News Update: September 9, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: September 9, 2011

All week long, MTV.com has been showcasing its Fall Movie Preview. And one of the films that the folks over at MTV are most excited about is, of course, The Muppets. They're so excited, in fact, that they sat down for an interview with Jason Segel, who apparently likes Muppets quite a bit. In the interview, Segel discusses Walter's favorite Muppet, great Fozzie Bear puns, how Rowlf just loves a nap, and much, much more. Be sure to give it a read, because it really is quite awesome.



Speaking of The Muppets, big news this week as the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) granted the movie an official rating. The Muppets is rated PG for mild rude humor. Who knows what that pertains to in the film... but I like to think that they just gave it that rating as a precaution because Jason Segel and Jack Black are in it. I think it's an excellent sign that the film is rated PG, rather than G. A G rating would have turned away a lot of older movie-goers, but PG is the perfect spot for the Muppets to be to hit the widest amount of people.

Two more Muppet-related books have been announced as tie-ins to the movie. Oddly enough, information on either book can only be found on the UK Amazon, not the US. Check out the information and cover art for both below!

The Muppets: Lights, Camera, Action! Fan Book

Frogs, Hogs, Weirdos, and What-nots: An Unauthorised Guide to The Muppets

In other merchandise news for The Muppets, Adidas has announced that they will be releasing a limited edition set of Kermit the Frog sneakers called "Kermit the Frog x Adidas Superstar II." You can see a picture of one of the shoes at right, complete with an awesome froggy collar above the laces. I have to own these... no way around it.

In even more merchandise news, the first wave of readily-available Muppet stuff related to the movie has officially been released! Wal-Mart stores are now carrying numerous Muppet keychains to make your keys a little bit happier. There are numerous Miss Piggy variations, quite a few Kermits and Animals, at least one Gonzo, a nice group shot (with Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, and Gonzo), a rubber Kermit M as used in the movie logo, and, finally, an awesome Electric Mayhem keychain (see at right). There are at least fifteen different keychains available... so if this is any sign of what we'll be getting come November, we're in for a treat!

Finally, yesterday marked the beginning of Fashion Week in New York, and you couldn't keep Miss Piggy away from it. The porcine diva showed up last night to be beautiful and mingle with fashionistas. Opening Cermony (which is apparently a company?) posted an interview with Miss P. that sheds some insight into her forays into fashion and her thoughts on numerous other things. But, luckily for us, our good friends at Stitch Kingdom were live at Miss Piggy's appearance and captured some excellent photos and video for us. Check out the video below, and look for the pictures on the link above!









The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

The Muppets Get Into the Spirit(Hoods)

The fine folks over at the SpiritHoods company have emailed us an inquiry about giving a big mention for their upcoming line of SpiritHoods. What are SpiritHoods, you ask? And what business does The Muppet Mindset have talking about them? Well... I'll answer both questions right... now.

That's the most spirited hood I've ever seen.

SpiritHoods are fuzzy, warm, hat-like things that hip, young guys and gals (like me, obviously) (says the guy who runs a Muppet website) are wearing to keep their heads (and on some... their hands?) warm when it's cold. Apparently this is a very popular trend that I hadn't heard anything about before a representative from the company emailed me.

As it turns out, the fine folks over at SpiritHoods will be working with Disney to produce a series of Muppet-themed SpiritHoods to look like Kermit, Fozzie, Animal, Miss Piggy, and... I dunno, Thog? Seems to be the direction we're heading. Anyway... SpiritHoods is making these to promote this falls The Muppets.

