News Update: June 3, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: June 3, 2011

As reported a little over a year ago, more Muppet Star Wars toys are coming to Disney Parks. No release date was given for these new 2-pack figures of the Muppet characters portraying Star Wars favorites, but smart betters placed their money on a Fall 2011 release to coincide with the release of The Muppets... and they were right. New images of prototypes of the figures, now officially due out this fall, have surfaced online in various locations, including Walt Disney World's official blog and the Nerdist website. A picture of all the figures, Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Fozzie Bear as Chewbacca, Link Hogthrob as Han Solo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as R2-D2, Beaker as C-3PO, Sam Eagle as Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Gonzo the Great as Darth Vader (with Camilla the Stormtrooper), can be seen below.

Image courtesy of nerdist.com

Some keen-eyed ToughPigs have found links on Amazon.com for The Muppets Take Manhattan and Muppets From Space on Blu-ray, apparently scheduled for release in August of this year. This would make sense, considering Sony still owns the distribution rights to these films and would obviously want to cash in on the fall's Muppet craze without needing to wait for Disney. Take all of this very lightly, however, because there has been no sort of official announcement about these releases and both listings on Amazon have some guy named Lambert Wilson listed as the primary actor... and he appears in neither movie. So... who really knows? It would certainly be great to see some Muppets on Blu-ray though!

A new series of three Muppet-themed PEZ Dispensers are being released to coincide with The Muppets this fall. The set will include Kermit, Miss Piggy, and, for the first time, Animal. These are not the first Muppet PEZ, as can be seen on Muppet Wiki's page, but the sculpts of the heads seem to be vastly improved. Hopefully we'll see Gonzo and Fozzie PEZ as well (you know, so I have something ELSE to spend my money on this fall...).

Finally, our good friends (and lucky sons of guns) Joe Hennes and Ryan Roe of ToughPigs had the incredible opportunity to stop by the set of Sesame Street for a visit while they were filming a brand new episode. Those ToughPigs included an amazing video interview with Roscoe Orman (Gordon) and Emilio Delgado (Luis) and of the episode being recorded on set. The episode includes Ernie, Bert, Gordon, Susan, and Oscar... how awesome is that?! I am insanely jealous... but I love it. The best part is that it's only part one, so there's more to look forward to from those lucky luck ToughPigs on Sesame Street.






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

New Muppet Star Wars Action Figures Coming Soon

This past weekend in Orlando, Florida the annual Star Wars convention, now in its fifth year, Star Wars Celebration V, was held. Even George Lucas returned from Tattooine (that's where he lives, right?) to attend. Disney Parks, having the Star Tours attraction in Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios and in Disneyland Park, featured a panel for Celebration V to highlight all of the new Star Wars-related Disney merchandise and upcoming things. This included an exclusive first look at brand new Muppets dressed as Star Wars characters action figures. (Note: Not to be confused with the Muppet Star Wars PVC figures released a few years ago.)

The first (of hopefully more than one) series of figures includes...

Kermit as Luke Skywalker (with Lightsaber) and Miss Piggy as Princess Leia (with blaster)

 Link Hogthrob as Han Solo (with blaster) and Fozzie Bear as Chewbacca (with blaster)

 Sam the Eagle as Obi-Wan Kenobi (with Lightsaber) and Gonzo as Darth Vader (with Lightsaber and chicken-Stormtrooper)

Dr. Bunsen Honeydew as R2-D2 and Beaker as C-3PO

There's no official word yet on when these figures will be released in the Disney Parks, but as soon as the information surfaces, the Muppet Mindset will report it!

May the Force be with you!











The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Angus McGonagle

ANGUS McGONAGLE

Performed by...
Jerry Nelson

First appearance...
The Muppet Show Episode 417: Star Wars (1980)

Most recent appearance...
"Muppet Snow White" #2 comic book (2010)

Best known role...
Argyle Gargoyle who gargles Gershwin, gorgeously.

WHO IS ANGUS McGONAGLE?
Angus McGonagle is a Scottish, purple Argyle Gargoyle Muppet who sports a kilt. His main (and probably only) talent is gargling the tunes of George Gershwin. His only major appearance on The Muppet Show was in the episode featuring the cast of Star Wars in which he was the original guest booked for the show. When the Star Wars cast burst through the wall in some sort of intergalactic mishap, Angus was bumped in favor of Luke Skywalker and his funny droids and furry friend Chewbacca.

Luckily, Angus still got to perform on the show by sneaking on stage during a break to gargle "Summertime" from the opera Porgy and Bess. He was also joined by Mark Hamill and eventually chased off stage by Animal.

All but forgotten, Angus has recently seen new life in the form of printed media in the Muppet Classics series of comic books from BOOM! Studios. He first appeared in "Muppet King Arthur" #4 illustrated by James Silvani and most recently in "Muppet Snow White" #2 illustrated by Shelli Paroline. Rumor has it that pestering from an unruly fan blog led to Angus' inclusion in the comics.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED ANGUS McGONAGLE?
Who doesn't need an Argyle Gargoyle who gargles Gershwin? If you've got an answer to that, you're less of a dreamer than I.

