win Muppet Prizes!

Our friends over at ToughPigs.com have started the "Muppet Fans Doing Good" a campaign/contest/raffle to "help raise funds for some organizations that we strongly believe are at the forefront of helping change this world for the better."

While most Muppet fans understand the lessons Jim Henson and his colleagues taught us about equality, kindness, and justice, it's sad to see some that claim to be Henson fans still miss the point so badly.

In solidarity with the virtues Jim Henson's creations exemplified, we're proud to join with ToughPigs and The Muppet Mindset in spreading awareness and helping organizations defend the rights of black, trans and non-binary people, and overall stand up for what’s right.

We’re asking you to help donate your money, and in exchange, you’ll be entered to win one of several incredible prizes.

Here’s how it works:

• You donate to one of the organizations below:
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund – A leading United States civil rights organization and law firm
• ACLU – Nonprofit to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States
• The Okra Project – Bringing meals to Black Trans people experiencing homelessness
• The Loveland Foundation – Providing mental health resources to women of color
• Color of Change – The nation’s largest online racial justice organization
• Equal Justice Initiative – Protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society

• Forward the original confirmation email to contest@toughpigs.com
• For every $20 you donate, you’ll be entered for one raffle “ticket”
• On Sunday, June 28th, ToughPigs will choose the winners, who will receive an email asking them to choose their top 3 prize choices.

So far the prizes Include:

Noel MacNeal, best known as the performer of Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House, has volunteered to give one lucky winner a personalized video greeting from Bear himself

Sesame Workshop’s Creative Director of Character Design Louis Henry Mitchell has graciously agreed to illustrate Muppet character illustrations for five lucky winners. These will be highly-detailed, black-and-white, and of any character you request.

Abby Cadabby performer Leslie Carrara-Rudolph wille donating an original artwork, as well as an autographed piece of Sesame Street merchandise. If you’ve ever seen Leslie’s pipe cleaner sculptures, you’d know that anything she creates is amazing and original.

Muppet performer Peter Linz has generously donated his personal Jim Henson Company jean jacket. This jacket is from around 1990, size large, and in great shape. The jacket also comes with a Pinocchio pin, commemorating the fact that Peter performed Pinocchio in the Center For Puppetry Arts touring production.

Luke Flowers  is offering a signed copy of his beautiful Muppet Christmas Carol storybook and an illustrated print of his Muppet work!

Chris “Smig” Smigliano will be creating an original Muppet-themed art piece for the winner. 

ToughPigs and The Muppet Mindset are teaming up to offer a virtual prize pack! The winner of this package will be invited to a private, 30-minute Muppet conversation with the owners of both sites. They will also get to dictate the theme of a week’s worth of Muppet quotes on the @MuppetQuotes Twitter feed. And they will get to appear as a guest on ToughPigs’ Movin’ Right Along podcast! 

Not to outdone, we are donating what we do best - Muppet Stuff! Specifically an extremely rare Wilkins puppet! These hand puppets were produced for Kraml Milk around 1966, and are among the earliest pieces of Muppet merchandise. An incredible prize for any collector!

Head over to ToughPigs for more details and even more great prizes. Together let's help make the world a better place by Muppet Fans Doing Good!

ToughPigs & The Jim Henson Company: Unboxing!

Our friends at ToughPigs have an excellent new video series, "Unboxing!" in which they team up with Karen Falk from the Jim Henson Company to unbox hidden gems from the Henson archives. 

In this installment Joe, Ryan, and Dave unbox some classic Henson merchandise - and for the record we here at Muppet Stuff knew all about the surprise item. 

I highly recommend checking out the other videos in the "Unboxing!" series as well.

Too Many Cookies!

Last week Adult Swim released a short called "Too Many Cooks" that took the internet by storm.

This week our friends at Tough Pigs made their own parody version starring everyone's 
favorite googly-eyed monster. 

Archaia to Publish Henson Novelization Box Set!

Our Friends at ToughPigs got an exclusive look at Archaia's upcoming Jim Henson Novelization Box Set. 

The set will include the recently released Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, and Storyteller novelizations.


More info and a look at the slipcase cane be found over at  ToughPigs.

Most Wanted ToughPigs Review Ad!

Our friends at ToughPigs were quoted in an ad for Muppets Most Wanted!

It's hard to read, but Joe's quote is "Brilliant, Hilarious And Perfect."

UPDATE:

Our friends at the Muppet Wiki found an ad that not only quotes our friends at ToughPigs, but our friends at The Muppet Mindset as well!!!

ToughPigs -The World of Muppet Crap: The Beaker Bra

Not every product bearing a Muppet is worth your time as our friends at ToughPigs point out, in their latest installment of "The World of Muppet Crap."

This installment is titled "The Beaker Bra" which you can read all about here.