Netflix is the new streaming home for both The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper. Both films are now available to watch on Netflix Instant service. So if you don't have both films on DVD, Blu-ray, VHS, or laser disc, there's finally a way for you to watch these Henson/Muppet classics! If you don't have access to any of these means... I'm so sorry. With these additions, this leaves only The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, The Muppets, and Muppets Most Wanted as the only Muppet feature films not on Netflix. Hopefully these will be added soon as well.
As we reported in our last News Update, Archaia is publishing a new graphic novel based off an unproduced 1968 screenplay from Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl called The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hollow. The graphic novel will feature art from the extremely talented Roger Langridge (of The Muppet Show Comic Book fame). USA Today officially announced the project a few days ago, and our friends over at ToughPigs.com have done a bang-up job of collecting all of the info in one convenient place. Check it out! The graphic novel will release in stores this October!
The folks over at The 13th Dimension website recently posted a fantastic tribute to the late John Henson. The tribute goes in depth with John's career as both a puppeteer and an artist. The author, Aimee LoSecco, notes how John's work was always larger than life, yet completely relatable, which is one of the finest descriptions of the man I've heard. The whole tribute is very beautiful and I suggest giving it a read, plus you get to see some of John's rarely-seen Kermit golfing illustrations (see right).
A few weeks ago, Disney announced the release of Disney Infinity 2.0, a sequel to their ultra-popular Disney Infinity video game/toy system. With this announcement, it was revealed that Marvel characters would be playable in the game and a whole slew of new Power Discs (in-game items) were revealed as well. One of these Power Discs is Miss Piggy's U.S.S. Swinetrek (see right), which allows players to bring the Swinetrek into the game and ride it. Always great to see the Muppets getting more representation in the Disney family!This week, Variety published an article interviewing the writers of Sesame Street, Joey Mazzarino and Belinda Ward, about the upcoming, groundbreaking 45th season of the show. The article is really interesting, discussing everything from their spot-on "Homelamb" parody to the challenges of writing for both kids and adults. It's incredibly interesting.
Last but not least, last week Ricky Gervais tweeted the picture below, revealing that he had filmed a guest spot on Sesame Street, presumably for the upcoming season. I'm so glad to see Ricky is still working with the Muppets and coming back to Sesame Street!
The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com