15 Common Misconceptions About The Muppets

Sometime people are wrong about the Muppets. Here are the 15 most popular errors people make.

Occasionally people are wrong about the Muppets... like, dead wrong. Here are 15 of the most commonly overheard errors that Muppet fans want to bang their heads against a desk.

Walt Disney Pictures

1. Fozzy Bear and Ralph the Dog

People (including many professional journalists) will get the names of some of the Muppets wrong. It’s pretty easy to look up the spelling of a character’s name these days, so there's really no excuse. If you're not sure, just Google it!

It's Fozzie Bear, not "Fozzy Bear," "Fonzie Bear," "Fuzzy Bear" or even "Fozzie the Bear."

And it's Rowlf the Dog, not "Ralph," "Rawlf" or "Rolf." Get it right, people!

Oh... and it's Miss Piggy; not Ms. Piggy. It's Beaker; not Beeker. It's Statler; not Stadler. It's Jim Henson; not Hanson or Hensen! And it's Mr. Hooper; not Mr. Looper, Mr. Cooper, Mr. Glooper, Mr. Pooper or any other name Big Bird tells you.

2. The word "Muppet" comes the the combination of "marionette" and "puppet"

Sesame Workshop

The false-etymology of the word "Muppet" coming from a combination of the words "marionette" and "puppet" was first promoted by none other than Jim Henson himself. However, he later recanted the story. According to Henson, he thought up the term "Muppet" simply in order to have a distinctive and memorable brand name for his puppet act. But that hasn't stopped many biographies and websites to list this bit of false trivia about the meaning of the word "Muppet."

According to a 1983 interview, Henson recalled: "Muppets was a word we just coined. It was merely to be the name of our act. ... I used to say to people that It was a combination of 'marionettes' and 'puppets.' But that was mostly an answer that I made up so that people who needed an answer would get an answer. But then I stopped telling this lie, and I'm back to the truth: It just came out of mid air."

While Henson would employ all sorts of puppetry techniques to bring the Muppets to life, the Muppet have only rarely utilized marionette techniques.

- Read More on Muppet Wiki -

3. "Sam & Friends" was the first show that Jim Henson's Muppets appeared on

The Jim Henson Archives

Okay, so "The Junior Good Morning Show"—Henson's first television puppetry gig—only lasted a few weeks in 1954 on WTOP in Washington DC, and his characters—Pierre the French Rat, and cowboys Longhorn and Shorthorn—have not exactly gone on to become beloved standards. And Henson's second local on-camera gigs—"Saturday" and "Afternoon"—in 1954 and 1955 weren't revolutionary television either. But they all pre-date "Sam & Friends."

"Sam & Friends" premiered on May 9, 1955 on WRC, and really was the first launching pad for Henson's style of puppetry, humor and creative style... and the show was the birthplace of his most famous Muppet character (Kermit). But it was not the debut of the Muppets nor was it the the debut of Henson puppeteering on television. Despite this, May 9, 1995 and the debut of "Sam & Friends" is generally given as the birth-date of the Muppets.

4. Kermit didn't become a frog until the 1971 television special "The Frog Prince"

Sesame Workshop

In the early days of the Muppets, the character Kermit was not a frog. He was introduced in 1955 with roundish feet instead of flippers and did not have his iconic pointy collar. Jim Henson once stated that "all the characters in those days were abstract." Kermit was simply a lizard-like creature, and was not any specific species. However Kermit truly became a frog in the late 1960s.,. but the exact moment of the transformation has been unclear. Many official sources (including interviews with Jim Henson himself) have cited the 1971 TV special The Frog Prince as the moment Kermit first became a frog, yet simple research shows it had happened earlier.

Kermit was already a frog, complete with flippers, in the television special Hey, Cinderella!, which was filmed in the fall of 1968. He also appeared in his current form in the first season of Sesame Street which aired in 1969, and references to Kermit as a "frog" (and even calling him "Kermit the Frog") date back as far as 1965.

- Read More on the Muppet Wiki -.

5. Yoda is a Muppet

Lucasfilm Ltd.

Another popular Muppet misconception is that Yoda from the Star Wars films is a Muppet. This is often based on the involvement of Frank Oz as his performer, the character's existence as a puppet, the vocal similarity to Oz' portrayal of Yoda to the voice of the Muppet Grover, and even a false assumption that the Henson workshop (or even Jim Henson himself) built the character.

The Yoda puppet was originally designed and built by Stuart Freeborn for LucasFilm and Industrial Light & Magic. Henson consulted on the building of Yoda, and a few other Henson veterans contributed to the character, such as Wendy Froud who assisted on construction, but their work on Yoda was under LucasFilm's employ not Muppets Inc.

And even if Yoda had been built by Henson, the more realistic Yoda would technically qualify as a "creature" (like the characters in The Dark Crystal) rather than a Muppet.

Simply put: Yoda was built by George Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic, not the Muppet Workshop, so he’s no more a Muppet than Chewbacca, Admiral Ackbar, or R2-D2.

