robinthefrog | A Brief, and Fictional, History of the Muppets

A Fictional History of Muppets

“You know there have been puppets almost as long as there have been people.”
-Jim Henson

Muppet- Noun. A genetic off-shoot of just about anything. Resembling a puppet, but is in fact a living organism.

Just about anything can be a Muppet. Most common are animals, Frogs, and Bears and Chickens and things. But Monsters, and even inanimate objects as well. There are Muppet Fruits and Vegetables, Houses, Trees, and things unclassifiable.

Muppets have been around as far back as can be remembered. Most stories of talking animals, and even monsters are in fact, about Muppets. It has even been theorized that Muppet Animals actually came before “regular” animals. That when Adam and Eve lived in the garden in harmony with nature, it was because they were living with Muppets.

For the most part, Muppets, particularly those of more fearsome appearance, have kept to themselves. They have lived among their more mundane cousins, or, if they live among humans, in small communities where their existence has been accepted.

When they do choose to go out into the world, they usually make quite a spectacle of themselves.

The current fame and acceptance enjoyed by the Muppets can be traced almost directly to two individuals. Kermit the Frog, and the mysterious human, Jim Henson. Jim Henson has probably been glimpsed by most Muppets, but due to his desire to stay in the background, as producer, few have actually met him.

Kermit and Jim met in College. Kermit was the first Muppet to go to college, one of the first to emerge from voluntary obscurity in centuries. He grew up in the Everglades, where an adventurous spirit compelled he and his friends to venture into the outside world. There he saw an Errol Flynn movie, and became enraptured.

Kermit and Jim soon met other ambitious Muppets and in 1955, they got their own show on local television “Sam And Friends”.

Kermit's accomplishments, soon gave Muppets the courage to come out of their shells. Rowlf the Dog became a regular performer on the Jimmy Dean Show, and many commercials began to feature Muppets.

In the 1960's Kermit became a reporter, bringing awareness of Muppets and their connections to folklore and fairy tales to the public. Next, Kermit and Jim produced a series of television specials adapting Fairy Tales. Kermit himself co-starred in one alongside his then four year old nephew, Robin.

Robin had been interested in show business early on, from the stories told by his uncle. His role in “The Enchanted Frog” concreted his desire to be a performer.

Eventually, Kermit was able to rent a theater, and began production of “The Muppet Show”, one of the earliest examples of reality television. By allowing the cameras not only to record the acts themselves, but backstage as well, he allowed the world's population to get their first real look at Muppets.