Just when you thought we were out of stars who have been wrangled to make cameo appearances in The Muppets, they pull us back in with more cameos--and they just keep getting more and more random. First, it was Judd Hirsch, then it was French Stewart, and now it's Sterling Knight. Yes... Sterling Knight.
Wait, who? Apparently, Sterling Knight is a young actor on Disney Channel's Sonny With a Chance and So Random and had a role in the Zac Efron feature 17 Again. Classic, powerful works of both cinema and television that obviously carry over to a cameo in a high-profile Muppet feature.
How do we know that young mister Knight is appearing in The Muppets? Well, he said so. Knight said so at the MTV Movie Awards (which were Sunday Knight night). And I quote, "I did a small cameo in the upcoming Muppets movie that’s coming out." It's kind of hard to get more of a confirmation than that.
If I had to guess as to what Knight's role in the film is, I would wager that he has a blink-and-you'll-miss-him cameo answering phones at The Muppet Telethon to save the Muppet Theater in the movie. But... all I'm basing that off of is him saying he did a small cameo, so it makes some sort of sense. (At least as much sense as anything else on this blog.)
For a complete list of every confirmed, rumored, and debunked cameo star for The Muppets, check out our always up to date Great Muppet Cameo Rundown!
As we mentioned a few weeks ago, Cookie Monster participated in The Huffington Post's Social Interview series as fans submitted the ravenous blue creature questions. Well, you asked and Cookie Monster answered in the form of a video three days ago on HuffintonPost.com. It's a lot of fun and, as always, Cookie is the answer to all our questions. What more could you need?
Speaking of Cookie Monster... he also recently made the rounds at the AOL studios (coincidentally the parent company of The Huffington Post) (okay, maybe not so coincidentally) as part of their "You've Got..." instructional video series. In his video, Cookie Monster shows viewers the proper way to devour a cookie, and we're surely all much wiser for the experience. Enjoy.
As you all know, Kermit was on-hand (pun totally intended) at Disneyland this past Saturday for the premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides to interview celebrities. The Muppets Studio posted its official video of the event on YouTube but E! Online, who Kermit was apparently reporting for, has a video of the frog at the premiere as well. Check it out!
Within Henson lore is a story of a magnificent mural of hundreds of Muppet characters gathered together in a single theater from all Henson projects. Bits and pieces of it have been seen before in the background of pictures, but never before has the full mural been showcased... until now. Jeff Christiansen, who had the awesome opportunity to tour The Jim Henson Company lot in Los Angeles took loads of awesome pictures of the mural in all its glory, which can be seen on his Flickr account. But that's not enough, because our good friends at ToughPigs have Photoshopped together the pictures to create a complete look at the incredible piece of art. See for yourself here.
The latest confirmation in the world of cameos for The Muppets is star of The Office (and husband of other cameo star, Emily Blunt), John Krasinski, as confirmed in an interview on Collider.com. Krasinski has awesome comic timing and he seems like he would be a good fit for working with the Muppets. In the interview he states that he might be playing himself, but he's not sure, and he can't say which Muppets he worked with. But... he's in the movie, so there.
Awhile back, Jim Henson's Red Book posted an entry from Jim's diary that stated, "5/2/1971 Kermit reviews 11 Frog books for NY Times Book Review." There was no archivist information provided, however, but friend of the blog Ariel Winter wasn't satisfied with that as she dug up her old copy of these very book reviews and retyped them and collected links to all of the books reviewed on a list on Amazon. Kermit's comments are fun and charming, so be sure to check them out!
It's that time of the year again... time for the Daytime Emmy Awards! Announcements were made this week of the nominations and, as always, Sesame Street cleaned up big time with 16 nominations. This includes all four spots for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series for Kevin Clash (Elmo), Caroll Spinney (Big Bird and Oscar), Leslie Carrara-Rudolph (Abby Cadabby), and Eric Jacobson (Grover). You can see the entire list of all the nominees here, but we took the liberty of breaking down Sesame's 16 nominations for you below:
Outstanding Pre-School Children's Series
Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series
Kevin Clash
Caroll Spinney
Leslie Carrara-Rudolph
Eric Jacobson
Outstanding Direction in Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design/Styling
Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series
Outstanding Achievement in Lighting Direction
Outstanding Achievement in Multiple Camera Editing
Outstanding Original Song - Children's and Animation
"What I Am"
"I Wonder"
"Rakhi Road"
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing - Live Action and Animation
Outstanding Achievement in Technical Direction/Electronic Camera/Video Control
Outstanding Writing in a Children's Series
Congratulations to all of our friends at Sesame Street for their once-again amazing achievements and nominations!
You thought all of the cameo rumors and name-dropping for The Muppets was about over, didn't you Muppet fans? Well, you were wrong--and so was I! But I'm quite glad I am, because this latest batch of name-dropped celebs is (for the most part) quite awesome.
