Recommended music: Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive
It’s #SomethingElseSunday, and we’re celebrating 70 years of the Muppets one last time. Today, we’re looking at the Palisades Toys Muppets Miss Piggy!
Miss Piggy first appeared in 1974, created by Muppet designer Bonnie Erickson for The Tonight Show and a Herb Alpert TV special. She started out as a minor background puppet, and her famous pearl necklace was just meant to cover a seam at the neck. At first, she was called “Miss Piggy Lee” as an homage to jazz singer Peggy Lee, but that name was used only through episode 106 of The Muppet Show.
Miss Piggy’s famous personality came together when Frank Oz started performing her in 1976. Oz described her as “a truck driver wanting to be a woman,” mixing deep vulnerability with big dreams of high society. Her signature karate chop started as a backstage joke with Jim Henson that made everyone laugh. Oz performed the character until 2002, with Eric Jacobson performing her ever since.
On The Muppet Show, Piggy went from a background character to the show’s top diva in no time. She became known for chasing after a nervous Kermit the Frog and starred in popular recurring sketches like “Pigs in Space” and “Veterinarian’s Hospital.”
Miss Piggy was in the opening theme of every episode of The Muppet Show and appeared in skits for 111 out of 120 episodes. By the end of the series, her mix of over-the-top glamour and fiery temper turned her into a worldwide pop-culture icon. Probably the most famous Muppet after Kermit, Miss Piggy has appeared in every Muppet movie released in theaters, as well as TV movies, specials, and series.
Palisades Toys included a Miss Piggy action figure in the first wave of their Muppets toy line in spring 2002. The regular figure had her hair in a bun and wore a dark purple dress with her signature gloves. I’m picturing the EB Games exclusive version here, which had a blue-dress Piggy with her hair down, and the hand mirror and dressing table repainted in purple and silver rather than pink and gold. Both versions came with a display base, but only the exclusive one included a feather boa, which I seem to have lost for the photo.
The 70th anniversary of The Muppets has come and gone, and I still have more Muppet items to share on the blog, including more about Miss Piggy, planned for the future. In the meantime, if you missed The Muppet Show’s 50th-anniversary special, you can watch it now on Disney+. It’s a fun show, and Miss Piggy has lots of great scenes with Sabrina Carpenter.
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