We're happy to announce that we're starting a team-up that involves we here at The Muppet Mindset informing you, there, at the outside of The Muppet Mindset, all about these exciting upcoming products and the SpiritHoods people sending us some cool exclusive updates and looks at the Hoods as they get closer to release. This all starts with a "teaser trailer" for the SpiritHoods featuring Animal. Give it a look and enjoy! We'll keep you up to date on this exciting new product for The Muppets!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

The Muppets: The Green Album

Since 2009's D23 Expo, we've had word of a brand new album of Muppet songs covered by famous artists and bands coming our way. And now, nearly two years later, we finally have some actual information on this exciting piece of merchandise! Formerly titled Muppets: Revisited, The Muppets: The Green Album is set for release on August 23rd of this year. Calendar savvy Muppet fans will note that this is exactly three months before the release of The Muppets in theaters, so it's nice to see that Disney's marketing plan will still be going strong come August. But anyway... thanks to folks at ToughPigs, Pitchfork, and the Starbucks Blog (because there is such a thing?), we now have the full track listing and cover art for the album. Check it out below!

THE MUPPETS: THE GREEN ALBUM

1. "The Muppet Show Theme", OK Go
2. "Rainbow Connection", Weezer featuring Hayley Williams of Paramore
3. "Mahna Mahna", The Fray
4. "Moving Right Along", Alkaline Trio
5. "Our World", My Morning Jacket
6. "Halfway Down the Stairs", Amy Lee
7. "Mr. Bassman", Sondre Lerche
8. "Wishing Song", The Airborne Toxic Event
9. "Night Life", Brandon Saller of Atreyu and Billy Martin of Good Charlotte
10. "Bein' Green", Andrew Bird
11. "I Hope That Something Better Comes Along", Matt Nathansan
12. "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday", Rachael Yamagata

So... yeah! This is super exciting and way awesome. I've heard of most of these people covering the songs, and the song choice is inspired. I'm a little confused as to why "Our World" from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas is included (since the special is owned by The Jim Henson Company), but it's a nice song so I won't complain. I think I'm most excited to hear The Fray's cover of "Mahna Mahna," as they're one of my favorite bands. So... hurry up and get here August! Also, while you're hurrying, bring November along with you.





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

Finding Muppets at Walt Disney World

Lisa Alexander - Hi folks! Lisa the Intern here. For those of you who don't know (which is probably all of you), I recently returned from a trip to Disney World. A word of advice for those of you who may be planning a trip soon: Don't try to do all four parks in three days. You will be rushed and stressed and will have to skip some potentially awesome rides and shows for the sake of getting to the next park. Also, it will severely limit your time for admiring and purchasing Muppet merchandise.

Yes, you read that right. Muppet merchandise is popping up all over all four parks--Epcot, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios--and it's selling.

First of all, you are probably familiar with the classic Mouse Ears--cute little hats you can buy to make it look like you have ears just like Mickey. And then there are the novelty Mouse Ears, with random things attached like a bridal veil so you can announce to the entire park that you just got married (or that you're a really cute little girl who asked Daddy really nicely). But the kind of Ears I saw most often actually being worn or carried around the parks? They were green and had Kermit eyes between the Mickey ears. Now, granted, my eye is naturally drawn to anything Muppet, and a bright green hat is much more noticeable than a black one, so it would probably be a little too bold of me to venture that the Kermit Ears (ain't that oxymoronic?) are the most popular Mouse Ears, but I would definitely say that they rank fairly high. I would also like to mention that there were an awful lot of people walking around the parks wearing Muppet t-shirts. It was very encouraging.

Now, like I said, there was Muppet merchandise for sale in every single park. I can't say exactly how much, because I didn't go in every single store. To be honest, the only Muppet merchandise I saw at Animal Kingdom was a Kermit pin, but that's still more than I was expecting--Animal Kingdom is not exactly the most character-centric park. Elsewhere, a small 3-D Kermit vinylmation pin was incredibly easy to find; I was practically tripping over it at Epcot. There was also a lovely set of three pens that looked like Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Animal, which I would have bought except that I never would have used them and simply don't have anywhere in my room to display Muppet pens. You could also buy the Kermit pen individually.

Of course, the real locus of all Muppet merchandise at Disney was the lovely gift shop you find upon exiting Muppet*Vision. And that, my friends, is where I have plenty of good news.

You may know that the waiting area for Muppet*Vision is filled with all sorts of fun props and decorations and random things that presumably belong to the Muppets. I would give you more details on the sorts of things you can find there, but I simply can't; the waiting area was so full that I could not explore. Yes, this very large area was PACKED with people eager to see the Muppets (or to enjoy some air conditioning, but an audience is an audience). This was QUITE a contrast to my trip to Disneyland two years ago, where my parents and I pretty much had the waiting area of Muppet*Vision all to ourselves and I wandered around taking a hundred pictures of everything.

Similarly, you may or may not know about the lovely Muppet fountain outside of Muppet*Vision. It's lovely in person, but I kept having to wait to take pictures of it because so many other families were posing with it.

"But what about the merchandise?" you are wondering. Well, Muppet fans, if you're heading to Disney, bring a very full wallet with you and leave plenty of room in your suitcase for souvenirs. I'm very particular about my Muppet merchandise, and I still managed to spend almost $90 of my parents' money. (What? It was my graduation present. And it was partly their fault. "What do you mean, you don't have a Fozzie plush? You NEED to have a Fozzie plush!")

Now, a lot of it is the same stuff we've been seeing for years--the same Kermit, Fozzie, and Miss Piggy plushes, although you have quite the selection in the size of those plushes. But there were new t-shirts and mugs, plus a bunch of the Muppet Comic Books, and other things that I'm forgetting because there was just SO MUCH there to love.

The vinylmation is harder to find. Like I said, this stuff is selling. The only Muppet vinylmation (other than the Kermit pin mentioned earlier) I could find was NOT at the Muppet*Vision gift shop, but at a gift shop attached to a presentation on animation. They seemed to have quite the selection, but it was of course all blind-boxed, and by that point I was being dragged out the door so we could get some lunch and move on to the next park. (Like I said, I do not advise doing four parks in three days.)

But the best indication about the Muppets at Disney World may have come from the lady working the register at the Muppet*Vision gift shop: "People are always so excited when they find this show ... It's amazing how many people still like the Muppets." She specifically mentioned the "older fans" and the little kids who weren't around for the hay-day of the Muppets, and yet somehow have still managed to fall in love with them.

The bottom line? I'd say the Muppets are "in."






The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.com

"The Muppets" Movie Merchandise Sneak Peek

Muppet fans are awesome, you know that? Even before we saw the first trailer for The Muppets online, one Muppet fan, Julian Kleibeler, was scouring the innards (gross) of Amazon.com searching for upcoming merchandise that will be tied-in with the release of the film this fall. And boy, did he strike gold! Thanks to Julian, we now have detailed release information for not one, not two, not even four--but seven books being released this coming September and October all about the Muppets (as opposed to only The Muppets) (I don't get it either).


Anyway... check out the seven books below! You're welcome to follow the links and pre-order them if you'd like. Most of them are on sale on Amazon currently. Unfortunately, no pictures of the books have been released yet... so I hope you like walls of text!

The Muppets: Reader 1 [paperback, 32 pages]
Price: $3.99   EUR 2,99
Publisher: LB Kids
ISBN: 978-0316182973
Release date: October 11, 2011
Description: Read all about Kermit the Frog and his zany friends in this illustrated early reader. © Disney
Author: Ray Santos is the author of numerous licensed children books including Power Rangers, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Super Hero Squad and Transformers. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

The Muppets: Reader 2 [paperback, 32 pages]
Price: $3.99   EUR 2,99
Publisher: LB Kids
ISBN: 978-0316182980
Release date: October 11, 2011
Description: Meet all of the Muppet characters in this illustrated early reader. © Disney
Author: Ray Santos is the author of numerous licensed children books including Power Rangers, Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Super Hero Squad and Transformers. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

The Muppets: The Muppet-tacular Ultimate Sticker Book (The Muppets Movie Tie-In) [paperback, 96 pages]
Price: $12.99    EUR 9,99
Publisher: LB Kids
ISBN: 978-0316182997
Release date: October 11, 2011
Description: This giant sticker book includes tons of fun stickers to use as you help the Muppets put on a show. Use the section of reusable stickers with The Muppets: The Muppet Show Stage Set: A Punch Out-and-Play Model Book for even more fun! © Disney
Author: Alexis has written over 30 books for children. She lives in Brooklyn Heights with her husband and little fluffy dog named Ernie.

The Muppets: The Muppet Show Stage Set: A Punch Out-and-Play Model Book (The Muppets Movie Tie-In) [paperback, 12 pages]
Price: $8.99   EUR 6,99 

Publisher: LB Kids
ISBN: 978-0316183000
Release date: October 11, 2011
Description: Punch out all the pieces and put together your own Muppet Theater stage set, complete with curtain and backdrop! Includes Muppet standees so you can put on your own show! No other materials are required for assembly. Works with the The Muppets: The Muppet-tacular Ultimate Sticker Book for even more fun! © Disney

Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet [hardcover, 240 pages]
Price: $12.99   EUR 9,99 (currently about $ 14.05)
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-0316183024
Release date: September 5, 2011
Description: On a scale of one to ten, sixth-grader Danvers Blickensderfer's life is a solid minus two. But he really hits rock bottom when he auditions for the local talent show: his death-defying hula-hooping-ninja tribute to Gonzo the Great is beat out by the world's most obnoxious middle school boy band, Emo Shun. With his daredevil dreams dashed, Danvers goes to bed... and wakes up feeling a little fuzzy-literally! He's turned into a Muppet! Fortunately, there's an internship open at the Muppet Theater and Danvers has a chance to meet his long-nosed, stunt-lovin' hero! All aboard The Electric Mayhem bus as this misfit makes good and joins the zaniest crew ever: The Muppets! © Disney
Author: Kirk Scroggs is one quarter Muppet by birth. As a child, he used his Pigs in Space lunch box for so long, his mom finally declared it a rusty, toxic health hazard and gave it to his little brother. Originally from Austin, Texas, Kirk now lives in Los Angeles where he enjoys doodling, spray tans, and writing important literature like Wiley and Grampa's Creature Features: Hair Ball From Outer Space.

The Muppets: The Movie Junior Novel (The Muppets Movie Tie-In) [paperback, 144 pages]
Price: $5.99   EUR 4,99 

Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-0316183031
Release date: October 11, 2011
Description: Based on the new movie, this junior novelization features an 8-page insert of movie photos! © Disney
Author: Katharine Turner lives in Brooklyn, NY.

Frogs Are Funny: The Most Sensational, Inspirational, Celebrational, Muppetational Muppets Joke Book EVER! [hardcover, 208 pages]
Price: $14.99   EUR 10,99 (currently about $ 15.46)
Publisher: Little Brown Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978-0316183116
Release date: October 11, 2011
Description: A bright and fun collection of some of the best jokes, one-liners, and comedy bits ever spouted by your favorite Muppet characters, illustrated with full color photos of the Muppets. A must-have for Muppets fans of all ages!

So... exciting, right? I'm pretty excited about the joke book, the stage display, and the sticker book. On the other hand, I'm beyond confused by the sixth-grader Muppet book... but hey, whatever works, right? Gotta have something for the kids!


Speaking of having things for niche markets... there is one other piece of merchandise we know of currently: Muppet-themed nail polish. The nail polish is being released by OPI (which is apparently a nail polish company). No price point is set as of yet, but they did release the names of all the various colors, so... here's that:

• Animal-istic
• Meep-Meep-Meep 
• Wocka Wocka! 
• Pepe’s Purple Paassion 
• Designer…de Better! 
• Warm & Fozzie 
• Rainbow Connection 
• Excuse Moi! 
• Gone Gonzo! 
• Fresh Frog of Bel Air 
• Divine Swine
• Gettin’ Miss Piggy With It!