 

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: April 23, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: April 23, 2010
Disney Parks is coming out out with some neat new Star Wars pins of the Muppets to coincide with the Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World this summer. Rumor has it, the pins could be turned into another toy set. Somehow, Star Wars and Muppets are just a great combination.

The Muppet Pook-a-Looz, consisting of Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, and Animal, are now available at Disneystore.com. For a limited time, two of these disfigured cuties are available for only $20, so pick out a couple (or more than a couple) and do some shopping.

If you happen to be in LA on May 1st, make sure to stop by Meltdown Comics to see Red Fraggle and Karen Prell LIVE (why is "live" always in capslock?) starting at 11 am PST. Fraggle Rock comic book writer Sam Humphries and artist Jeremy Love will also be there. More information is available at the Archaia Comics website!

If you're NOT in LA, but you are in New York... or, if you're really lucky and are in New York now and going to LA later... Anyway, if you're in New York any time from now until May 2nd, you should really go see the The Jim Henson Company's "Stuffed and Unstrung." Why? Two words: Bill Barretta. Oh, and during the second week, five words: Bill Barretta and Brian Henson. What more could you want?

The new Muppet movie got another announcement, this one in Associate Press and alongside the announcement of a sequel to "Monsters, Inc," which ain't bad company for our fine felt friends. No word yet on any affiliation between the Muppet monsters and Monsters, Inc.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppet Star Wars PVC Figure Review

Muppet Star Wars

PVC Figure Review

Ryan Dosier - Back in 2008, a set of Muppet Star Wars PVC toys was released in Walt Disney World and Disneyland to coincide with their annual "Star Wars Weekends" at the parks. These figures are still available exclusively at the park and through eBay and other outlets.

The set includes six figures: Kermit as Luke Skywalker, Miss Piggy as Princess Leia, Fozzie Bear as Chewbacca, Gonzo as Darth Vader (Dearth Nadir), Beaker as C-3PO, and Rizzo the Rat as Yoda. 

SCULPT

These figures are easily distinguishable as Muppets, but at the same time they have a cartoony, Disney-ish feel to them as well. Some of the sculpts are better than others--Gonzo stands out as the best in the bunch--but for the most part they are all solid sculpts of a wonderful parody.

Kermit - 3.5/5

Miss Piggy - 2.5/5

Fozzie - 3.5/5

Gonzo - 4.5/5

Beaker - 5/5

Rizzo - 4.5/5

PAINT
The paint on these is applied pretty sloppily when compared to the beautiful paint jobs of the Palisades Toys action figures released a few years ago. There is hardly any detail met with the paint and it just looks to have been thrown on. It adds to the cartoony feel of these figures and makes them appear to be animated characters as opposed to fuzzy, felty Muppets.

Kermit - 3/5

Miss Piggy - 3/5

Gonzo - 5/5

Fozzie - 2/5

Beaker - 3/5

Rizzo - 4/5

SCALE

It's interesting to note the scale of these figures when compared to figures from other collections. I own an R2-D2 figure from a mainstream Star Wars figure collection, and he is in almost-perfect scale with Beaker and the rest of the characters, which is fun if you are a Star Wars buff with a lot of figures. It could lead to some great posing opportunities.

Disney has also released some figures of other characters playing Star Wars roles. For instance, Goofy as Darth Vader, Mickey Mouse as Luke Skywalker, Minnie Mouse as Padme Amidalla, etc. One of the figures is Donald Duck dressed as Han Solo--whose character is not parodied by the Muppets here. Donald is perfectly in scale with the Muppet figures and makes a great addition to the set to pose next to Fozzie/Chewbacca.

Finally, the question on everyone's mind, is the scale with the Palisades Toys action figures. I'm disappointed to say that these are nowhere near scale to the Palisades figures. Most of the PVCs are just over half the size of their Palisades counterparts. See the picture included for comparison.

FUN FACTOR
This is my favorite section, because I get to point out just how fun these figures are. Although they are basically glorified plastic statues, these figures are just a lot of fun to have around. I keep them displayed on a shelf with my R2-D2 figure and my Donald Duck as Han Solo figure. It's just great to look over and smile at these fun figures. They may not be the most beautiful pieces of Muppet merchandise you can buy, but they really are a lot of fun.

Also, since Disney neglected to do so, I want to give the Star Wars characters the Muppets play names to match...

Kermit - Luke Skyhopper
Miss Piggy - Princess Oinka
Fozzie - Fozzwocka
Gonzo - Dearth Nadir (duh)
Beaker - C-3MEEPO
Rizzo - Rizzoda

If you ever find yourself a Muppet fan in the Disney parks, be sure to pick up this set!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier