Design Custom Muppet MP3 Player and Cell Phone Covers!

Disney, in partnership with Skin-It.com, which offers customized covers for cell phones, MP3 players, iPods, laptops, video game systems, and more, have debuted their new area of Disney-related custom covers. Included among these are The Muppets! There are some amazing pre-made skins available--such as this Floyd and Zoot (oddly enough, billed as "Sherlock Hemlock" on the site) iPod Touch cover (which I really, really want)...

How about a Fozzie-fied cell phone?

Or, the cream of the crop, a Kermit the Frog Nintendo DS cover!

Most of the pre-made covers only cost $14.95 (laptop covers cost $29.95), so they deal is well worth it, if you ask me. There is also the option to fully customize your own cover with multiple Muppet images on them. Unfortunately, there aren't as many clip art options available, but it's still very, very cool.

So what are you waiting for? Get on over to Skin-It.com and make your very own Muppet cover for all of your favorite electronic devices!









The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppet Comic Mondays: Muppet Mash #2

Congratulations to James Gannon, one of the best comic book reviewers around and our go-to guy for Muppet Comic Mondays, for being quoted on the back of the Fraggle Rock Comic Book #1 trade paperback collection!! It is a huge honor for The Muppet Mindset as a whole and, I assume, for James as well. Congratulations my friend. No one deserves it more!

The Muppet Show Comic Book #9

Muppet Mash #2

Written and Illustrated by Roger Langridge

James Gannon - After that whole messy fiasco of thinking Gonzo was a vampire, now Kermit and the gang have to deal with the next monsters in Muppet Mash, Mummies. And it promises to be even more fun than that Brendan Frasier movie. I’m talking of course about George of the Jungle (see… I made a Brendan Frasier Universal Studios Mummy movie reference… you know who you are). Well, the issue itself doesn’t so much focus on The Mummy, but rather an entire Egyptian theme.

Kermit has booked the legendary Calistoga Cleo and the Pharaohs (no relation to Sam the Sham) to be on the show. Of course, they can just barely afford her after intense haggling with her manager, Mrs. Kippel.  Little does the Frog in Chief know, he is about to really make the day of his two harshest critics, who in an amazing coincidence were just talking about her in the cold opening. In fact, they were so excited by the announcement of their favorite old time Vaudeville act, they even apologize to Fozzie for heckling his act.  Cleo also has a way with the older men, as her opening number will tell you. Yessir… not only do Statler and Waldorf love her act, but they have deeply amorous feelings for her too. This, of course, causes friction between the two of them, leading up to a rotten tomatoes duel, throwing them at the first time at each other.  Fozzie must’ve loved that. What they don’t mention is that Waldorf is a married man. But I’m sure Waldorf would say “Hey, I won’t mention it if you won’t.” Of course, their deep crush on Cleo fizzles out when they learn her ghoulish secret.

Meanwhile, we have a very brief subplot involving Miss Piggy’s vanity. The negative human characteristic that is, not the furniture with a mirror of the same name. Cleo manages to get Piggy to think about her own mortality, worrying over age lines which may or may not exist on her. And of course, Piggy manages to over-react as only Piggy can. Of course, us Muppet fans know she gets a face lift every so often. After all, they carve or cast a new one out of foam all the time.

Now, I have to admit, this is a very good issue, really great character vehicle for Statler and Waldorf, but it isn’t really all that monstery, except for the fact we get another Link Hogthrob Monster Smasher sketch and the fact that one of the characters becomes a Mummy himself. Though, not in the way you’d expect. Above that, Calistoga Cleo has a distinctive look to her. While Roger manages to give a unique spin on certain characters, making them look a little more human (Statler, Waldorf, and the Chef are pretty prime examples), they still have a Muppet flavor to them. Even with special guest characters like Clint Wacky and Creepy McBoo, Cleo looks very human here. It goes without saying, this was clearly a story salvaged from the scrapped “Guest Stars” arc. She even manages to be in two numbers and later to have a backstage conversation with the Muppets, giving it a true Muppet Show guest star feel. It doesn’t even seem to have been altered all that much, especially compared to the fourth installment of Family Reunion, where unused Sherlock Holmes guest star elements were used (which seemed to come out of necessity to recycle an otherwise unused cover).

Speaking of covers, this issue only had one. I’m sure that there’s some economic reasons that started to be the downfall of multiple collectible covers that took effect, awkwardly, the second issue into an arc. While I never bothered getting both covers myself of any BOOM! publications (not even out of choice, in most cases when only one issue remained in the store), I’ll still miss having that option.  

Oh, and apparently I took a quick gander through the newly released Fraggle Rock hard bound comic collection.  Apparently one of my reviews seen here was used as a blurb. I’d probably be flattered, but somehow I feel that they’re desperate for some reviews and there weren’t enough people reading them. And as far as the Fraggle series is concerned, I think a LOT more people should be reading them--and these BOOM! published Muppet ones.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Old School Vol. 2 CD Set Coming in October!

Yesterday our good friends at ToughPigs.com and Muppet Wiki reported that Sesame Street: Old School, Vol. 2 3-CD Set (a follow-up to the set released earlier this year) will be coming on October 26th! The three albums included in Volume 2 include Grover Sings the Blues, The Count Counts, and The Year of Roosevelt Franklin! These are all very awesome albums and their inclusion is also, as they say, awesome. The track listing is as follows...

