The Muppets Take DC

by Jordan Yerman | July 12, 2008 at 07:47 am

2056 views | 37 Recommendations | 23 comments

The Muppets are coming home... home to their birthplace in Washington, DC, where they got their start on local television. Ernie, Bert, Kermit and ohters from The Muppets and Sesame Street will be hanging out in a special Smithsonian Exhibit celebrating the work of Muppet mastermind Jim Henson.

Visitors to the show, which opens Saturday and continues through Oct. 5, will find the Muppets under special lighting, behind glass and closely guarded.

"We consider every single thing in here to be precious," said project director Deborah Macanic. Technically speaking, they're all antiques.

It's a homecoming for Muppets such as Kermit, the piano-playing dog Rowlf and others that first achieved stardom on Washington-area television shows and commercials -- long before the success of "The Muppet Show" and "Sesame Street." Muppets creator Jim Henson grew up in nearby Hyattsville, Maryland, and attended the University of Maryland, where his creative approach began to take shape.

"We're showing how he went from drawing to a cartoon to a puppet to a moving image," Macanic said, explaining the exhibit's themes of visual thinking, storytelling and character development.

Through more than 100 original drawings, cartoons and story boards and about 14 famous Muppets, the exhibit traces Henson's career as a puppeteer and filmmaker until his death in 1990.

Kermit was originally conceived as a more abstract reptile character with less defined features. The original puppet was made in 1955 from an old turquoise coat with eyes made from a pingpong ball. Kermit continued to evolve from there to a frog in the 1960s.

"Then Kermit just kind of took over and became the news (reporter) guy with the hat and the trench coat and all that he was by the time he got to Sesame Street," Macanic said.

The skinny, green frog became the most enduring Muppet character, in part because Jim Henson considered Kermit to be his alter-ego.

Henson's personality shines through other characters as well, such as the furry, hippie Mahna Mahna who sings scat to a jazz song with two backup singers called the Snowths. The skit debuted in 1969 on "The Ed Sullivan Show," with Henson performing the gruff voice of Mahna Mahna.

A few days before the exhibit's opening, the three singers emerged from a wooden storage crate - all in need of a little primping. Josette Cole and Viki Possoff, Smithsonian exhibit registrars, carefully fluffed the pink Snowth puppets and twisted an arm to match a dance pose from a photograph.

"There's a whole technique to it," Cole said. "You use a dog brush, for one, and you don't pull it through the hair because you'll pull it off. You sort of have to pat it in place."

"If they're looking for a frog, they must be looking for a bear, too!"
- Kermit, on Hollywood, The Muppet Movie)

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rpshen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:03 on July 12th, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff. I liked hearing about the creator of the Muppets. They are so cool!

Kermit used to be a reptile!!!???

Rhonda J Mangus

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:51 on July 12th, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Karen Hatter

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:20 on July 12th, 2008

I have been a fan of Muppets since I first saw Rowlf the Dog appearing as a regular on the Jimmy Dean Show!

My daughters have always accused me of making them watch Sesame Street so I had an excuse to watch! I wouldn't admit it to them but, they were right!

basi_16816

at 10:59 on July 12th, 2008

basi_16816 has contributed a photo to this story.

stephenjlizard

at 11:24 on July 12th, 2008

For any Muppet fans who are interested, I host a free weekly podcast called The MuppetCast, and we work to widely cover all Muppet appearances, news, and events just like this one! The show is in iTunes and http://muppetcast.com. (Some of the photos in this story were taken from listener photo submissions in our Flickr page.)

PEP

at 12:00 on July 12th, 2008

I love the sly take of Miss Piggy on Mae West. I will definitely check out your muppetcast. ;}

johnnycorduroy

at 12:23 on July 12th, 2008

One of the advantages to having friends that work in a collectibles store is that they get some pretty awesome stuff in their home. A good friend of mine has all of the Master Replica Muppets released thus far, and I was lucky enough to get a half way decent shot of Kermit freaking out.

johnnycorduroy has contributed a photo to this story.

bermudafan8

at 13:07 on July 12th, 2008

Kermit is a frog of many talents.

Amy Judd

at 13:10 on July 12th, 2008

Totally agree!

Amy Judd

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:07 on July 12th, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Love the muppets!

Joey Digits

at 13:48 on July 12th, 2008

Kermit watching TV

Joey Digits has contributed a photo to this story.

jeffsstuff

at 13:55 on July 12th, 2008

OI took my girlfriend (now my wife) to Disney World as a graduation present when we both finished college. While at MGM Studios one morning, I noticed a large crowd so we pushed our way through the crowd to find out what was going on.

Apparently, Jim Henson and Kermit where there to announce the making of a new Muppet film.

I quickly climbed under the velvet rope to catch this image. All the while, my wife was screaming, "you can't go in there!" I replied something like, "What are they going to do, have Mickey Mouse arrest me?"

Well I am glad I did it and glad I got the shot since only a few months later, Jim Henson died.

jeffsstuff has contributed a photo to this story.

ninjoy

at 14:43 on July 12th, 2008

I took this photo of my TV as my family and I were weathering hurricane Rita and watching DVDs of The Muppet Show before we lost electricity.

ninjoy has contributed a photo to this story.

ninjoy

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 14:44 on July 12th, 2008

jordan, I like this story. It's good stuff.

joeralt

at 15:10 on July 12th, 2008

They sat there on the stairs near the toy shop in the city of Zefat, in Upper G allele , Israel and I just couldn't resist the invitation to join them which i gladly did. In this city of the Jewish Kaballa Masters, even the Muppet s have a mystical meaning.

joeralt has contributed a photo to this story.

Chrispinius

at 16:43 on July 12th, 2008

Pillow of Animal bought at the Disney store in London, Oxford Street. Stopped at the customs, lol.

Chrispinius has contributed a photo to this story.

fgtaylor

at 17:39 on July 12th, 2008

I took this photo during a special exhibition at the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut. Its one of only a few university puppetry programs in the country and many of their graduates have gone on to do great things in the puppet world. The exhibition, "Puppets through the Lens" showcases famous puppets from television and film. The exhibit ends Nov. 30 2008.

fgtaylor has contributed a photo to this story.

rpshen

at 18:55 on July 12th, 2008

Thank you everyone for contributing a photo to this story. I really enjoyed see all of the photos! I am a huge fan of the Muppets, as I am sure you all are.

Melissa Sun

at 20:46 on July 12th, 2008

This is a popular band in Tel Aviv called The Muppets...they sing original songs along with covers of classics from Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and lots more.

Melissa Sun has contributed a photo to this story.

Errabonda ♫

at 16:04 on July 13th, 2008

ciao a tutti!! ^_^

Errabonda ♫ has contributed a photo to this story.

love4funky

at 03:01 on July 15th, 2008

When i was a child i see the Muppet show on the italian tv, it was a great moment for fun and laught, after30 years i've found this beautiful replica of Kermit in a store,now he's in my room....yeeeee
Thank jim
Love4funky

love4funky has contributed a photo to this story.