News Update: April 16, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: April 16, 2011

The Muppets Vinylmation Series 2 were released yesterday at Disney Parks. Earlier this week images of the 9" figures from the set were released as well. The 9" figures include Gonzo and a 3" Camilla the Chicken, Sam the Eagle, Animal, and Muppet*Vision Kermit. Check out the pictures below! No release date is set for any of the 9" figures as of now.

In "who would've thunk it" news, The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora has been nominated for a Webby Award in the Comedy: Long Form or Series category! Angelo, Cat Cora, and those cooky Muppets are up against some fairly tough competition (30 Rock and The Office webisodes), so it's hard to say what their chances of winning are... but I like Muppets, so maybe other people will too. I would have rather seen the Webby nod go to "American Woman" or "Popcorn" but it's nice just to see the Muppets acknowledged! You can head on over to the Webby website (I know, right?) and cast your vote!

This past Wednesday, David Hoberman, producer of The Fighter, appeared at Suffolk University to give a talk. Now, normally, this wouldn't be a terribly exciting experience for us Muppet fans... except that David Hoberman is also the producer of The Muppets. Oh, and he brought Kermit the Frog (and some Steve Whitmire fellow) along with him. The fine (lucky) folks who were in attendance at Suffolk posted a great article about the appearance along with some fun quotes from Kermit and Boston.com, who broke the story, has an article with a little bit more information as well. (Thanks to our friends at ToughPigs.com for finding this and not caring when we steal it!)

Muppet fan and friend of the blog, Jonathan Melville, has a fantastic interview with Muppet producer Martin Baker on his blog Reel Scotland. It's a fun little interview, very informative, and provides a great preview for the upcoming Muppets, Music, and Magic event in England. Thanks to Johnathan for sharing this great interview with us!

Last week, we reported that Craig Ferguson and Joel McHale will be appearing in the upcoming Sesame Street Season 42. Well, there's even more celebrities lining up for Season 42 including basketball players Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony of the New York Knicks, along with Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Rico Rodriguez ("I filmed a segment for an episode of Sesame Street! I will post details & pictures very soon!"), and Sofia Vergara of Modern Family (that's like a third of the cast). E! Online also posted a fantastic video of Sofia Vergara hanging out with Elmo:









The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Staring Contest? OK... Go!

As you'll recall, last week Floyd and Animal appeared at The Webby Awards ceremony to accept the Muppets' Webby Award for "Bohemian Rhapsody." Well, almost a week later, the band OK Go has put up a new video on their YouTube account featuring both Animal and Floyd as Animal has a staring contest with OK Go's drummer, Dan. The video that follows is hysterical. Don't believe me? See for yourself!



Lucky Dan... gets to be The Electric Mayhem's road manager for a year... 'Course, when's the last time they had a gig, man? Mm... might just end up bein' the one to feed Animal, ya dig?

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

"Another Webby Bites the Dust"

Last night, all of the who's who on the web turned out at the 14th Annual Webby Awards ceremony, hosted by The Office's B.J. Novak. Among these web wonders were The Muppets, winners of four Webbys (two actual Webbys and two People's Choice Webbys) for their insanely popular YouTube viral video "Bohemian Rhapsody."

It's a tradition at the Webbys for the winners to accept their trophies with a five-word speech. Last year, when Beaker accepted his award for "Ode to Joy" his five-words were obviously "meeps" but this year it was a hot topic among Muppet fans wondering which fuzzy funny friends they would send to accept the award since "Bohemian Rhapsody" had over 70 Muppets in the video. Personally, I was pulling for the singing cacti, but I didn't hold my breath.

Instead, The Muppets sent Animal and Floyd Pepper. Which, while surprising, makes complete sense when you think about it. Someone had to translate for Animal and keep him on a short leash! To hear the five-word speech and to laugh your head off, check out the link below...


http://www.youtube.com/webby?x=rYRysrYH3Gg

Floyd Pepper accepting a Webby Award in 2010? This goes right up on my list of "awesome things I never thought I'd see." Congratulations to The Muppets and a huge thanks to The Muppets Studio for bringing out Floyd in the spotlight again!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: May 11, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: May 11, 2010
Doesn't it feel like just a few days ago that we had a News Update? Well, that's 'cause it was just a few days ago. But somehow the news gods (Dan Rather?) have blessed us with a plethora of new news in the past few days that simply must be shared!

• Yesterday, our friends at TVShowsonDVD.com announced that Lionsgate, the fine folks who have brought us Song of the Cloud Forest and The Animal Show and are bringing us Dog City: The Movie Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting, are releasing the 1984 documentary Henson's Place on DVD August 3. This special documentary chronicles Jim Henson's entire career up to 1984, which was just before Labyrinth was released. It is also being billed as "the first-ever documentary to tell the story of Jim Henson." This is an extremely exciting release (just look at that DVD cover art!) so be sure to pick it up when it's released!
• Everyone knows by now that the Muppets won four Webby Awards this year for "Bohemian Rhapsody." Well, now everyone also knows that Animal loves his Mama and loves to call her cell phone and tell her good news. Check out the new video from Muppets Studio!

• Frequent Sesame Street and The Muppet Show guest star Lena Horne passed away this weekend. Horne was a groundbreaking film, television, and music star who broke down racial barriers and was just an all-around fantastic performer. The world has truly lost a treasure who will be very much missed by Muppet fans and the world at large. To pay tribute to Ms. Horne's incredible talent, enjoy some fantastic videos of her with the Muppets.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: May 7, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: May 7, 2010

• Big news from The Jim Henson Company this week as they released an official Press Release discussing the upcoming production of the highly-anticipated sequel to Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal entitled Power of the Dark Crystal. The press release doesn't mention too many important details aside from Omnilab Media being tapped to work with the Hensons to produce it and the fact that it will most likely be in 3D. It also mentions that Brian Froud is on board to do some of the designs for the film, so that's a very good sign.

• On The Muppets Studio side of the news, general manager of The Muppets Studio, Lylle Breier, was interviewed by the MTV Movies Blog. She discussed all things Muppety, including the Webby Awards nominations (and subsequent wins), "Bohemian Rhapsody," and more. The stuff she mentioned that we didn't already know include the next viral Muppet video, "American Woman," being released Memorial Day Weekend (May 28-31), and that the new Muppet movie is indeed Jason Segel's The Greatest Muppet Movie of All Time, and not The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made. Breier stated that Cheapest had  been shelved for the time being... Whatever that means!

• Speaking of the (four) Webby Awards that the Muppets won this week, The 14th Annual Webby Awards Ceremony (hosted by The Office's B.J. Novak) will be held on June 14th. I've been informed that the Muppets will be on hand (pun sort of intended) in some fashion to accept their awards and make their five-word acceptance speech.

• Yesterday, as Lylle Breier predicted, the Muppets appeared in a brand new online video with LOST's Carlton Cruse and Damon Lindelof, writers of the show. Rizzo and Bobo appear in LOST Slapdown, an online exclusive web series. In the video, the two Muppets lead a tour of fans through the LOST studio. Yes, it is as hilarious as it sounds. (Muppet fans outside the US watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYc0oLXy9Vg.) The video is labeled "The Muppets 1" so that can only mean more are on the way! We know for sure that Kermit and the Swedish Chef have recorded something as well, so be on the lookout for that!

• In comic book news, an exclusive scoop by MTV News (which we then stole) states that Muppet Sherlock Holmes will be the next Muppet Classics comic book adaptation after Muppet Snow White finishes this summer. The series will be written by Patrick Storck (Muppet King Arthur) and illustrated by friend of the blog Amy Mebberson (Muppet Peter Pan, The Muppet Show Comic Book - Family Reunion). Gonzo will play the famed sleuth and Fozzie will be his right hand man, Dr. Watson. I'll be sure to keep you updated as more information about this exciting new series becomes available!

