Muppet Show Season 3 DVD Extras
Jim Henson's Classic TV Show Starred Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy
Check out the extras in the upcoming The Muppet Show Season 3 DVD. Buena Vista Home Video releases the box set on May 20th.
New details have surfaced about the upcoming The Muppet Show Season 3 DVD, courtesy of the good folks at Muppet Newsflash. The box set from Buena Vista Home Video will include all 24 digitally restored and remastered episodes from Season 3, plus a host of extras.
As reported back in January, The Muppet Show Season 3 extras will include the 1968 documentary "The Muppets on Puppets". Hosted by Jim Henson and his beloved Rowlf the Dog, this 60-minute featurette gives a detailed look at the art of puppetry and shows how the puppeteers created and operated their Muppets (the name comes from a cross between marionettes and puppets).
"A Frog Is Born" Featurette Traces History of Kermit the Frog
There are also two new behind-the-scenes featurettes about the Muppets. The first featurette, called "A Frog is Born," will explore the origins of Kermit the Frog from his early days as a unknown lizard-like creature on the 1950's TV show Sam and Friends to his central role as the stressed-out stage manager on The Muppet Show. This featurette will also examine the relationship and similarities between Kermit and his creator, Jim Henson.
The second "making of" featurette, entitled "A Company of Players", focuses on the gang of puppeteers Henson assembled to bring Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzy Bear and Gonzo the Great to life. People like Frank Oz (who went on to voice Yoda in the Star Wars series and direct acclaimed live-action films like Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and The Score), Jery Nelson, Dave Goelz, and Steve Whitmire (the current voice of Kermit) get their due in this documentary.
According to MNF, there will also be a group of "Original Muppet Commercials" included on the DVD.
Look for The Muppet Show Season 3 DVD in stores on and after May 20th.
Fun Fact: Former Muppeteer Frank Oz apparently had a tempestuous relationship with Marlon Brando on the set of The Score. The late actor reportedly refused to take instruction from Oz, forcing the director to use co-star Robert De Niro as an intermediary.
Brando was alleged to have called Oz "Miss Piggy" (he animated the character on The Muppet Show) and once told him, "I bet you wish I was a puppet so you could stick your hand up my ass and make me do whatever you want."
Oz has since dismissed the claims as exaggerations. However, Brando had a longstanding reputation for bizarre and difficult behaviour that stretched all the way back to his time in summer stock in the 1940's.
