Click image to enlarge

Description



GREETINGS, FEEL FREE

TO

"SHOP NAKED."©

 

 

We deal in items we believe others will enjoy and want to purchase.

 We are not experts.

We welcome any comments, questions, or concerns.

WE ARE TARGETING A GLOBAL MARKET PLACE.

Thanks in advance for your patronage.

 

Please Be sure to add WDG to your favorites list!

 


NOW FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE…


"MISS PIGGY DRESS UP SET"
VINTAGE COLORFORMS TOY
c. HENSON & ASSOCIATE
COPYRIGHT 1980
NEW OLD STOCK / NOS
UNPUNCHED
BOX SHOWS SHELF WEAR W SOME SURFACE WEAR




 
-------------------------------------------- 
FYI
--------------------------------------------
 
 
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created in 1955 by Jim Henson, they are the namesake for the Disney media franchise that encompasses films, television series, music recordings, print publications, and other media associated with The Muppet Show characters.

Henson once stated that the term "Muppet" had been created as a portmanteau of the words "marionette" and "puppet", but also claimed that it was actually a word he had coined. The Muppets debuted on the television program Sam and Friends, which aired locally on WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. from 1955 to 1961. After appearing on skits in several late night talk shows and advertising commercials during the 1960s, Henson's Muppets began appearing on Sesame Street when that show debuted in 1969. The Muppets then became the stars of multiple television series and films, including; The Muppet Show (1976–81), The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), and The Jim Henson Hour (1989). After Henson's death in 1990, The Muppets continued their presence in television and cinema with Muppets Tonight (1996–98), a series continuation of The Muppet Show, and three films, The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Muppets from Space (1999); the former two were co-produced with Disney, who sought to acquire the characters since the late 1980s. In 2004, The Walt Disney Company purchased the rights to The Muppets (except for the Sesame Street characters, which were sold separately to Sesame Workshop), and later formed The Muppets Studio; a division created specifically for managing The Muppets franchise.

Disney underwent an extensive re-branding of the franchise beginning in 2008, in anticipation of the seventh film; The Muppets. The film, written by Jason Segel and Nicholas Stoller and directed by James Bobin, was released by Walt Disney Pictures on November 23, 2011, and met with critical acclaim and commercial success. An eighth film, Muppets Most Wanted, will be released on March 21, 2014.

History
Jim Henson era
The Muppets were created in the 1950s, beginning with Kermit the Frog, who would become Jim Henson's signature character. Jim Henson said the word "Muppet" predated Sam and Friends, the first television program featuring the Muppets. Oftentimes, Henson would tell people the term had been created by combining the words "marionette" and "puppet", but also claimed that it was actually a word he had coined.[1] During the 1960s, the characters (notably Kermit and Rowlf the Dog) appeared on skits in several late night talk shows and advertising commercials. Rowlf became the first Muppet with a regular spot on network television when he began appearing as Jimmy Dean's sidekick on The Jimmy Dean Show. After the debut of Sesame Street in 1969 (for which Henson designed and performed several characters), Henson decided to pursue the creation of a television program that would be aimed towards adults and children. By 1976, The Muppet Show, a sketch comedy variety series debuted, introducing new characters such as Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo and Animal, as well as showcasing regulars Kermit and Rowlf. The Muppet Show became increasingly popular due to its unique brand of humor and prolific roster of guest stars. The show's success allowed Henson Associates to produce three theatrical features based on the group; The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper and The Muppets Take Manhattan that followed in 1979, 1981 and 1984, respectively.

Disney era
By the late 1980s, Jim Henson entered discussions with The Walt Disney Company, in which the latter would acquire Jim Henson Productions and in turn, own The Muppets franchise. However, due to Henson's death in 1990, solid negotiations never materialized. Still interested in the franchise, Disney co-produced the fourth and fifth Muppet films; The Muppet Christmas Carol and Muppet Treasure Island, with Jim Henson Productions in 1992 and 1996, respectively. Following that, the characters starred in Muppets Tonight which ran from 1996 to 1998 and a sixth film, Muppets from Space, released by Columbia Pictures in 1999. Eventually in 2004, The Walt Disney Company purchased The Muppets intellectual properties, consisting of rights and trademarks to The Muppet Show and Bear in the Big Blue House characters. Exceptions included characters created specifically for Sesame Street (as they were previously sold to Sesame Workshop) and the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock (which are still owned by the Jim Henson Company). Although the term "Muppet" is often genericized to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is a legal trademark owned by Disney in reference to the original characters created by Henson. The trademark is currently held by The Muppets Studio, a wholly owned subsidiary of Disney responsible for managing the Muppet characters, although Sesame Workshop continues to use the term for their characters (and archive footage of Kermit the Frog) under license from Disney.

The Jim Henson Company retains the rights to a number of productions featuring the Disney-owned Muppet characters, including Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Christmas Toy, Sesame Street: 20 and Still Counting, Henson's Place, Billy Bunny's Animal Songs, the original Dog City special, and Donna's Day. While some of these specials have since been released uncut, current releases of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas and The Christmas Toy have removed the appearances by Kermit the Frog.

Famous Muppets from The Muppet Show and related spin-offs include Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, The Great Gonzo, Pepe the King Prawn, Rizzo the Rat, Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker, Scooter, Johnny Fiama, Clifford, Bobo the Bear, Statler and Waldorf, the Swedish Chef, Sal Minella, Sam the Eagle, Sweetums, Robin the Frog (Kermit's nephew), Walter, Annie Sue, Pops, Lew Zealand, Beauregard, and the band Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem featuring Dr. Teeth on keyboard, Animal on the drums, Floyd on bass, and Janice on lead guitar, Zoot on saxophone, and Lips on trumpet. Other well-known Muppets include Sesame Street characters such as Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Bert and Ernie, Grover, Cookie Monster, and the main characters of Fraggle Rock.

Television shows featuring Muppets have included The Jimmy Dean Show, Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, Bear in the Big Blue House, The Jim Henson Hour, The Ghost of Faffner Hall, Dog City, Secret Life of Toys, Muppets Tonight, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss and Statler and Waldorf: From the Balcony. A recurring adult-oriented cast of Muppets (in a setting known as The Land of Gorch) were featured throughout the first season of Saturday Night Live.

Guest stars on some of these programs have occasionally had Muppet versions of themselves. It was a regular practice for the first few episodes of The Muppet Show, and ZZ Top, among others, have appeared as Muppet versions of themselves on Sesame Street. Muppet versions of real people have also appeared in other shows, such as in 30 Rock, when one of the characters, Kenneth Parcell, views his co-workers as Muppet-versions in episode "Apollo, Apollo" of March 26, 2009.

The puppet characters of Farscape, The Storyteller, Mother Goose Stories, The Hoobs, Construction Site and Dinosaurs, as well as from the films Labyrinth, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Buddy, The Country Bears and The Dark Crystal, are not considered Muppets, as they were made by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, rather than by Henson's Muppet Workshop. The puppet casts of Puppet Up! and Tinseltown are also not considered Muppets as they were made by The Jim Henson Company after the sale of The Muppets in 2004. The Star Wars character Yoda was voiced by Frank Oz, one of Henson's regular performers, and is often referred to as a Muppet in media and reference works; he is not, however, a Muppet and Henson's organization was not involved in the character's creation nor design.

The Muppets' popularity has been so expansive that Muppet characters have been treated as celebrities in their own right. The Muppets have presented at the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards; made cameo appearances in such feature films as Rocky III, An American Werewolf in London and Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium; and have been interviewed on the news magazine 60 Minutes. Kermit the Frog was interviewed early on in Jon Stewart's run on The Daily Show, guest hosted The Tonight Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, America's Funniest Home Videos and an April Fools' Day edition of Larry King Live; and has served as Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade. The characters also appeared in-character on such sit-coms and dramas as The Cosby Show, The West Wing and The Torkelsons.[citation needed] The music video for the Weezer song "Keep Fishin'" is premised on the band performing on The Muppet Show and features appearances by several characters. On September 28, 2005, the United States Postal Service released a Jim Henson and the Muppets postage stamp series. The Muppets also appeared on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve for the 2008 countdown on December 31, 2007. Kermit, Rizzo and others welcomed in the new year with a series of messages to welcome viewers back from the advertising breaks. After one such segment, with Kermit in Time Square, co-host Ryan Seacrest thanked his pal "Kerms" for the help bringing in '08. Miss Piggy has appeared as a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson and Kermit the Frog appeared on Hollywood Squares and as one of the celebrity commentators on VH1's I Love documentary series. In September 2010, the Muppets launched a new online cooking show called "The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora".

On July 25, 2007, the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta announced the opening of a new Jim Henson Wing, which will house anywhere from 500 to 700 retired Muppets. The new wing will also include films, sketches, and other materials from the Jim Henson Company archives. The wing was originally slated to open in 2012, but has been delayed by a lack of funding and rescheduled for a possible 2014 or 2015 debut.

In popular culture
Muppet-like and Muppet-inspired puppets star in the 2004 Tony Award-winning Broadway musical Avenue Q (which disavows any relationship with Sesame Workshop or the Jim Henson Company, possibly to avoid lawsuits from the two companies). Peter Jackson's film, Meet the Feebles is another parody of the Muppets. A vomit-spewing Kermit the Frog was a recurring character on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and the Muppets were frequently preempted at the beginning of episodes for the Canadian series You Can't Do That on Television. Seth Green's short-lived show Greg the Bunny was about sentient hand-puppets working in a Muppet-like children's show. Many other films and television shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy, The West Wing and Robot Chicken have referenced The Muppets. 
 




(PICTUREs 3 & 4 FOR DISPLAY ONLY)
-------------------------

 

 

Thanks for choosing this auction. You may email for alternate payment arrangements. We combine shipping. Please pay promptly after the auction. The item will be shipped upon receipt of funds.
WE ARE GOING GREEN, SO WE DO SOMETIMES USE CLEAN RECYCLED MATERIALS TO SHIP. 

 

 

Please leave feedback when you have received the item and are satisfied. Please respond when you have received the item.

*****

5*'s

*****

If you were pleased with this transaction, please respond with all 5 stars! If you are not pleased, let us know via e-mail. Our goal is for 5-star service. We want you to be a satisfied, return customer.

 

 

Please express any concerns or questions. More pictures are available upon request. The winning bid will incur the cost of S/H INSURED FEDEX OR USPS. See rate calculator or email FOR ESTIMATE. International Bidders are Welcome but be mindful if your country is excluded from safe shipping. 

 

 

 

 

 Thanks for perusing THIS and ALL our auctions.

 

Please Check out our other items!

 

 

WE like the curious and odd.

 

BUY, BYE!!