Kermit the frog

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Kermit the Frog (center) with Michelle Obama at the White House

Kermit the Frog (Engl. Kermit the Frog ) is a main character of the Muppet Show and is regarded as Jim Henson's most famous creation. Kermit the Frog first appeared in 1955 and has been the protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, Sesame Street and other television series , films and specials over the years. The character has been played by various puppeteers over the years. Jim Henson played Kermit from 1955 until his death in 1990. Steve Whitmire played Kermit from then until he retired in 2016. Kermit is currently played by Matt Vogel . In the German translations, Kermit was spoken for a long time by Andreas von der Meden and Horst Gentzen , and later by Stefan Kaminski .

Kermit the Frog has appeared in various television shows, films, and pieces of music throughout his career. Kermit played the hit single Bein 'Green in 1970 and The Rainbow Connection in 1979 for the Muppet Movie , the first full-length film with the Muppets. The Rainbow Connection peaked at number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 . Kermit's iconic look and voice are known worldwide. In 2006, the character was recognized as the author of Before You Leap: A Frog's Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons , an "autobiography" told from the perspective of the character himself. Since 2002, Kermit has had its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Name in other languages

Since Sesame Street has been localized for several different markets that speak languages ​​other than English, Kermit is often renamed. In Portugal it is called Cocas, o Sapo ( sapo means "toad"), in Brazil Caco, o Sapo . In most of Spanish-speaking Latin America, his name is la rana René ( René the frog ), while in Spain he is called Gustavo . In the Arabic version he is known as a camel . In Hungary it is called Breki . In the German version, the name Kermit was retained.

Origin and name

Kermit first appeared in the premiere of Sam and Friends on WRC TV on May 9, 1955 . The original Kermit was made from a discarded feather coat from Henson's mother and two halves of table tennis balls as eyes. Originally, Kermit was a lizard-like creature. Only later, after a number of television appearances, was his status as a frog established. Its collar was added back then to make it look more frog-like and to hide the seam between its head and body.

The origin of Kermit's name has been the subject of some debate. It is often claimed that Kermit was named after Henson's childhood friend Kermit Scott. Other theories assume that Kermit the frog was named after the father of a sound engineer who worked with Henson on the broadcaster WBAL-TV. Another popular belief is that Kermit was named after Kermit Love, who worked with Henson on the design and construction of muppets, particularly on Sesame Street . The connection between Love and Henson only began long after Kermit's creation and naming, and Love always denied any connection between his name and that of the character.

Fictional CV

For Kermit the frog, a separate biography was developed over time. According to this fictional biography, he was born in Leland, Mississippi , with 2,353 siblings, although according to an "interview" on the 2011 Ellen DeGeneres Show, he was born in the Louisiana swamps . A relative of Kermit is his nephew Robin the Frog .

As depicted in the 2002 movie Kermit's Swamp Years , he was the first of his siblings to leave the swamp at the age of 12 and one of the first frogs to speak to humans. In the film, he is shown in the first encounter with 12-year-old Jim Henson (played by Christian Kriebel ).

According to The Muppet Movie , Kermit was returning to the swamp where a passing agent noticed he had talent, and so he went to Hollywood and met the rest of the Muppets along the way. Together they got a contract with Lew Lord from Wide World Studios and started their careers in showbiz. In the biography Before You Leap , Kermit again refers to the meeting with Jim Henson some time after the events portrayed in the course of the Muppet film and describes their friendship and partnership in the entertainment industry, regarding Henson as the one to which he owes his fame.

Fozzie Bear is portrayed as Kermit's best friend - a fact Kermit repeats in Before You Leap - and the two have often been seen together doing skits on the Muppet Show and other Muppet-related media and merchandise. Kermit the frog had a romantic relationship with the pig Miss Piggy , which first appeared in 1974.

On August 4, 2015, it was announced that Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy had ended their relationship. On September 2, 2015, Kermit found a new friend, a pig named Denise. In February 2016, Denise reportedly ended her relationship with Kermit after almost six months.

Appearances

Kermit was a main character on both the Muppet Show and Sesame Street . However, he had a stellar career even before his 1969 debut on Sesame Street when he appeared in Sam and Friend , and numerous Muppets made guest appearances on Today from 1961 and on the Ed Sullivan Show from 1966 . In 1994 he hosted the program Larry King Live on CNN as part of an April Fool's joke and interviewed Hulk Hogan .

Sesame Street

Kermit was one of the original main characters in the Muppets on Sesame Street . Closely identified with the show, Kermit usually appeared as an explainer for simple topics, as a direct reference person for another muppet (usually Grobi (Grover), Lulatsch (Herry Monster) or the Cookie Monster)) or as a news reporter for the Sesame Street News characters interviewed. He sang many songs on the show, including Bein 'Green , and appeared in the 1998 video The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street .

