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Kermit the Frog

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Template:Infobox Sesame Street character Kermit the Frog is a Muppet, one of puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous creations, first introduced in 1955. Kermit was performed by Henson until his death in 1990. Since then he has been performed by Steve Whitmire. He was voiced by Frank Welker in Muppet Babies and occasionally in animation.

Kermit's development

An early version of Kermit appeared in 1955, in a five-minute puppet show for WRC-TV's Sam and Friends. The prototype Kermit was created from a green ladies' coat that Henson's mother had thrown into a waste bin, and two ping pong balls for eyes.

Initially, Kermit was seen as a lizard-like creature. He subsequently made a number of television appearances before his status as a frog was established, which was shortly before Sesame Street began. His collar was added at the time to make him seem more froglike and to conceal the seam between his head and body.

The chief reason that Jim Henson chose Kermit as his main character was that Kermit, being lightweight, was easier to perform for long periods of time (in terms of personality, the Muppet Henson most closely identified himself with was Rowlf the Dog).

Kermit's song "The Rainbow Connection" was also a big hit from The Muppet Movie and, for some time, had become something of a signature song for The Jim Henson Company.

Naming

On more than one occasion[1][2] the press has stated that Kermit's name was taken from Jim Henson's childhood friend, Kermit Scott, from Leland, Mississippi. While this rumor has persisted over the years, it is not true. The Jim Henson Company has gone on record to deny this claim as declared by Henson himself. Karen Falk, who sits on the Board of Directors for the Jim Henson Legacy and serves as head archivist for the company, published the denial on the company's official website, Henson.com:

While Jim Henson did have a childhood acquaintance named Kermit, it was not an uncommon name at the time, and Jim always said that the Frog was NOT named for this child from his elementary school.[3]

As Sesame Street is localized for some different markets that speak languages other than English, Kermit is often renamed. In Portugal, he's Cocas, o Sapo (sapo means toad). In Latin America, his name is la rana René (René the Frog). In Spain, Kermit is named Gustavo. In France and the Canadian province of Quebec, he is known as Kermit la grenouille. In Brazil, his name is Caco, o Sapo. In the Arabic Middle Eastern version, he's known as Kamel, which is a common Arabic male name that means "perfect").

Character biography

On an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Kermit commented to Ty Pennington, "You know, as a tadpole in the swamp, I had 3,265 brothers and sisters!" According to Kermit's Swamp Years, at the age of 12, he was the first of his siblings to leave the swamp, and one of the first frogs to talk to humans. He is portrayed as encountering a 12-year-old Jim Henson (played by Christian Kebbel) for the first time.

According to The Muppet Movie Kermit returned to the swamp, where a passing agent noted he had talent and, thus inspired, he headed to Hollywood, encountering the rest of the Muppets along the way. Together, they were given a standard "rich and famous" contract by Lew Lord of Wide World Studios and began their showbiz careers.

Appearances

Kermit's earliest incarnation on Sam and Friends

Sesame Street

Kermit was a regular character on Sesame Street throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Closely identified with the show, he often appeared as an easily frustrated lecturer, a straight man to the humorous antics of another Muppet (most often Grover), or a news reporter interviewing nursery rhyme characters for Sesame Street News. The various songs he sang on Sesame Street tended to be meaningful in nature, most memorably his song "Bein' Green".

Following the death of Jim Henson, Kermit was used less frequently on Sesame Street, but still made appearances during the 1990s. Unlike the rest of the show's Muppets, he was never the property of Sesame Workshop, and was on the show under contract. When the opportunity came for Sesame Workshop to buy its characters for $180 million, they chose not to buy Kermit; however, Sesame Workshop does have the rights to rerun old sketches featuring Kermit.

With the Muppets

In The Muppet Show television series, Kermit was the central character, the frontman and the long-suffering stage manager of the theatre show, trying to keep order amidst the chaos created by the other Muppets. Jim Henson once claimed that Kermit's job on the Muppet Show was much like his own: "trying to get a bunch of crazies to actually get the job done." It was on this show that the running joke of Kermit being pursued by leading lady Miss Piggy developed.

