Jarrod Fairclough – Back in May 2015, my friend (going under the alias ‘Magic’) took part in The Great Non Muppet Fan Quiz, where I asked a whole heap of relatively difficult Muppet based questions, knowing that he would have little to no idea what the answers were. I had such a great time, that I decided to ask another friend, who wants to be called ‘Poptart’ (he’ll explain why later), to give it a go. Because he’d seen the answers “Magic’ had done, I had to come up with a whole bunch of new questions! It was entirely worth it though, as ‘Poptart’ is surprisingly hilarious.
Jim Henson created the Muppets in the 1950s, but he had no intention of becoming a puppeteer. What did he initially want to do?
A) Work as a policeman in the Maryland Police Force.
B) Work in the television industry in whatever way possible.
C) Become a priest in the Buddhist church
D) Write for the Superman comic book series.
Explain your answer:
Despite being tempted to draw a parallel between police cavity searches and puppeteering, I’m going to go with D) based on my childhood memories of Super Grover.
Correct answer: B
Jim Henson made several one off specials based on fairy tales. Which of the following was NOT adapted in to a special?
A) Cinderella
B) The Frog Prince
C) The Musicians of Bremen
D) Hansel and Gretel
Explain your answer:
Hansel and Gretel, because I’m pretty sure the Muppets have never had an on-screen death, and seeing them kill off a cannibalistic witch Miss Piggy would be terrifying for children and adults alike.
With that said, the witch always seems to have a gigantic nose in picture books, so maybe cannibal Gonzo would be a better fit for the role.
Correct Answer: D
In 1969, the Children’s Television Workshop made a presentation to sell Sesame Street, hosted by Kermit and Rowlf. Throughout the presentation, several Muppets sit around a boardroom coming up with possible titles. Which is the following was a real suggestion made by one of these Muppets?
A) The Sesame Show
B) Hey, Stupid!
C) A Show For Kids Who Don’t Learn Good
D) Barney The Dinosaur
Explain your answer:
D. Bear with me, because at first glance it seems ridiculous to have a dinosaur on Sesame Street. Or maybe it doesn’t, given I haven’t seen Sesame Street in about 20 years.
But think about it – you have a talking frog, a creature made out of trash, and a gigantic bird (possibly a descendant from the Mesozoic period?).
Suddenly dinosaurs don’t seem that weird.
Correct Answer: B
Which of the following non-puppeteers has performed a Muppet in a production?
A) Rashida Jones
B) Christopher Reeve
C) Tim Burton
D) All of the above
Explain your answer:
Again, my childhood memories lead me down the path of Christopher Reeve playing Super Grover. The logistics of this are puzzling me a bit if it was post-accident Christopher Reeve.
Correct Answer: D. Rashida Jones played ‘Trumpet Girl’ in The Muppets, Christopher Reeve played a Japanese Pole Vaulter in episode 221 of The Muppet Show, and Tim Burton performed in the finale of The Muppet Movie, featuring hundreds of Muppets.
Who is this character, and what was he trying to demonstrate in this Sesame Street sketch?
Answer:
That’s “Office Temp Jeremy” and he’s showing kids it’s not alright to be bullied at your new job. He’s just about to get out of the box where his mean colleagues stuffed him and head over to the HR department to lodge a formal complaint.
Correct Answer: This is Spalding Monster, and he is demonstrating the concept of ‘In’.
What was the title of the special starring these characters, what is the tiger’s name, and what movie does this special bare a startling similarity to?
Answer:
“A Very Calvin and Hobbes Muppet Christmas”, the tiger’s name is Hobbes and it bears a startling similarity to classic Bill Watterson comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. Obviously.
Correct Answer: ‘The Christmas Toy’, and it bears a startling similarity to Toy Story, where a favorite toy is replaced by a Space action figure.
Explain the plot of ‘The Great Muppet Caper’, including the villain’s name, one of the songs, and how the film ends.
Answer:
The Great Muppet Caper follows the gang as they are pitted against a villain known exclusively for his misuse of garnishes. His name is Professor Watercress, because everyone knows watercress is the worst garnish. The film ends with a cover of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall (Part II) with refrains of “Professor, leave our dish alone”.
There you have it, the worst Muppet fan fiction ever written.
Correct Answer: The Great Muppet Caper follows the gang as Miss Piggy is framed for the theft of Lady Holiday’s jewels after she sings ‘The First Time It Happens’ to Kermit. They follow the real thief, Nicky Holiday, to the Mallory Gallery, and catch him in the act, thwarting his plans. They are then thrown from a plane and parachute down over the credits.