Yesterday, TVGuide.com posted a small article with some input from Modern Family's Rico Rodriguez who simply couldn't contain his excitement about appearing "as himself" in The Muppets. We're all thankful for that, as he dropped the names of four other celebrities who will join him in playing themselves and answering phones at The Muppet Telethon that takes place in the movie. These celebrities include...
Neil Patrick Harris - One of the most outspoken celebrity Muppet fans (maybe second only to Jason Segel), it was starting to look like NPH wouldn't be getting a cameo in this movie--even though he and Segel work together on How I Met Your Mother. But it looks like everyone's favorite shoe fairy from Sesame Street will be appearing in The Muppets. Whether he's simply manning a phone or if he gets a scene to himself, we're ridiculously excited to have him on board!
Whoopi Goldberg - Whose contract apparently includes a clause that states, "I will appear in every Muppet project I possibly can," was also included in Rico's comments. Whoopi has appeared on Sesame Street, Muppets Tonight, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, and Letters to Santa so adding yet another Muppet appearance to her resume shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. I'm more than okay with her repeat appearances... because Whoopi is wonderful!
Selena Gomez - The only celebrity announcement we're not too thrilled about... Gomez stars in Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place and worked on the second Studio DC: Almost Live. Hopefully she'll just make a very brief, silent cameo answer phones... but if not, there are a lot more Disney Channel "stars" that would be a lot worse to have in The Muppets.
James Carville - And the award for most out-of-left-field cameo appearance goes to... James Carville! Carville is a political commentator, teacher, attorney, and, apparently, actor. Carville is well known for leaning to the Liberal side of the political spectrum, so perhaps he and Sam Eagle will have a battle of wits? Or maybe he and Statler can have a look alike contest instead...
Well, those are all of the celebrities name-dropped by Rico Rodriguez... I've been told that The Muppets officially wraps tomorrow, so what do you think the odds of getting even more celebrity rumors are? Based on current trends... I'd say they're fairly likely.
Thanks to our good friends at ToughPigs.com for finding the TVGuide.com article!
Ryan Dosier - Greetings Muppet fans! I decided to embark on quite thejourney for you today... I've decided to list every confirmed, rumored, and denied cameo appearances in The Muppets. Trust me, it's not as easy as it sounds. There are, as you can imagine, quite a few celebrities set to appear. At last count there are 27 confirmed cameos, 7 rumored cameos, and 4 celebrities starring alongside The Muppets.
Let us compare this to The Muppet Movie, shall we? There were 16 cameos in The Muppet Movie. Who knows what that means... but anyway, here's the cameo rundown!
Paul Rudd - Said he's not the voice of Walter and won't appear at all on MTV.com
Jane Lynch - Said she had not been asked but would do it if she was asked on Reuters.com
Jean Claude Van Damme - SlashFilm.com reported that Kathy Griffin was a replacement cameo
Eric Stonestreet - Confirmed he's not in the movie on his Twitter feed
Charles Grodin - Said he's not in the movie and doesn't have time for it on DigitalSpy.com
Steve Carell - Said that his cameo didn't work out due to time issues on SlashFilm.com
So there you have it! Every confirmed, rumored, and debunked celebrity cameo slated for The Muppets. Of course we can't know for sure who will actually appear and who won't until November 23rd... but until then, this is about the best we can do!
This past Sunday in San Francisco, Brian Henson sat down to be interviewed by awesome person and Muppet fan Neil Patrick Harris. The contents of this interview are still mostly unknown but The Jim Henson Company did showcase a great picture of Brian and NPH from the event (see right). If any of our great readers were at this event, email Ryan Dosier at ryguy102390@gmail.com--we'd love to talk to you about writing something about the event!
Another cameo has been confirmed for The Muppets in the form of Modern Family's "Manny Delgado," Rico Rodriguez. The young actor tweeted last Saturday saying, "My childhood is coming alive right now. I'm filming with the muppets for their new movie! It's pretty epic!" I don't know if you've seen Modern Family or the work of Rico Rodriguez... but he's absolutely perfect for a Muppet movie. This is quite a bit of cameos... so check out The Muppet Mindset tomorrow for our attempt to name all of the cameos appearing in the film (that we know of).
Speaking of The Muppets, Examiner.com has posted an incredible video of the filming that went down at The El Capitan Theater last week. The video includes such great moments as Chris Cooper yelling at the Muppets, the Muppets goofing around, Fozzie slapping Kermit around, and much, much more. It really is incredible and you should definitely check it out.
Extremely sad news this week as we report the loss of Sesame Street show writer, song writer, and composer Tony Geiss (1924-2011). Geiss worked on Sesame Street for years and his credits are almost innumerable as you can see on his Muppet Wiki page. Geiss was the conceptual mind behind the Honkers and Abby Cadabby. He wrote the first Sesame Street movie Follow That Bird and some favorite Sesame songs including "Elmo's Song," "I'm Proud to Be a Cow," "That's What Friends are For," and, my personal favorite, "Sing After Me." Thankfully, Geiss's legacy will live on forever with his wonderful songs, writing, and memories.