Unlike the rest of the show's muppets, Kermit was never owned by the Sesame Workshop and was rarely part of the show's marketing. When Sesame Workshop, which produced the show, acquired full ownership of its characters from the Jim Henson Company for $ 180 million, Kermit was not part of the contract. The rights to the character now belong to Muppets Studio, a division of the Walt Disney Company . Kermit's first appearance on Sesame Street after Disney acquired the rights was in an Elmo's World segment at the season 40 premiere. Most recently he appeared at the show's 50th anniversary celebration, where he sang "Bein 'Green" with musician Elvis Costello .

The Muppet Show

In the television series The Muppet Show , Kermit was the main character, showrunner, and long-suffering stage manager of the theater show, trying to keep order in the chaos caused by the other Muppets. Henson once claimed that Kermit's job on the Muppet Show was very similar to his own: "He was trying to get a bunch of crazy people to actually do the job." It was on this show that the running gag developed, with Kermit from Miss Piggy was pursued.

In Muppets Tonight , Kermit was still a main character, despite being the producer rather than the front man. He appeared in many parodies, such as B. NYPD Green, City Schtickers, Flippers and The Muppet Odd Squad and in the sketch The Psychiatry's Office. He also appeared in the 2011 feature film The Muppets .

Kermit also served as the mascot for the Jim Henson Company until the Muppet characters were sold to Disney.

Filmography

List of known appearances of the character:

reception

Star of Kermit on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Kermit the frog is one of the best-known and most iconic figures of the Muppets and has enjoyed a wide reception in culture and media over time. Since 2002 the figure has had its own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Kermit was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Amphibious Letters on May 19, 1996 from Southampton College, New York , where he also gave an inaugural address. He is also the only "amphibian" who has had the privilege of addressing the Oxford Union . A statue of Henson and Kermit was placed on the campus of Henson's alma mater , University of Maryland, College Park , in 2003 . In 2013, the original Kermit doll from Sam and Friends was transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC . donated to exhibit in the pop culture gallery. A Kermit doll is also on display at the National Museum of American History .

For Kermit's 50th birthday in 2005, the US Postal Service issued a series of new stamps featuring photos of Kermit and some of his Muppets colleagues. The background of the sheet of postage features a photo of a silhouetted Henson sitting in a window slot while Kermit sits on his lap and looks at him.

Replicas of Kermit are among the best-selling soft toys, especially in Japan . The character has appeared on numerous television shows and has been frequently parodied. In recent years, the character has become the subject of numerous memes on the internet.

In 2015, the discovery of the frog species Hyalinobatrachium dianae in Costa Rica attracted a lot of attention because it showed great similarities with Kermit.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Longtime Kermit the Frog Voice Actor Replaced After 27 Years. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  2. ↑ Voice actor for Kermit the Frog is dead. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  3. ↑ a b Kermit the Frog | Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  4. ^ NY Daily News - Kermit the Frog first debuted as minor TV puppet in 1955. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  5. ↑ Original Kermit the Frog donated to Smithsonian - USATODAY.com. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Jürgen Schmieder, DER SPIEGEL: Kermit's birthday: “Applause! Applause!! Applause !!! ”- DER SPIEGEL - Culture. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  7. ↑ ddtonline.com: News. July 3, 2012, accessed February 15, 2020 .
  8. ↑ Craig Shemin: Disney's The Muppets Character Encyclopedia . DK Publishing , New York 2014, ISBN 9781465417480 , p. 98.
  9. ↑ Ellen Meets Kermit! In: YouTube. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  10. ^ Internet Archive: Before You Leap . Meredith Books, February 15, 2020 ( archive.org [accessed February 15, 2020]).
  11. ↑ WORLD: Muppet Show: Miss Piggy and Kermit have split up . In: THE WORLD . August 5, 2015 ( welt.de [accessed February 15, 2020]).
  12. ↑ Andy Swift, Andy Swift: The Muppets 2.0: Grade Kermit and Piggy's Emotional Return to Relevancy. In: TVLine. February 3, 2016, accessed February 15, 2020 .
  13. ↑ In 1994, Kermit The Frog filled in as host of CNN's Larry King Live. Retrieved February 15, 2020 (American English).
  14. ^ Surprising honorary degree recipients . October 28, 2011, ISSN  0307-1235 ( telegraph.co.uk [accessed February 15, 2020]).
  15. ^ First Kermit given to Smithsonian . In: BBC News . August 26, 2010 ( bbc.com [accessed February 15, 2020]).
  16. ^ Muppets Get Their Own Stamps. Retrieved February 15, 2020 (American English).
  17. ↑ Jeff Spevak: Henson family triggers Muppet outbreak at The Strong. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .
  18. ^ The Best Kermit the Frog memes on the internet. October 31, 2018, accessed February 15, 2020 .
  19. ↑ Megan Gannon April 22, 2015: Kermit the Frog Look-Alike Discovered in Costa Rica. Retrieved February 15, 2020 .