The Muppets take the

Smithsonian
By:
Carmen Rosa Sifuentes
Jorge Farro
 The Muppets and Pop Culture
Henson had a huge impact on the way society saw puppetry. Jim Henson’s
Muppets have a long and complex history, dating back to the late 1950s
when a variation of Kermit appeared on the puppet show.
1950 1970 1999

In many countries and cities where the show is aired, the program is
customized to reflect the values, issues and culture of a particular country
or region. The connection with the audience is the key to state that “The
Muppets” worked so well in television.
The Muppets made their first appearance together on "The Today Show" in
1960 and continued to visit the late night shows throughout the decades.

The music video of Queen & The Muppets "Bohemian Rhapsody,“ in 2009,
went viral with over 20 million views.
 The Walt Disney Company acquired The
Muppets franchise in 2004. Following the
absence of Henson, there were various
collaborations with Disney such as: “The
Muppet Christmas Carol”, “The Muppet
Movie” and “Muppet Treasure Island”.

The official Muppets Facebook

page has more than 1.1
million fans and individual
characters like Kermit, Miss
Piggy, Gonzo and Big Bird have
their own fan pages and
campaigns.
The Muppets: Then Vs Now
Jim Henson created The Muppets in the
1950's.

In 1954, TV show “The Junior Morning Show”

featured Pierre the French Rat as well as
other characters. But it was cancelled.

In 1955, Jim Henson got a new show entitled,

Sam and Friends.

First appearance together on "The Today

Show" in 1960.

In 1968, Joan Ganz Cooney and the Children's

Television Workshop asked Henson to make
and perform Muppets in a new kid's show
called, Sesame Street.
The 1970's proved to be a successful decade for
The Muppets. While Sesame Street was a
successful show.

In 1979, Henson decided to expand the

Muppets to a whole another medium: film.
That's when The Muppet Movie went into
production.

In 1981, The Muppet Show was cancelled, but

not because of bad ratings, Henson just wanted
to expand the Muppets more. He did so, by
directing the next Muppet movie, The Great
Muppet Caper.

In 1986, Jim Henson directed his second fantasy

film, Labyrinth.
On May 16, 1990 Jim Henson died from bacterial pneumonia.
His son Brian took over the company. He started by directing
the next Muppet movie, The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Sesame Street changed a lot. The main character was always

Big Bird, now it is officially Elmo.

One year later in 1999, another

Muppet movies was released,
Muppets From Space.

In February 2004, The Walt

Disney Company bought the
company and characters of the
Muppets.
THE MUPPETS IN SMITHSONIAN
In May 2006, an exhibit called Muppets and Mechanisms
opened at the Smithsonian.

The exhibit, divided into three displays at the American History

Museum, featured nine puppets from the original Sam and
Friends show and animatronic figures and mechanisms from 
The Dark Crystal Jane Henson
opening the 2006
exhibit

Dr. Teeth, Jim, Kermit and Sam and friends

Rowl
 THE MUPPETS IN SMITHSONIAN
A traveling Smithsonian exhibit of Muppets opened Sept. 24,
2010 at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

The exhibition documents Henson’s process of “visual thinking” through

works of art, photographs, documents, puppets and other 3-D objects, and
film and video clips
THE MUPPETS IN SMITHSONIAN
Henson's family donated more than 20 puppets to the National
Museum of American History. The newest donation includes
Miss Piggy and some of her co-stars from The Muppet Show,
including Fozzie Bear, Rowlf the piano-playing dog, Scooter and
the Swedish Chef

Miss Piggy will go on display in March 2014

in a permanent exhibit
 HENSON´S THINKING

His works are remembered in part by promoting positive values ​in children
such as friendship, magic and love, themes that appeared in most of his
works.