Recommended music: The Rainbow Connection (from The Muppet Movie)
On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! This character is certainly the most famous creation of Jim Henson. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Kermit the Frog!
Kermit made his debut in 1955, decades before most other Muppet characters, appearing on a Washington, DC based news and variety show called Afternoon. The next year, Kermit was a regular on the same station, appearing in short skits on Sam and Friends. Even though the character was referred to as Kermit the Frog by the mid-1960s during appearances on The Tonight Show, this early version of the Kermit puppet wasn’t as distinctly frog-shaped. By the time the ‘Tales From Muppetland’ TV special covered The Frog Prince in 1971, Kermit was a full-fledged froggy and has retained this design ever since.
With Kermit being a staple of Jim Henson productions through the 1960s, it was no surprise that he was included in the launch of Sesame Street in 1969. By the following year, the character was deemed too commercial for Sesame Street, and he was briefly removed from the program. By season three, however, he returned to Sesame Street in more of a guest character type of role. In the five decades since, Kermit has starred in virtually every Muppet television project and film, on his way to becoming the spiritual symbol and physical logo of The Jim Henson Company.
This popularity continued into the Palisades Toys line, with Kermit having 15 unique releases, including The Rainbow Connection Kermit, seen here. While the figure’s articulation is limited to just the neck and shoulders, the sculpt and paint are excellent. Kermit also comes with a load of accessories, including his banjo, a framed photo, a log, a Muppet cabbage, Muppet eggplant, Muppet scallions, a sitting version of his nephew Robin, and an additional log for Robin. The included framed photo of a young boy is Cooper Perry, who inspired The Cooper Perry Foundation, as all proceeds from the figure went to the charity.
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