• And, finally, it's our turn for an exclusive scoop. In the newest issue of Entertainment Weekly magazine (#1102 - May 14, 2010) there is a brief article about the newly announced Muppet movie. The page features a fantastic picture of Kermit as well. The following are some excerpts from the article that mention some exciting news that you may or may not be aware of as of yet!

New Disney Boss Digs Muppets and Wizards
"As Rich Ross shakes things up at Disney after taking over as studio president last fall, he’s turning to some Hollywood stars who haven’t been on the big screen in more than a decade: Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Fozzie Bear. An untitled Muppet movie is likely to become one of Ross’ first greenlit projects (after Pirates of the Caribbean 4, of course), and it says a lot about where the studio is headed.

When Ross grabbed the reins last October, he killed a lot of movies in the development pipeline, including a sequel to 2007’s John Travolta-Tim Allen-Martin Lawrence comedy “Wild Hogs” and a big-budget remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea that McG was slated to direct. Instead, he fast-tracked a Muppet movie written by Nicholas Stoller and Jason Segel, whose 2008 hit Forgetting Sarah Marshall made puppets cool again. The duo’s plot is being kept under wraps, but sources say Segel (How I Met Your Mother) will star as the best friend of a new Muppet named Walter who will join a quest to save the famed Muppet studio. James Bobin (Flight of the Conchords) is on board to direct, and Amy Adams has been mentioned as a possible costar. Mandeville Films (The Proposal) is among the producers. Next up is a table read with the Muppets and their puppeteers, and since merchandising opportunities are apparently limitless with such an adored property, sources predict production could begin as early as this fall. ~ Nicole Sperling"

Amy Adams? Filming this fall? Merchandise? Excitement, thy name is Muppets!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

The Muppets Win!

The winners of the 2010 Webby Awards were announced today. I tried to act surprised when I saw that the Muppets had won in both the Music and Viral category for "Bohemian Rhapsody," and then I truly was surprised when I saw that they also swept the People's Voice awards in both categories as well--that's four awards! (Counting brought to you by the Count.)
Huge congratulations are in order to the people at The Muppets Studio for this huge win. The people have obviously spoken, and the people love the Muppets. I can only assume this will mean a rush of even more awesome Muppet stuff soon.

In celebration of the huge victory, let's watch "Bohemian Rhapsody" again, shall we?



In other Webby news, SesameStreet.org also won the Webby Award they were nominated for in the Parenting section. This is another very-much deserved award and the people at Sesame Workshop should be commended!

Congratulations to both The Muppets and Sesame Street on their Webby Awards!











The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Bohemian Rhapsody: The Muppets Comment Back

If you live under a rock (and I'm sure at least one of you does), and you've missed, or somehow ignored, my shilling for you (and everyone else) to vote for The Muppets in their two nominations for "Bohemian Rhapsody" in The Webby Awards, then maybe you'll listen to the Muppets!

Those hard working furry people have taken the time out of their (apparently) very busy schedules to comment directly on the Bohemian Rhapsody video as it plays. Yes, it is indeed as hilarious as it sounds:

So... once you get up off of the floor from laughing, head on over to The Webby Awards and cast your vote for the Muppets in both the Music and Viral categories. Remember, tomorrow (April 29th) is the last day to vote, so do it quick!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

The Muppets - Webby Nominations: Official Press Release

Greetings, Muppet fans! Are you tired of me telling you to go vote for the Muppets in The Webby Awards yet? Well, you'll have to sit through one more post of it today. Today I have the official press release for The Muppets run at The Webbys directly from The Muppets Studio. So enjoy, and get out there and vote!

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

The Muppets' YouTube sensation “Bohemian Rhapsody” has been nominated for a People’s Voice Webby Award in both the Viral and Music Categories! The Muppets' version of Queen’s classic rock-opera song begins as a simple video conference that swiftly escalates into an all-singing, all-squawking frog-pig-&-bear-filled symphony of inspired Muppet foolishness. These Webby nominations come on the heels of "Bohemian Rhapsody" vying with X Factor and Rage Against the Machine for the Christmas No.1 spot in the UK.