On Muppets Tonight, Kermit was still a main character, although he was the producer rather than frontman. He appeared in many parody sketches such as NYPD Green, City Schtickers, Flippers, and The Muppet Odd Squad, as well as in the Psychiatrist's Office sketch.

Kermit also served as the mascot for The Jim Henson Company, until the sale of the Muppet characters to The Walt Disney Company. A Kermit puppet can be seen at the National Museum of American History.[4]

Kermit has also played a central role in most of the Muppet movies except for Muppets From Space which was focused on Gonzo the Great.

Guest appearances and parodies

Kermit has made numerous guest appearances on popular television shows, including co-hosting individual episodes of a number of long-running talk shows: On April 2, 1979, Kermit guest-hosted The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and as an April Fool's joke, Kermit hosted CNN's Larry King Live in 1994 and interviewed Hulk Hogan.[5] Kermit was also a semi-regular during the last two seasons of the Tom Bergeron-hosted Hollywood Squares, continuing a quasi-tradition of Muppets appearing on the game show (Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch made several appearances on the original Squares).

Most of Kermit's appearances as a guest star include him being treated as a "real" (non-puppet) character. This ´pretense has been continued into other media: In 1993 Pocket Books published One Frog Can Make A Difference, Kermit's Guide to Life with Kermit as the author. In 1987, Kermit and other Muppet characters co-hosted an ABC News special which attempted to explain the stock market and the potentially disquieting events of the Black Monday stock price decline in a manner that both informed and entertained the audience about the complex subject.

Kermit has a TV star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd.)

His popularity has also led to his appearance in advertisements for a range of products: In January 2006, in a commercial for the Ford Escape Hybrid premiering during the Super Bowl, Kermit was featured singing "Bein' Green"; he is also featured in Ford's print ads for their hybrid vehicle. He also has co-starred alongside Miss Piggy and Jessica Simpson in Pizza Hut commercials in previous Super Bowl commercials. In previous years, he and Miss Piggy were part of the "We want to race the truck" UPS ad campaign involving NASCAR driver Dale Jarrett and his sponsor's "prodding" him to drive a brown UPS truck in a race.

Due to his popularity, easy recognizability, and distinctive voice, Kermit has become a popular target for parody: Kermit has been referenced dozens of times on several television series and films, as Vomiting Kermit on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, on Family Guy, Meet the Feebles, and in the Internet fan video Sad Kermit. For a comprehensive list of Kermit parodies, see the Muppet Mentions category on Muppet Wiki.

Awards and commemorations

Kermit was awarded an honorary doctorate of Amphibious Letters on May 19, 1996 at Southampton College, where he also gave a commencement speech.[6] He is also the only amphibian to have the honor of addressing the Oxford Union.[7] A statue of Henson and Kermit was erected on the campus of Henson's alma mater, the University of Maryland, College Park in 2003.

Kermit was also given the honor of being the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade in 1996.

On Kermit's 50th anniversary in show business, the United States Postal Service released a set of new stamps with photos of Kermit and some of his fellow Muppets on them. The background of the stamp sheet features a photo of a silhouetted Henson sitting in a window well, with Kermit sitting in his lap looking at him. In 2006, on Kermit's 50th anniversary, Kermit, Texas was taken over by the frog during their homecoming week, ending with Kermit himself crowning the homecoming queen. The city of Kermit's main water tower was then painted with the face and signature of the frog.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ Ferguson, Terri (2008-06-14). "Man for whom frog was named dies". Delta Democrat Times. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  2. ^ Hanrahan, Kathy (2007-07-16). "It's easy being green in Leland, Miss". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-06-15. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |work= (help)
  3. ^ Falk, Karen. "Ask Henson #73". The Jim Henson Company.
  4. ^ NMAH | Kermit the Frog Puppet
  5. ^ Tough Pigs Anthology - April Frog's Day: Kermit on Larry King Live
  6. ^ Southampton College News: Kermit's Commencement Address at Southampton College
  7. ^ The New York Times

Kermit the Frog on Muppet Wiki

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