Grover Sings the Blues 

1. What Do I Do When I'm Alone?
2. Name the Animal
3. Grover Takes a Walk
4. Has Anybody Seen My Dog?
5. Four Furry Friends
6. Still, We Like Each Other
7. I am Blue
8. Two "G"Sounds
9. I Stand Up Straight and Tall
10. The Question Song
11. Over, Under, Around, and Through
12. Just Because
13. Near and Far

The Count Counts

1. Introduction
2. Ladybug's Picnic
3. Counting is Wonderful
4. It's a Lovely Eleven Morning
5. The "15" Commercial
6. Ten Turtles
7. The Count's Weather Report
8. Martian Beauty
9. Numerical Correspondence (Sing a Song of Numbers)
10. Candy Man
11. It's Been a Long, Long Time
12. Alligator King
13. Count it Higher
14. Counting is Wonderful (reprise)
15. Country Six (The Snail Song)
16. Number in the News
17. 1-2-3-4-5!
18. Beep
19. Four Big Lions
20. I Just Adore "4" (from the musical "Two Plus Two")
21. The "3" Song
22. Subtraction Blues
23. Doll House
24. The Song of The Count

The Year of Roosevelt Franklin

1. Roosevelt Franklin Counts
2. Days of the Week
3. Mobity Mosely's Months
4. Keep On Trying
5. The Safety Boy Blues
6. Just Because
7. The Skin I'm In
8. A Bear Eats Food
9. Halfies
10. Me And You
11. Old King Midas
12. Roosevelt Franklin's Alphabet

Keep your eyes peeled for this hugely exciting release from Sesame Workshop!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Sesame Street Saturdays: Sesame Street Orders a Pink Martini

Hot news out of Los Angeles this week as we've just been told that seven Sesame Street cast members, Emilio Delgado, Bob McGrath, Roscoe Orman, Alan Muraoka, Sonia Manzano, Loretta Long, and Allison Bartlett-O'Reilly, will all be performing a medley of Sesame Street songs with the band Pink Martini. The shows will take place at The Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California on September 10th, 11th, and 12th. In addition to the medley, the cast will also be joining the band and The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra for the grand fireworks finale to close the show. It's sure to be an amazing time and affordable tickets are still available, so if you live near Los Angeles you have virtually no excuse not to be there!

And now, a little treat to perk you up on this lovely September Saturday (as if Bob's face in the above picture didn't already do that)... Elmo Interviews Neil Patrick Harris:



Have a great weekend, everybody!










The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

The Muppet Mindset Gets YouTub-ular!

The Muppet Mindset is proud to debut our brand new YouTube channel! It's super cool and--well, I'll just let this guy tell you...



Yes! All of that stuff! And now our first official video blog brought to us by our very good friend Dave Hulteen, Jr.! Dave brings us an awesome video (made by him) about all of the Muppet content now available for purchase on the XBox Live Marketplace. It's an AWESOME video, check it out!



So yes, The Muppet Mindset now has its own YouTube channel! We'll be uploading it relatively frequently (probably), so keep an eye on it!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

News Update: September 2, 2010

NEWS UPDATE: September 2, 2010

The Muppet Show Comic Book has won the Harvey Award for Best Original Graphic Novel Publication for Younger Readers! This exciting award was given to The Muppets against their stiff competition from the likes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and 3-2-3 Detective Agency. HUGE congratulations to our friends at BOOM! Studios for the win, and even bigger congratulations to the uber talent that is Roger Langridge, writer and illustrator of The Muppet Show Comic Book. The picture at right was drawn by Langridge after winning the Harvey Award. For the complete list of Harvey Award winners and nominees, check here!

After some digging on Amazon.com, it was discovered that Universal Studios will be releasing It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie on DVD once again on October 12th. According to the Amazon page, the DVD will present the movie in widescreen (for the first time ever on Region 1 DVD), but it also says that it will be a 2-Disc DVD set, so who knows whether either is true? Either way, this is a very exciting release and we'll be sure to keep you updated on bonus features and more as the information surfaces!

Some more digging on Amazon.com has revealed that the new Muppet Monopoly Collector's Edition set has been released. The game was released by USAopoly and costs $34.99 on Amazon. But the really exciting thing about the game is that there appears to be NEW Muppet poser puppet images used on the box cover. Check out the likes of Rowlf, Scooter, Gonzo, Camilla, Pepe, Fozzie, Swedish Chef, Animal, and Miss Piggy on the box art below and see for yourself!

Finally, the biggest news of the week, The Muppets are officially casting for the new Muppet movie! The announcement and call for auditions and actors has been circulating through the Los Angeles and Hollywood trade papers this week and also, Autidions for Disney has posted the official call on their website. Here are the main highlights...

• Shooting is scheduled to start in Los Angeles this month and go through November, 2010, with a release date of December 25, 2011.
• Big names apparently already attached to the project include Ben Stiller, George Clooney, and Jason Segel.
• If you're an actor in California with a head shot and a resume, they want you to audition!!
• The plot centers on the Muppets' reunion as they try to save The Muppet Studios in Hollywood from evil business tycoon Tex Richman. They'll have help from human friend Gary (probably Segel).
• They are going to need TONS of extras.

All VERY exciting stuff, huh? Well, you know what this means... in just a few weeks, we'll be witnessing the official start of the filming of a brand new Muppet movie!!! As always, keep your eye on The Muppet Mindset for all the latest updates!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Crazy Harry

CRAZY HARRY

Performed by...
Jerry Nelson (The Muppet Show, 1975-It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, 2002)
Ricky Boyd (The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, 2005)
Matt Vogel (A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, 2008-present)

First appearance...
The Muppet Valentine Show (1974)

Most recent appearance...
The Muppets (2011)

Best known role...
The Muppet Show's resident pyrotechnic. Always seen blowing something (or someone) up.

WHO IS CRAZY HARRY?
Crazy Harry is the bomb--

Did somebody say bomb?!?!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier