Muppet Mayhem Comes to The D23 Expo!

The Muppets are coming to the D23 Expo!

Disney recently announce the schedule for their upcoming D23 Expo and there's not one, but two Muppet - centric panels. 

First, D23 will celebrate 30 Years of The Muppet Christmas Carol

Magic in the Air: 30 Years of The Muppet Christmas Carol 

Saturday, September 10, 2022

1:00 pm - 2:00 pm PT on the Premiere Stage

Below is the official description:

Yuletide comes early this year as we celebrate 30 years of the ultimate Holiday classic The Muppet Christmas Carol with filmmakers, The Muppets, and a few surprises!

This will be followed by the first look at The Muppets Mayhem!

“Meet The Muppets: The Muppets Mayhem Conversation”
 Saturday, September 10, 2022
4:50 PM PT on The Disney Bundle Pavilion Stage

The panel will be hosted by Tahj Mowry, who also stars in The Muppets Mayhem.

He is set to play Gary “Moog” Moogowski, who is described as a diehard fan of The Electric Mayhem. He follows them from place to place, knows his way around an audio board, and potentially hopes that he will have a leading man role in Nora’s (Lilly Singh) life. Nora is the one who is leading the band as they put together their first album ever.


The D23 Expo will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center September 9-11, 2022.

Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show Coming Sept 24th!

According to the recent Jim Henson Legacy newsletter, Craig Shemin's long awaited book Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show will be rereleased next month.

Sam and Friends: The Story of Jim Henson's First Television Show, published by Bear Manor Media, is an in-depth exploration of Jim's groundbreaking local television show which ran on WRC in Washington, D.C. between 1955 and 1961.

Written by Jim Henson Legacy President Craig Shemin, the book was created with the cooperation of The Jim Henson Company and Disney, includes more than 150 rare images from the Jim Henson Company Archives, five complete scripts, and has a foreword by Frank Oz.

The Museum of the Moving Image will celebrate the release on September 24th (Jim Henson's Birthday) with a Sam and Friends screening, a discussion about the book with the author and Museum Deputy Director Barbara Miller, the presentation of a newly unearthed Sam and Friends episode and a book signing.

Muppet Stuff Video: Unboxing Lego Muppet Minifigures!

 Join me as I hunt for and unbox Lego's Muppet Minifigures!

Look for more videos on our Youtube Channel.

Coming Soon: Muppets Doorables!

The Muppets are joining the Disney Doorables line of collectibles from Just Play.

It’s time to play the music and light the lights, because behind every stage door a surprise is in store with the Disney Doorables Muppets Collection Peek. This Muppet-sational collection features 8 beloved favorites, including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, Rowlf, Gonzo, Animal, and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew. Some collectors may even find the rare surprise bonus figure! 

Each character stands approximately 1.5 inches tall, features stylized detailing, sparkly glitter eyes, and is intricately styled in a pose inspired by classic moments. 

Enjoy the ultimate unboxing experience with a fresh packaging design featuring peel and reveal secrets. Ideal for collecting and trading, fans of all ages can recreate the magical world of Disney with all the Disney Doorables collectible kids’ toy figures & playsets.

Each set Includes:

• 8 Disney Doorables Muppet figurines in a theater-themed blind box.
  
  
• Raise the curtain because behind every stage door a surprise is in store with the Disney Doorables Muppets Collection Peek.
  
  
• Each Disney figurine stands approximately 1.5 inches tall and features signature Doorables stylized detailing and sparkly glitter eyes.
  
  
• Characters are wonderful for imaginative storytelling, display, or trading with friends. Encouraging storytelling and interactive can increase a child’s self-awareness, language and creativity skills.
  
  
• This exciting collector pack contains 8 different figurines from Disney’s Muppets including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, Rowlf, Gonzo, Animal, and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew.
  
  
• Some sets include a rare surprise bonus figure.

It's great to see Rowlf and Sam the Eagle included. Leave your comments below, and on our social media pages, on who you think the chaser figure will be. My guess is Beaker since this would be the first time Bunsen was released without him. 

UPDATE: 

After a little digging I found this image all but confirming that the chaser will indeed be Beaker. 

While the sets are not available yet, they are starting to appear on Walmart's website.  

Behind The Scenes Muppet Movie Poster Images!

Recently some behind the scenes photos of the Muppets posing for the The Muppet Movie posters were listed on ebay. 

Each slide went for a good chunk of change, but you don't have to be the winning bidder to enjoy them. 

Most Muppet fans should find these images instantly recognizable as they were the basis for Drew Struzan's iconic poster art. The images show the Muppets on stands set in what looks to be the Henson offices. 

I particularly liked how Fozzie's tie has been wired so it appears to be blowing in the wind!

The images also show close ups of the characters and angles not used in the final image. 

There was even a slide of the Studebaker for reference as well. Notice how both versions of the Studebaker, both a painted and unpainted version are parked next to each other. 

And who could forget floating above all the Muppets in the Studedebaker was Kermit and Miss Piggy spoofing Gone With The Wind. 

The images above were used to create the classic poster for The Muppet Movie that was "More Entertaining Than Humanly Possible!"

But that wasn't the only poster Drew Struzan designed for The Muppet Movie.  There was also this one with Kermit and Miss Piggy in a row boat. 