Well, this piece of merchandise definitely isn't my scene. But, there are a few notable things about this release. For one, there's a color for Pepe. A lot of fans have been worried about his involvement in the film, so this might be a good sign that he is in the movie in some capacity. Granted, a nail polish color in a random merchandise release does not guarantee anything at all... but it might? Also... how awesome is that image of all the Muppets just hanging out? Floyd strumming his guitar, Scooter and Fozzie, Zoot and Janice talking, Statler and Waldorf, Kermit and Piggy, Gonzo and Camilla... LOVE IT!

And that's all we have so far. I'm keeping my eyes open for more Muppet stuff popping up online to tie-in with the movie. If you find anything, Muppet fans, let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or by emailing Ryan Dosier at ryguy102390@gmail.com.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Muppet Merchandise and Where to Find it in YOUR Neighborhood

Greetings, Muppet fans! Tired of hearing about all the great Muppet merchandise available in Walt Disney World and Disneyland--which are inconveniently not located near you? I know I am! Well, fear not friends, because The Muppet Mindset has gone through tireless (actually, we're pretty tired) efforts to find lots of great Muppet stuff available at stores near you!

Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart, everyone's favorite gigantic superstore with everything from printer paper to poor health benefits, has lots of Muppet stuff, surprisingly. Including!

• Kermit baseball cap - There are two caps available at Wal-Mart... there's one with a flat bill available for men and one with a curved bill that is plaid and available for women. Both cost $10. (How could you not want?)
• Gonzo baseball cap - Same as Kermit, only Gonzo! LOVE. One of my favorite new things. Again, only $10.
• Kermit iPod Touch 4th Gen Cover - This is awesome... and I'm so perturbed that I have a 3rd Gen iPod Touch. I'm extremely close to buying a 4th Gen just for this. Costs $19.99 and is awesome.
• Muppets Pajama Pants - I haven't been able to find these at FOUR different Wal-Marts... but they are incredible. Kermit, Animal, Beaker, Swedish Chef, Dr. Teeth, Scooter, and Pepe are all on these pants. I'm not sure how much they cost but I need them.
• Animal Boxer Shorts/Sleep Shorts - No picture available of these, but they are basically just Animal's face spread across a pair of boxer shorts. Why you would want Animal's mouth that close to your... well, you know. $14.99.
• Animal Neon Face T-Shirt - Again, no picture, but it's a very simple shirt. Black background with a colorful neon outline of Animal's face on it. I think it glows in the dark, too. $9.99, I think.

Kohl's Department Store
Yet another store that has always had great support for the Muppets and it still shows. They have some awesome t-shirts...

• Sesame Street "I Heart My Hood" T-Shirt for Women - A nice girl's shirt. Novel because it has The Count on it. $9.99.
• Kermit Three-Color T-Shirt - One of my favorite t-shirts. The green Kermit face actually glows in the dark, oddly enough. It's awesome! $9.99.
• Muppets Photo T-Shirt - I have no idea why the Muppets are in front of the Eiffel Tower... but I really like this shirt too. Gets me lots of compliments. $9.99.

Kohl's also has some cool Sesame Street Muppet "Face Shirts" which are basically just singularly-colored shirts with various Muppet faces on them, including Cookie Monster, Elmo, Bert, and others.

Target
Target has some great t-shirts available...

• Fraggle Rock T-Shirt - Yellow, "washed out" Fraggle shirt for guys. Has the whole Fraggle five on it. I really don't know if I've ever seen a widely-available Fraggle shirt... so this is great to see! $9.99.
• Animal T-Shirt - Animal is obviously the most popular t-shirt character... and here he is yet again on another shirt. $9.99.
• Muppets "Abbey Road" T-Shirt - Love. This. The color is great, the design is great (the poser puppets are ugly). I've gotten so many compliments on this shirt when I wear it around. $9.99.

