The Muppets was a success back in the fall of 2011, winning critical praise and an Oscar for its music. It was a return to form for the Muppets, who had not been in a theatrical movie since 1999’s Muppets From Space. Disney is now looking to press on with that success, and a sequel to The Muppets is coming on March 21, 2014.
Muppets Most Wanted will follow the Muppets as they tour the world. They are then drawn into a a European jewel-heist by a thief who happens to be Kermit the Frog’s Doppelgänger. London, Madrid, Berlin, and Dublin have all been mentioned as locations in the movie.
An early teaser trailer for the movie was released this week. It shows that Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, and Tina Fey will have major roles in the flick. It also spoils some of the trademark Muppet-movie cameos, such as Sean “Diddy” Combs and Salma Hayek:
Jane Henson, wife of Muppets creator Jim Henson, has died. She was 78.
According to The Jim Henson Company, Henson died at her Connecticut home yesterday after a prolonged battle with cancer. The company has set up a tribute page featuring photos from her life and audio from an address she made to The Jim Henson company made last year.
Jane Henson was born Jane Nebel, and met Jim Henson at a puppetry class at the University of Maryland. The couple went on to create the show Sam and Friends and the Muppets. The couple were married in 1959, and had five children together. Though they were separated in 1986, Jane would go on to continue her association with The Jim Henson Company.
Jane collaborated on several Muppet projects, including The Art of The Muppets museum exhibit, The Muppet Show on Tour, and Sesame Street Live She also served on the board of The Jim Henson Foundation, co-founded The National Puppetry Conference, and founded both The Jim Henson Legacy and The Jane Henson Foundation.
Muppets dump Chick-Fil-A in support of gay marriage? Apparently that’s the case. The Henson Company once supplied the controversial chicken slinging restaurant with toys for their children’s meals, items which featured numerous characters created by the late, great Jim Henson. However, following Dan Cathy’s admission that he only believes in marriage from a biblical perspective, the Muppets are apparently taking their beloved brand elsewhere. Given that the company openly supports the union between frog and pig, this makes perfect sense to me.
“The Jim Henson Company has celebrated and embraced diversity and inclusiveness for over fifty years and we have notified Chick-Fil-A that we do not wish to partner with them on any future endeavors,” the company announced on their official Facebook page.
Although Chick-Fil-A has yet to comment on the Muppets’ departure, the restaurant did release a statement following the vast amount of backlash it received from Cathy’s Baptist Press interview. And while they didn’t backtrack on their stance regarding gay marriage, they did say they intend to treat people the same regardless of who they are or what they believe.
“The Chick-fil-A culture and service tradition in our restaurants is to treat every person with honor, dignity and respect – regardless of their belief, race, creed, sexual orientation or gender,” the statement read. “We will continue this tradition in the over 1,600 Restaurants run by independent Owner/Operators. Going forward, our intent is to leave the policy debate over same-sex marriage to the government and political arena.”
If, like many people, you’ve decided to take your breaded chicken money elsewhere, why not try a knock-off recipe you can cook up at home. That way, you can still enjoy the same culinary delight without all of that pesky guilt. Check out the embedded video to learn how.