Below you can see Jim Henson and Frank Oz performing Kermit and Miss Piggy for the refence photo.

Coincidently Struzan has been posting images of his original painting for the posters on social media. 

Below is his original painting for this version of the poster.  

And here's a close up of the final image of Kermit and Miss Piggy.

I hope more behind the scenes refence photos like this pop up. It's always great to see how these classic Muppet posters were created. 

Breaking News: Shout! Factory Inks Worldwide Distribution Deal With Henson Company!

According to Deadline, Shout! Factory has made a worldwide distribution deal with The Jim Henson Company.

The multi-year distribution deal provides Shout! Factory and its streaming service Shout! Factory TV with all worldwide rights — across broadcast, streaming, on-demand, home entertainment, and non-theatrical arenas — to Henson’s Emmy-winning fantasy anthology The Storyteller and subsequent miniseries The Storyteller: Greek Myths, Jim Henson’s World of Puppetry, The Jim Henson Hour specials Monster Maker, Lighthouse Island, Living with Dinosaurs, and Dog City (But NOT the Muppet Television or bridging segments). 

Farscape will make its global AVOD premier along with its follow-up miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars. 

Also mentioned were little known Henson series The Ghost of Faffner Hall, The Fearing Mind, Mopatop’s Shop, and Brats of the Lost Nebula.

From the Deadline article:

In collaboration with The Jim Henson Company, Shout! Factory will support each one of these projects with a long-term growth strategy that entails streaming media initiatives, content syndication (digital, EST, VOD and broadcast), and packaged media (Blu-ray/DVD). In prepping its aggressive rollout of the fan-favorite series Farscape on streaming, broadcast, transactional platforms and packaged media, Shout! Factory will leverage extensive access to archived content from The Jim Henson Company. Further news as to The Jim Henson Company’s initiatives with Shout! Factory and Shout! Factory TV will be forthcoming.

“FAST Channels are the wave of the future in terms of getting your content front and center for both devoted fans and new audiences,” said The Jim Henson Company’s Vice President of Global Distribution, Kerry Novick. “Shout! Factory is one of the best in this business, and audiences will enjoy watching beloved Henson productions, like The Storyteller, as well as discovering new favorites through this partnership. We’re especially excited for the global fans of Farscape to once again explore the uncharted territories with John Crichton and the crew of Moya in its long overdue premiere on AVOD.”

“The entire team at Shout is enthusiastic to be working with The Jim Henson Company on Farscape and other popular series,” added Shout’s Senior Vice President of Programming & New Business Development, Jeffrey Peisch. “The Jim Henson Company has produced some of the most acclaimed television programs of the last several decades; we are humbled and energized to be given the opportunity to make Henson programming available to the widest possible audience.”

Recognized as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation, The Jim Henson Company has remained a leader in family entertainment for over 60 years. Henson’s most recent television credits include Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, Harriet the Spy and Fraggle Rock: Rock On!, all for Apple TV+, as well as Duff’s Happy Fun Bake Time for Discovery+, Earth to Ned for Disney+, and the Emmy-winning Netflix Original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. The company is currently in production on Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio for Netflix, as well as the feature The Portable Door, with Sam Neill, Christoph Waltz, Miranda Otto, Jessica De Gouw and more.

Shout! Factory, LLC is a multi-platform media company devoted to film and TV distribution, development and production. Founded by Richard Foos, Bob Emmer, and CEO Garson Foos in 2003, Shout! owns and manages a large portfolio of films, contemporary and classic TV series, animation and documentaries. The company’s creative acquisition mandate has established it as a leading independent distributor, with partners and properties including Gkids, Sesame Street, Laika Studios, The Carol Burnett Show, The Johnny Carson Show, Stephen J. Cannell Productions, ALF, ITV Studios and Major League Baseball Productions, to name a few. Shout! Factory Kids focuses on live-action and animated kids and family properties as well as anime, with the company releasing films and television shows in other genres under the imprints Scream Factory and Shout Select. Shout! develops, acquires and distributes new films via Shout! Studios, and owns and operates libraries including Mystery Science Theater 3000 (in partnership with creator Joel Hodgson) and the Roger Corman New Horizons Pictures Library, all while operating Shout! Factory TV.

Muppets Mayhem Wraps Season 1!

Muppets Mayhem has wrapped filming!

That's right, the upcoming series starring Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem has officially wrapped filming its first season.

Co-Creator Adam F. Goldberg posted the image below with the following statement.

That’s a wrap on season 1 of Muppets Mayhem!!! Disney, please don’t be mad at me for posting this photo! We truly had the most wonderful cast and crew who worked so hard to bring the world a show filled with laughs and joy. Can’t wait for everyone to see it. #Mayhead4Life

 

That’s a wrap on season 1 of Muppets Mayhem!!! Disney, please don’t be mad at me for posting this photo! We truly had the most wonderful cast and crew who worked so hard to bring the world a show filled with laughs and joy. Can’t wait for everyone to see it. #Mayhead4Life pic.twitter.com/H4YlZyNRIq

— Adam F. Goldberg (@adamfgoldberg) August 6, 2022

 Muppets Mayhem was billed as a limited series, but it appears that there may be room for even more Mayhem!

Hopefully we'll find out soon when we can expect Muppets Mayhem to premiere on Disney+.