And, other than that, I'm sure if you look around you'll find some more awesome Muppet stuff creeping into stores. Let us know if you find any more Muppet stuff that we missed by tweeting us @MuppetMindset or writing us on Facebook--or you can just leave a comment here, we don't really care!

Happy shopping, Muppet fans!





The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Mighty Fine Sesame Street T-Shirts

I was recently informed of some incredibly awesome new Sesame Street shirts over at Mighty Fine T-Shirts and I thought I would share the wealth with you, my lovely readers! These shirts are exclusively available online and they're pretty much awesome. There are seven wonderful shirts... here are my three favorites that I would really, really like to own. (You know, in case you guys were wondering what to get me for my birthday.)

Bert and Ernie "ABC 123" shirt. Yes, I think I can rock it like that.

The Count "Counting Ain't Easy" shirt. Obviously he's keeping his count-hand strong

THIS is Near!

And this Grover "Near and Far" shirt is AWESOME!

Check out Mighty Fine's complete collection of Sesame Street shirts and you'll be just as tempted as I am to buy them!

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier

Upcoming and Now-Available Muppet Merchandise

Today on The Muppet Mindset, we take a look at some of the Muppet merchandise that has been recently released by The Muppets Studio and some great items coming in the very near future.

We begin our tour at Wal-Mart, where there is a brand new t-shirt featuring Kermit wearing brightly colored headphones. Retail cost is just $7.50 and t-shirt quality is fantastic...

Next up, Target! Where they have a fantastic men's t-shirt featuring, once again, Kermit. The shirt has an "Awesome Meter" that ranks the wearer as "Awesome" no matter who it is (which is definitely not true... but we have yet to invent a working Awesome Meter t-shirt).

Coming up after that, we head to Kohl's department store where they have Animal lounge pants (aka pants you lounge around in) (I didn't know people wore pants whilst lounging). Currently on sale for $12.00 in-store and online!

While we're at Kohl's, take a look at their great Animal face t-shirt as well, which is on sale for $10.80 in-store and online...

Coming this fall for the PS3 video game system is Little Big Planet 2, the sequel to the extremely popular Little Big Planet game. Earlier this week it was announced that there would be a retail-exclusive Gonzo costume for the main character, Sackboy. According to some articles, even more Muppet costumes will be available to download after the game is released. Here's the first look at the Gonzo costume...

Silly Bandz are an extremely popular series of shaped plastic wristbands that kids can wrap around their wrists without losing the distinctive shape after they take them off. There are numerous Disney-themed Silly Bandz series, such as Cars, Toy Story, and Disney Princesses. The latest addition is The Muppets! Starting with Series 1, which consists of Fozzie Bear, Pepe, Animal, Statler, and Waldorf, Series 2, including Gonzo, Miss Piggy, Rizzo, Swedish Chef, and Rowlf, and Series 3, including Kermit, Bunsen, Beaker, Sam Eagle, and Sweetums, all of which are set to be released in August...

DisneyStore.com is selling some Disney Parks exclusive Muppet products including the first series of Muppet-themed Kooky Pens, extremely popular collectible writing pens sold at the Disney Parks. The first series includes Kermit, Miss Piggy, and Beaker and retail for $21.95 online...

Hallmark stores are exclusively selling a talking Animal Christmas ornament for the 2010 holiday season, available now (they put these things out so soon these days). The ornament features Animal playing his drum set and, when the button is pressed, plays about a minute worth of Animal grunting and wailing on the drums (click here to hear the sound). Retail cost is $18.99 available only at Hallmark.

Keep your eyes peeled for even more Muppet stuff trickling into stores from The Muppets Studio! If you find any new Muppet merchandise in stores, be sure to let us know!












The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier