This article originally ran on December 16, 2015 in conjunction with Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. We think it’s a pretty fun one to revisit, and so we’re sharing it again now in celebration of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. We hope you enjoy! Again!
Unless you’ve been living in a Sarlacc Pit, you’re overly aware that there’s a new Star Wars movie coming out this week. And while the masses are excited to learn about the identity of Kylo Ren or the parentage of Poe Dameron or if BB-8 is really filled with chocolate, we have more pressing matters to attend to. Matters like: How, exactly, do the Muppets fit into the Star Wars universe?
We could take this time to recap all of the Muppet/Star Wars connections like X-Wings on Muppet Babies and that one Pigs in Space comic book with a Mos Eisley Cantina scene, but instead, we’re taking this opportunity to posit a theory. And here it is: The Muppets are actually a part of Star Wars canon.
Yes, they’re not just two separate sets of pop culture franchises that happen to cross over once in a while on the backlots of Pinewood Studios. I’m saying that it is quite possible for a character from the Star Wars film to jump on the Millennium Falcon and hang out with Kermit the Frog.
Let’s start with The Muppet Show. As you likely know, the stars of Star Wars appeared as guests on a 4th season episode, including Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca. We know that their ships can travel between star systems within minutes via hyperspace drives, so it’s not too far-fetched to believe that they could make their way to earth.
The timing within the Star Wars storyline isn’t hard to figure out. Luke is seen wearing his rebel soldier uniform (who do you think his tailor is?), and at no point does he use the Force or whip out his lightsaber. So he’s still more of that Tatooine pilot than a Jedi Knight in training. Their appearance at the Muppet Theater is definitely sometime after receiving his medal from Princess Leia at the end of A New Hope, but before his mission on Hoth at the beginning of The Empire Strikes Back. Any number of things could’ve happened in that time, like Chewbacca being kidnapped by Dearth Nadir on some sort of “variety show planet”.
Despite Luke’s lack of knowledge about earth or the Muppet Theater, the Muppets certainly seem to know who they are. So here’s the first crazy part of my theory:
Crazy theory #1: The events of Star Wars actually happened, and they’ve been adapted to film on our planet.
Kermit and his pals are just being nice by not mentioning their local fame to them (and let’s not forget, aliens visiting the Muppet Theater is nothing new to these guys), and it explains where Gonzo got the idea for his Sith-like outfit.
It also explains why some of the Muppets auditioned for the film adaptation of the events that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
I’m still not 100% sure how Mark Hamill (son of William Hamill) and Luke Skywalker (son of Anakin Skywalker) are cousins. At this point, Luke isn’t aware of his biological parentage, and he’s not related by blood to his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. So, I guess he just found some dude who looks just like himself on another planet and decided that they’re cousins? I guess that’s as believable as Kermit having his own evil Russian doppelganger.
In the same year as their Muppet Show appearance, C-3PO and R2-D2 appeared on Sesame Street. This appearance was filmed just a few months before The Muppet Show, so it’s safe to assume that this visit happened first. And that explains why the Droids knew which planet to search for Chewbacca when he went missing. Just go to the place with the singing and dancing puppets! (Okay, that’s pretty much any Star Wars planet.)
In their first Sesame appearance, the Droids visit the Street in order to deliver a message for Oscar from his alien Grouch friend Lothar. (The message: “Get lost!”) And here’s our first concrete connection – The Droids may have gotten directions to earth from Lothar, who is connected to the residents of Sesame Street via the Grouch species.
Crazy theory #2: The Koozebane Connection
Here’s where things get interesting. The Star Wars reference book “The Essential Atlas” as well as the Star Wars Insider magazine, Koozebane is listed as an in-continuity planet. Yes, the same planet populated with Phoobs, Fazoobs, and Spoobles, which has been visited on several occasions by our favorite amphibious roving reporter Kermit the Frog.
Despite the fact that we don’t know how Kermit travels between planets (seriously, how is that the most far-fetched part of this argument??), we know that it’s possible. So this explains how Kermit and Miss Piggy happened to visit Dagobah during Luke’s training with Yoda. Sure, George Lucas wants you to think that Frank Oz just brought the puppets to the set to help raise everyone’s spirits during a long film shoot, but we all know that this encounter really did happen in a galaxy far, far away. We’re just not entirely sure how they got there.
Just a few years later, C-3PO and R2-D2 have another encounter with the Muppets. This time, their Star Tours incarnations help to connect Tony Danza to Miss Piggy and Gonzo in Disneyland’s 25th Anniversary Celebration. Interesting how they knew exactly how to get in touch with the Muppets. It’s as if they’d met before. (Because they have! That’s what I’m saying. Like, what this whole article is about. You get me.)
Quite by coincidence, Oscar has a close encounter with Darth Vader in Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. While there’s magic at play and not interstellar travel, Oscar definitely seems to be comfortable with the space tyrant. It’s like they share some sort of Star Wars connection, both having spent time with the same Droids.
Crazy theory #3: E.T. Strikes Back
Branching out beyond the worlds of Star Wars and the Muppets, there are even more secondary connections when you take the rest of popular culture into consideration. For example, the friendly aliens from E.T. make a cameo in the Star Wars prequels. E.T. learned how to speak (and, subsequently, phone home) by watching Sesame Street. Could E.T. have somehow delivered a message via the Galactic Republic about the existence of talking birds and cookie-eating monsters?
Let’s also not forget that E.T. recognized a kid dressed as Yoda for Halloween in the film, thereby proving that E.T. and Star Wars co-exist in the same universe. This theory is rock-solid.
So let’s recap. E.T. finds himself stranded on earth. He learns about this amazing thing called Sesame Street, and delivers the news back to his people. Other members of E.T.’s planet attend the Galactic Council meeting in The Phantom Menace, and relay the information vicariously to R2-D2. Lothar the Grouch, who is independently aware of the existence of earth, hires R2-D2 and C-3PO to deliver a message to his cranky acquaintance Oscar. Soon after, Chewbacca is kidnapped by Star Wars cosplayer Gonzo, and the Droids recognize their destination as the same planet that contains Sesame Street. And now Muppets and Wookiees and Grouches and Droids all live in harmony.
It makes perfect sense.
And of course, let’s not forget the most important connection of all. The one that binds us all together. The one true Force of the universe. The Force we all know as Disney. If they can’t get the stars of Star Wars and the Muppets in a room together, nobody can.
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