 

Please vote for the Muppets’ "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the "Music Video" category at http://www.youtube.com/webby?x=music and in the "Viral Video" category at http://www.youtube.com/webby?x=viralvideo.   Voting ends April 29^th.

“TWO WEBBY NOMINATIONS! Animal Spreads The Word!” on YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/muppetsstudio













The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

The Race for The Webbys Gets Sick! Erm... Viral, that is.

Have you heard? No, not that the Bird is the Word (Big Bird, of course), but that the greatest thing on the Internet ever, "Bohemian Rhapsody" by The Muppets, has been nominated for two Webby Awards? I'm sure you have, since I've been shilling votes for them for a week and a half now.

Anyway, The Muppets Studio has also received the news that they've been nominated, so in order to steal votes away from their competition, they've turned to the medium that garnered them the nomination in the first place: viral videos.



If you are still holding out your vote for The Muppets after that, I don't know what's wrong with you and I think you should get to a doctor, stat. C'mon, don't you want to make Animal's Mama proud? You probably should... because she might eat you if you don't.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: April 15, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: April 15, 2010
Earlier this week, our friends from TVShowsonDVD.com have reported that Lionsgate is continuing its trend of releasing loads of rare Henson specials on DVD. The next release? 1989's "Sesame Street: 20 Years and Still Counting" special on July 6th. This is an extremely exciting release since this special has never been commercially released and... it's just an awesome special.

Yesterday, Greg over at The Muppet Newsflash tweeted two new pictures of the upcoming "Muppet Monopoly" and "Muppet Yahtzee" board games being released this August. At this point it is still not known if the Monopoly will be a straight re-release of 2002's Muppet version or if it is entirely new.

Have you heard of Google? Well, I hadn't until I heard that Sesame Street's 40th Anniversary was being promoted on their logos this past fall. (Kidding, of course.) The fine folks at Google have teamed up with the even more fine folks at Sesame Street once again to create some new, actual commercials for the search engine. Both Bert and Cookie Monster receive the commercial treatment, and they're both awesome. (Thanks to our friends at ToughPigs for picking up on this story!)

Speaking of ToughPigs, they've posted a great interview with Roger Langridge about adding Skeeter to the comic book world of the Muppets. It's incredibly insightful and I highly recommend checking it out!

And of course, the big news of the week is that The Muppets "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been nominated for two Webby Awards in the Music and Viral categories. If you haven't done so yet, get over there and vote! Thanks to us, the Muppets currently have a huge lead in the polls in both categories, so keep voting and keep it up!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Webby Wednesday: Vote for Bohemian Rhapsody!

EDIT: Bohemian Rhapsody has returned to The Webby Awards YouTube page for voting. Muppet fans, go forth and vote!!

It's that time of the year again: time for The Webby Awards to honor the best of entertainment on the internet. As I'm sure you all remember, last year Beaker's "Ode to Joy" viral sensation won a People's Choice Webby and Beaker even appeared to make an acceptance speech.

This year, to the surprise of almost no one, the Muppets biggest viral smash hit of all time, "Bohemian Rhapsody" has been nominated--and not just for a single Webby, but for two! That's right, Animal and his Mamma crooning along with the antics of all the rest of the Muppets in the video have garnered them nominations in both the Music and Viral categories.

The competition in these categories is pretty stiff, such as "Auto-Tune the News," "David After Dentist," and "Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile," but the Muppets had a pretty heavy early lead against them all (before they mysteriously disappeared from the ballot).

And, luckily, we Muppet fans can help them hold that lead! Yes, by simply visiting the Webby's YouTube channel and registering we can vote to propel our Muppets to two victories!

On a slightly disappointing note, earlier today the Muppets Facebook page alerted us that "Bohemian Rhapsody" had somehow disappeared from the ballot of both categories. It has since been fixed, but in its time away the Muppets have slipped to second behind "David After Dentist." Obviously this cannot stand, so it's time once again for that great Muppet fan rallying we're all so good at.

Get over to the Webby's channel and register so you can vote, vote, vote!

And while you wait, why not vote for SesameStreet.org in its quest for a Webby?










The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier