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Hidden : 7/9/2010

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Kermit The Frog

Kermit the Frog is puppeteer Jim Henson's most famous Muppet creation, first introduced in 1955. He is the main protagonist of many Muppet projects, most notably as the host of The Muppet Show, and has appeared in various sketches on Sesame Street, in commercials and in public service announcements over the years. Kermit was performed by Henson until his death in 1990. Since then, Kermit has been performed by Steve Whitmire. He was voiced by Frank Welker in Muppet Babies and occasionally in other animation projects. Kermit performed the hit single "The Rainbow Connection" in 1979 for The Muppet Movie, the first feature-length film featuring Henson's Muppets. The song reached #25 on the Billboard Hot 100. Kermit's iconic look and voice have been recognizable worldwide since, and in 2006, the character was credited as the author of Before You Leap: A Frog's Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons, which is an "autobiography" told from the perspective of the character himself.

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 turquoise 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.

Naming

On more than one occasion 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.Another common misconception is that Kermit was named for Kermit Love, who worked with Henson in designing and constructing Muppets, particularly on Sesame Street. But Love's association with Henson did not begin until well after Kermit's creation, and he always denied any connection between his name and that of the character. 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". In Hungary he is called Breki. In Turkey, although he's known by his real name, Kermit in The Muppet Show, in Sesame Street he was named as "Kurbagacik" (Little Frog).

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 the 2002 film 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 (Dom DeLuise) 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 (Orson Welles) of Wide World Studios and began their showbiz careers. In Before You Leap, Kermit again references encountering Jim Henson sometime after the events depicted in the course of The Muppet Movie and details their friendship and their partnership in the entertainment industry, and credits Henson as being the individual to whom he owes his fame. At some point after the events of The Muppet Movie, Kermit and the other Muppets begin The Muppet Show, and the characters remain together as a group, before starring in the other Muppet films and Muppets Tonight, with Kermit usually at the core of the stories as the lead protagonist. The Muppet Movie says that the events of the movie "approximate how it happened" (referring to how the Muppets got started) when asked about the film by his nephew Robin. The character regards Fozzie Bear as his best friend—a fact reiterated by Kermit in Before You Leap—and the two were frequently seen together during sketches on The Muppet Show and in other Muppet-related media and merchandise.

Appearances

Sesame Street

Kermit was one of the original Muppet characters on Sesame Street. Though he was intended to be removed from the cast after the first season, he returned as a full-time character in the third, and remained a regular character for many years. Closely identified with the show, he often appeared as an easily frustrated lecturer, a straight man to the humorous antics of another Muppet, or a news reporter interviewing storybook characters for Sesame Street News. He most often interacted with Grover and, to a slightly lesser extent, Cookie Monster. 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 new appearances until 2001. Unlike the rest of the show's Muppets, he was not created for the exclusive use of Sesame Workshop, and has rarely been a part of the show's merchandise. All Muppet characters originally belonged to the Jim Henson Company, but when the opportunity came for Sesame Workshop to buy its characters for $180 million, Kermit was not included in the deal. The character now belongs to The Muppets Studio (owned and controlled by the Walt Disney Company). Sesame Workshop does have permission to use old sketches featuring Kermit, but such sketches are rarely used in new episodes. Kermit made his first new appearance since 2001 in the show's fortieth season premiere.

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.Kermit has also played a central role in all of the Muppet movies except for Muppets from Space which was focused on Gonzo the Great. Baby Kermit was one of the cartoon characters featured in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Congrats to JNS (Just Not Sure) on the FTF!!

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