After that... how about a cheer up? Check out this magnificent video of Kevin Clash and Elmo making a pregnant woman's day at the Sundance Film Festival during a Q&A after a screening of Being Elmo.
And, to conclude, today we're celebrating the 500th post here on The Muppet Mindset! Yes, after 500 posts we're still here--and even more amazingly, you're still here. We're so, so thankful to all of you for being so supportive of us through all 500 of these posts. The support and love you show us is nothing short of incredible! So, to celebrate, watch as I present a gorgeous piece of artwork heinously edited by yours truly!
Ryan Dosier (yours truly) is featured heavily on the latest episode of The MuppetCast, Show #181. The show features Ryan, Joe Hennes, Ryan Roe (of ToughPigs), and Steve Swanson (of The MuppetCast) just having a friendly Muppet fan chat about recent Muppet news. We have a whole lot of fun with it (probably too much fun) and Joe and I's animosity toward each other gets set aside for the good of the Muppet fan community. You're welcome.
Muppet Sherlock Holmes #3 is due out this Wednesday, November 10. Our good friends over at ToughPigs have a 5-page preview (as always... lucky ducks) and it looks... well, it looks just like the previous two issues except this time we've got a role for the one Muppet character Amy Mebberson has trouble drawing--Pepe! But still, it looks good.
Fran Brill and Zoe will be appearing in Chicago, Illinois at the Siskel Film Centerthis weekend, November 13th and 14th presenting two Sesame Street screenings: Sesame Street at 40: Milestones on the Street and Jim Henson & Friends: Inside the Sesame Street Vault. Fran and Zoe will be hosting the two screenings and presumably signing autographs or taking pictures or something. The two screenings are presented courtesy of The Jim Henson Legacy. Ryan Dosier will be in attendance at both screenings, so if you are in the greater Chicago area, or feel like traveling to see Zoe, let us know or be sure to say hi when you see Ryan! For more information, check out the Siskel Film Center's website.
Since it's been so long since we've had one of these News Updates, The Muppet Mindset hasn't been keeping you up to date on the latest rumors about celebrities appearing in the upcoming Muppet movie. Well... here's a quick list for you to acquaint yourself with:
Jason Segel - Obviously. He's writing and starring in it, playing Gary, roommate of new Muppet (and representative of every Muppet fan ever), Walter.
Zach Galifinakis - Star of the 2009 hit comedy The Hangover and the recent 2010 movie Due Date with Robert Downey, Jr. In fact, Robert Downey, Jr. is the one who told E! Online that Galifniakis will be in the movie. How awesome is that?
Amy Adams - Star of Disney's Enchanted, and said to be playing a love-interest of Segel in the film, Adams has been rumored for quite some time, but was finally confirmed in a brief blurb in the new spread in Entertainment Weekly.
Chris Cooper - Best known for roles in American Beauty and The Bourne Identity, Cooper was also confirmed by the Entertainment Weekly article and is said to be playing the film's villain. Me likes. A lot.
Rashida Jones- Well known for her starring role in NBC's Parks and Recreation along with starring with Jason Segel and Paul Rudd in I Love You, Man, Jones has been confirmed by an inside source of mine. Rumor has it that she'll be playing a network executive--and she's awesome and adorable and I approve.
Michael Cera - Arguably the best-known rumored celeb for the movie, Cera has had many famous roles including performances in Juno, Superbad, and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. This info comes from News in Film which links to some site as a source that's really weird... but the article claims that Cera would provide the voice for Walter, the newest Muppet. If this is true, I could definitely see Cera's voice coming out of Walter... I just don't know yet how I feel about a non-Muppeteer doing it.
Alan Arkin - Probably the second most well-known rumored celeb... Arkin is one of only two of these celebs to have won an Oscar (Chris Cooper being the other). Arkin guest starred on The Muppet Show and starred in Little Miss Sunshine. He's an incredible actor and I severely hope that this casting rumor is true. His rumored role is that of a Muppet Theater tour guide.
Those are all the celebrities officially rumored so far. There are other names that have been dropped (such as George Clooney and Ben Stiller in the casting call for the movie) but those have not been confirmed or solidified whatsoever. I for one remain ridiculously excited for this project and can't wait to see all of the talent that gets attached to this. And my fingers are starting to hurt because they're crossed so hard for Neil Patrick Harris to be in this thing.
Just when you thought we were out of stars who have been wrangled to make cameo appearances in The Muppets, they pull us back in with more cameos--and they just keep getting more and more random. First, it was Judd Hirsch, then it was French Stewart, and now it's Sterling Knight. Yes... Sterling Knight.