- Read More on the Muppet Wiki -

6. Jim Henson must have been on drugs

The Jim Henson Company

One myth about Jim Henson's creations is that they were created under the influence of illegal substances. Henson's work could be absurd or abstract and highly creative; and it did come out of the counterculture of the 1960s. As a result people often say, "they must have been on drugs to come up with that stuff." Henson's work often tapped into the hippy or psychedelic sub-cultures, but Jim himself didn't use drugs.

Brian Jay Jones' book "Jim Henson: The Biography" describes the one time that Jim did try LSD. According to Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson and others; Jim took it and nothing happened, so he never tried it again. Jones concluded "Jim didn't need chemicals to take his mind to new worlds; his mind was already there."

- Read More in Jim Henson: The Biography -

7. The Muppeteers just do voices

Sony Pictures

There is a lot more to performing a Muppet (or any puppet for that matter) than doing the "voice." There is all of the physical manipulation of the character, there is the reacting (in real time) to their co-stars, the emoting, the timing, the blocking, the character development and personality, the subtleties and nuances of the performance, etc. Puppeteering is acting! The Muppet performers do a lot more than just provide the voice, they provide the full performance of the character.

Yes, technically, they do provide the vocal performance of the character, but they also provide so much more... they are full on acting (just through their arm)! You wouldn't say "Tom Hanks provided the voice of Forrest Gump" (although also technically true)... so you shouldn't say "Jim Henson provided the voice of Kermit the Frog." Henson performed Kermit (not just vocally, but physically, technically, comedically, dramatically, and even spiritually).

Show some respect... Steve Whitmire doesn't just do the voice of Kermit the Frog. Steve Whitmire performs Kermit the Frog!

8. Bert and Ernie are gay

Sesame Workshop

Rumors have long circulated that Ernie and Bert are a homosexual couple given the close on-screen relationship between the two characters. Sesame Workshop disavows these rumors, claiming the two are just "good friends" and that the abstract puppet characters have no sexuality or sexual orientation.

According to Sesame Workshop: "Bert and Ernie do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future. They are puppets, not humans. Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends."

In addition to generally not exiting below the waist, there has been no on-screen depictions (or even insinuations) of the two being physically or romantically involved; furthermore, Ernie and Bert's bedroom contains two separate beds. Their friendship is strictly platonic... however this hasn't stopped tons of pop-culture satirists from poking fun at the idea of Bert and Ernie's more "adult" personal lives.

- Read More on the Muppet Wiki -

9. Cookie Monster is now the Veggie Monster

Sesame Workshop

It was widely (and erroneously) reported, starting in the spring of 2005, that Cookie Monster would suddenly change his ways from devouring cookies to start promoting a more "politically correct" message of healthy eating and moderation. It was said that the character was trading in his trademark song "C is for Cookie" in favor of a new tune, "A Cookie is a Sometime Food," and (depending on the source) was even said to be going on a diet. Rumors circulated that the character would change it's name -- with such titles as Veggie Monster, Broccoli Monster, or any variety of other vegetables to replace "Cookie."

However, these accounts (and the widespread uninformed outrage that they spawned) were incorrect. Cookie Monster continues to eat cookies (and everything else) and has even occasionally poked fun at the misinformed media hype concerning his dietary preferences or potential name-change. While the 2005 season of the show did feature a song (sung by Hoots the Owl) where Cookie Monster was told about healthy alternatives to eating nothing but cookies, Cookie Monster has been devouring fruits and veggies since his earliest days on the show, so nothing has really changed.

Cookie Monster is still a cookie-eating monster, and that's good enough for me.

- Read More on the Muppet Wiki -

10. Classic Sesame Street episodes are bad for kids

Sesame Workshop

In 2006, Sesame Workshop started releasing classic episode of Sesame Street on DVD under the banner "Sesame Street: Old School". However the DVDs of historic episodes from the 1960s and 1970s came with a somewhat surprising disclaimer that caused some to misinterpret the warning and cry that "the sky is falling!" There were allegations of runaway "political correctness" and many proclamations that "I watched these episodes growing up and I turned out fine."

The modest disclaimers on the discs warn viewers that these DVD collector's sets are aimed primarily at adults and that these early episodes "may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child."

These warnings do not say: "do not show these episodes to kids" or "these episodes are not appropriate for children." It simply reminds the casual viewer that the episodes contain some things that may have been commonly accepted practices in the early 1970s, but might not fit the cultural norms, educational techniques, or best practices of preschool programming produced today. But rather than white-wash history and keep the old school episodes in the vault, Sesame Workshop has released them - just with a friendly reminder to keep them in their historical context (something a 4-year-old might not be able to do without an active parent watching with them).

Yes, there are some things on these DVDs that wouldn't occur on the show today for "politically correct" reason -- such as characters smoking pipes, kids riding bicycles without helmets, or kids playing unsupervised in a junk yard. And while the 26 letters of the alphabet and the numbers from 1 to 10 haven't changed in 40+ years, there are many things that have changed and wouldn't occur on the show today because the culture of today is not the same as the culture of the 1970s -- such as teaching techniques, cultural norms, and other social needs.

Sesame Workshop isn't saying don't show your kids these episodes, they're just reminding you that they reflect the culture of another time and might not suit the needs of a kid today the way the show of today does.

11. Miss Piggy appeared on Sesame Street

The Walt Disney Company

While Kermit the Frog is well-known for his many appearances on Sesame Street, Miss Piggy (and her other Muppet Show co-stars, such as Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Bunsen & Beaker, and Animal) have not appeared on the long-running PBS children's television series.

While Miss Piggy never appeared on Sesame Street, she has shared the screen with some of the Sesame Street Muppets - including in an episode of "The Muppet Show", and in the television specials "A Muppet Family Christmas," "I Love Liberty," "The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson," and several other minor Henson productions.

- Read More on the Muppet Wiki -

12. Jim Henson died because his Christian Science faith wouldn’t let him seek medical attention

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On May 16, 1990, Jim Henson died from a bacterial infection (Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome). The infection had developed in the week leading up to his death. Many have speculated that if Henson had sought medical attention earlier, perhaps, he would have lived. This type of speculation is purely conjecture and the outcome has many complex variables to it.

However contrary to the rumors that persisted long after Henson's death, Henson's Christian Science upbringing had not given him a lifelong aversion to doctors or medication. At the time of his death, Henson hadn't been a practicing Christian Scientist for decades. Yes, Henson rarely went to doctors—or rarely took medication—because, well, he rarely got sick.

According to Henson biographer Brian Jay Jones, "Although Jim always respected the Christian Science point of view, he had long abandoned its practices as a way of life."

The reasons Henson delayed seeking medical attention was simply because he of his modest and unassuming personality. Firstly, he didn’t think he was critically ill; he thought it was just a case of the flu and that he'd get over it. And, secondly, he just didn't want to inconvenience or bother anyone; he really didn't want anyone else to be disturbed by his pain.

- Read More in Jim Henson: The Biography -

13. Jim Henson's son performs Kermit now

The Jim Henson Company

After the death of Jim Henson in 1990, some reports claimed that Jim Henson's son, Brian Henson, would be the one carrying on the character of Kermit the Frog. This was an incorrect assumption based partly on Brian's puppeteering experience and the fact that he had taken on many of his father's business roles when he was named president, chairman, and chief executive officer of Jim Henson Productions.

Brian Henson did not perform the character of Kermit the Frog after his father's passing, however, to this day, many people still hold the sentimental notion that Jim Henson's son took over the role after his father's death.

It was actually veteran Muppet performer Steve Whitmire who took over the role of Kermit in 1990. Whitmire's first appearance as Kermit was in The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson and he continues to perform Kermit to this day.

- Read More on the Muppet Wiki -

14. Disney Owns The Jim Henson Company

The Walt Disney Company

In 2004 the Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets (and the Bear in the Big Blue House franchise) from the Jim Henson Company. So Kermit, Fozzie, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, and the gang are all now officially members of Mickey's family. But Disney did not absorb the entire Henson Company.

The Jim Henson Company (run by Jim Henson's children) continues to operate and is a solely independent company—retaining the rights to such properties as "Fraggle Rock," "The Dark Crystal," "Labyrinth," "Farscape," and "Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas"; and creating such new original properties as "Sid the Science Kid," "Dinosaur Train," "Puppet Up!" and "Pajanimals."

- Read More at Henson.com -

15. Jim Henson never would have ____________!

The Jim Henson Company

Whenever a new Muppet production comes out there is a swarm of "experts" that share their opinions of what Jim Henson would have done differently. "Jim Henson never would have used CGI effects." "Jim Henson never would have let the Muppets sell-out and do commercials." "Jim Henson never would have made a fart joke." "Jim Henson never would have let that innuendo into a 'kids' movie", "Jim Henson never would work with that type of celebrity ." "Jim Henson never would have let illusion of the puppets be broken like that." "Jim Henson never would have let the Muppets use that kind of language," "Jim Henson never would have supported reality TV." "Jim Henson must be rolling over in his grave!!!"

A lot of people out there who never met Jim Henson sure seem to think they know what Jim would have done (and what he wouldn't have done) and how he would feel about what other people are doing today. And most of the time these people are dead wrong! They cling to some sentimental, idealistic and misguided view of who Jim actually was.

Jim wasn't a purist when it came to traditional puppetry and he loved cutting-edge computer effects and technology; he enjoyed off-color jokes aimed at an adult-audience; he wasn't above commercialism or the power of the "all-mighty dollar;" and he wasn't a "kids entertainer" (and he didn't like being type-cast as such). Jim was a deep and complex individual.

Even those who knew Jim well, can't really say for sure what he would have or wouldn't have done in the social, cultural and technological landscape of 2015. So just stop trying to assume you know what Jim would have thought.

- Read More in Jim Henson: The Biography -