#TheMuppets70 – Page 3

Fwush & Pepe on Vacation

Recommended music for this post: Weezer – Island in The Sun

On this #WhateverWednesday, we’re spending a little more time with the Palisades Muppets Vacation Pepe and today he’s joined by Plunderlings Fwush!

While Disney happened to give Pepe the character spotlight a couple of weeks ago for its #TheMuppets70 campaign, Pepe also turned up on my recent trip to Walt Disney World to see MuppetVision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios one last time before the show closes forever on June 7, 2025. This is the last reminder from me: You’ve got about nine weeks.

Plunderlings Raider Fwush also joined in on the fun at Walt Disney World while leaving his pirate weapons at home. These Peter Pan topiaries at EPCOT were right in his wheelhouse.

We’ve now left Walt Disney World and stopped by Bonanza Golf and Gifts on Highway 192 just south of Disney property so Fwush could take a picture with this waterfall that is nearly as blue as he is.

Ahoy! We’ve now moved out to sea, and Fwush is enjoying the Pirates Cove aquapark on our cruise ship. Who knew pirates would be a great theme for water slides on the ocean?

When the boat stopped at Ocean Cay, MSC’s private island and reserve, Fwush found all these iguanas just chilling in the sun. They blend in well with the rocks, how many can you spot?

Yes, I could have zoomed in and cropped this picture a bit. However, Fwush on a beach-side palm tree looked fun from top to bottom.

Here is a tiny lizard, that (like the iguanas) was not interested in making friends with little blue creatures.

We skipped by this beach, but Fwush wanted a picture with the light house.

As did Pepe

Too many beaches, and not enough time for this shrimp. “I am not a shrimp–I am a king prawn, okay!” Okay, Pepe. See you next time!

Zoot

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! You likely recognize this saxophone player but don’t always remember his name. From the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Zoot!

Zoot (and the rest of The Electric Mayhem band) made his debut on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, which aired FIFTY YEARS AGO this past week. When The Muppet Show started in full the following year, he continued to perform with The Electric Mayhem as well as The Muppet Orchestra.

The character is notable for playing the final note of “The Muppet Show Theme” in the closing credits on all but two episodes of The Muppet Show. The only exceptions were episode 123 when the band was on strike and episode 514 when Beaker clones replaced the band. Despite his skin tone changing from gray to blue to green, and his nose going from green to yellow, Zoot has remained a cool character in dozens of Muppet projects over the past 50 years.

For the Palisades toy line, Zoot was released in wave three in a blue hat, rust-red shirt, and a gold saxophone, which depicted his Muppet Short season two look. He also had a chase version with a brown hat, tan shirt, and silver sax which is more akin to his look from season three (though he did wear the blue hat during the end credits for seasons 3-5).

#TheMuppets70

Recommended video: Zoot End Credit Montage

MuppetVision 3D & Vacation Pepe 2

Recommended music: Aerosmith – Sweet Emotion

On this #WhateverWednesday, we’re spending a little more time with the Palisades Muppets Vacation Pepe!

Yes, Disney gave the character spotlight to Pepe last week for its #TheMuppets70 campaign, but I have a few more pictures with Pepe from my recent trip to Walt Disney World to see MuppetVision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios one last time before the show closes forever on June 7, 2025. Just another reminder that if you want to experience this attraction, you’ve got about 10 weeks.

Pepe sort of appears during the pre-show as it has been updated since the 1990s as he is shown on a parody poster of Tron, titled “Prawn.” After we watched the show, Pepe made one last trip to the statuary fountain in the Muppets Courtyard. We then headed over to the International Gateway at EPCOT, where Pepe quickly found the nearest fountain to take a dive into at the United Kingdom Pavilion.

More to come. 😎👍

Muppet Ghost

For this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! Today, we’re getting spooky with the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s a Muppet Ghost!

Ghosts popped up a few times on The Muppet Show starting with a trio of ghosts in season one that haunted both Fozzie Bear and Gonzo. Slight variations have shown up with male and female ghosts appearing as recently as the Muppets Haunted Mansion special in 2021. The character is typically filmed against a black or blue background. Then, they are composited into the final show to make them appear floating and semi-transparent.

For the Palisades toy line, a white Muppet Ghost was included on a clear stand as an accessory with the Uncle Deadly figure. It was then repainted as a glow-in-the-dark version and released in clear plastic. I have yet to pick up those two variants, so I also repainted mine to GITD.

#TheMuppets70

Recommended video: Muppet Ghosts- I’m Looking Through You

MuppetVision 3D & Vacation Pepe

Recommended music: King Prawn – Day In Day Out

For this #WhateverWednesday, we’ve got the Palisades Muppets Vacation Pepe!

Even though Disney is giving Pepe the character spotlight this week for its #TheMuppets70 campaign, that’s just a coincidence, as I was already planning to share this picture this week. I recently had the chance to take a family trip to Florida and experience MuppetVision 3D at Disney’s Hollywood Studios one last time before the show closes forever on June 7, 2025.

Pepe the King Prawn does not actually appear in the 4D theme park attraction which debuted in 1991, as the character did not show up until the mid-1990s production, Muppets Tonight. Even though he wasn’t included in the show, he did enjoy popping up around water attractions throughout my recent trip, so I’ll have some more random pics further down the road. 😁

The Swedish Chef

So, this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re still celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! I know that you’ll recognize this guy from the Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s The Swedish Chef!

The Swedish Chef debuted on The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence special in early 1975 which served as the second pilot for The Muppet Show. From this December 1974 taping all the way until The Muppets at Walt Disney World in 1990, Chef was performed by Jim Henson himself.

The character appeared in over 30 episodes during the initial run of The Muppet Show with sketches from his kitchen and has made dozens of other appearances since whenever anything culinary related comes into play for a Muppet project.

For the Palisades toy line, Chef in his blue striped shirt was included in the pictured Swedish Kitchen Playset and nearly 40 other accessories to fill out the set piece. The figure was repainted twice for single releases with new accessories based on additional Muppet Show episodes.

#TheMuppets70

Koozebanian Mama

Recommended video: Muppet Show: Planet Koozebane

On this #SomethingElseSunday, we’re celebrating 70 years of the Muppets! From Palisades Toys Muppets line, it’s Koozebanian Mama!

The long-nosed Female Koozebanian creature made her debut preforming the “Galley-oh-hoop-hoop” mating ritual in 1974 on The Muppets Valentine Show which served as the first pilot for The Muppet Show series. During the show’s seventh episode in 1976, a re-recorded version of the sketch aired to a much larger audience who tuned in for that night’s guest, Florence Henderson.

Though the character showed up in the opening “The Muppet Show Theme” for seasons 2-5, and had brief cameos in a handful of Muppet Show episodes and films, she never a big role, so her inclusion with the Kermit action figure in his reporter outfit dubbed “Koozebane Kermit” is still an interesting choice.

Besides Kermit in his trench coat and a microphone like the one seen in the episode (but not on Sesame Street), the set also includes a male and child Koozebanian creature, some Koozebane landscape, and pair of creatures known as Merdlidops.

#TheMuppets70