In ‘Muppets From Space’, Gonzo’s species is revealed. What was Gonzo, who revealed his true species, and what message to do tell him to mow in to his lawn?
Answer:
Gonzo was a regular human until he was bitten by a radioactive butterfly, turning him into a muppet with a proboscis.
His true species was revealed by Russian novelist and famed lepidopterist Vladimir Nabokov who tells him to mow a quote into his lawn “The evolution of sense is, in a sense, the evolution of nonsense.” but Gonzo refuses because he thinks Russian literature is pretentious.
Correct Answer: Gonzo is revealed to be an alien. It is revealed to him by the Cosmic Fish, and they tell him to mow the phrase ‘I AM HERE’ in to the lawn.
In 2011’s ‘The Muppets’, Animal is used as bait to capture a celebrity. Who is that celebrity, and why are they abducting him?
Answer:
I’m pretty sure it was Gary Busey, because Gary Busey is about 87% Muppet, so they wanted to recruit him into the gang. Animal was closest in mannerism and behaviour to Gary, so they used him as bait.
Correct Answer: They kidnap Jack Black, so that they can use him as their celebrity host for The Muppet Telethon.
In 2014, The Muppets appeared in a thanksgiving special with Lady Gaga. Explain why someone at Disney thought this would be a good idea?
Answer:
Disney probably saw that costume she wore with a bunch of Kermit heads all over it and thought she was a massive fan. They didn’t really think about the implications of her decapitating that many frogs, and what it says about her psyche.
Correct Answer: We have literally no clue. The parts with no Gaga were okay. The parts with Gaga weren’t great.
In 2014, Disney released ‘Muppets Most Wanted’. Name the three main human actors in that film, and the roles they played.
Answer:
I know that Gervais fella was in it, playing a bad guy. Must have been hard for him to get into character. The two other lead characters were Freddy Prinze Jr. and Sarah Michelle Gellar playing formerly famous actors trying to make it big again by joining the Muppets troupe.
Correct Answer: Ricky Gervais played Dominic Badguy, Tina Fey played Nadia, the Russian prison warden, and Ty Burrell played Interpol agent Jean Pierre Napoleon.
Since September 2015, ABC has been airing a new TV show called ‘The Muppets’ – What is the name of Miss Piggy’s talk show, what is Kermit’s job on the series, and explain your favourite episode.
Answer:
It’s a talk show? Missed a chance to have a cooking show called Bacon Bake-off. Her talk show is called Moi Tonight and it’s a bit like that John Oliver show except it’s just a recap of the last week of Miss Piggy’s life.
She insists on it being broadcast live, both due to the laziness of not wanting to do reshoots, and the fact that she can’t believe anyone would want to leave footage of her on the cutting room floor.
I imagine Kermit is some kind of intern or coffee runner for her, following the tradition of him getting walked all over.
My favourite episode is the one where Miss Piggy is talking about this road rage incident she got into in the last week, and while describing it drops a bunch of profanity. The rest of the episode details her fight vs. the FCC to keep the show on air after viewer complaints.
Correct Answer: The show is called ‘Up Late with Miss Piggy’. Kermit’s role is that of Executive Producer.
Sesame Street has moved to HBO this year. Name just one of the big changes that has been made because of this move.
Answer:
Larry David co-hosts with Cookie Monster and every episode declares cookies to be “Pretty, pretty, pretty, pretty good”
Correct Answer: We would have accepted; the show has been condensed to half an hour, the head writer resigned, the show has reduced the amount of characters that each episode focuses on.
The Muppet Mindset has been around since 2009. What was your favorite post from 2011?
Answer:
My favourite was the one that discussed sitcom ideas for getting the Muppets back on television. Spookily prescient.
Correct Answer: Weekly Muppet Wednesday – Dr. Teeth (Originally posted February 9th 2011)
Finally, how do you feel knowing you’ve humiliated yourself in front of thousands of Muppet fans with your lack of knowledge? Would you like a fake name? May I suggest ‘Herman Merman’?
I feel like I’ve outdone myself. Is there some kind of prize for getting the most correct?I don’t accept being a Merman, I’ve seen what they do to the lower half, and it’s not pretty. I’ve used an online name generator, and ask to be credited as ‘Poptart’.
Correct Answer: Is it weird that I think Ariel from The Little Mermaid is cute?
So there we have it, our second Great Non-Muppet Fan Quiz! Hopefully I can find some more funny friends to play along! My thanks to Poptart for being a good sport and making me laugh many times when he answered this quiz.
