It’s been a while since the last time I wrote an article about the feet of a blue Muppet character, so I figure it’s about time. It’s a very normal thing to think about, after all.
Recently on Movin’ Right Along: A Muppet Movie Podcast, we talked about the scene in Muppet Treasure Island where Sam the Eagle, playing the role of Mr. Arrow, sits in a lifeboat to ensure that it’s seaworthy. The shot of Sam’s whole body in the boat is striking for one reason: You can see his feet!
How do you feel about those feet? Actually, because Sam is an eagle, I think they’re technically talons. So how do you feel about those talons?
I know there’s a contingent of Muppet fans who never like seeing Muppet feet, which I’ve always found odd. I realize that the vast majority of the time, we’re only seeing Muppets from the waist up, but, you know… of course they have feet! How else do you expect them to cross the stage at the Muppet Theater? How else do you expect them to DANCE?
But Sam’s feet are, in fact, a rare sight. Everyone is familiar with the scene from The Muppet Movie where Kermit rides a bike with his feet visible, and if you’ve seen that movie you’ve also seen Fozzie dancing onstage at the El Sleezo with his feet visible. And various other Muppets’ feet have been visible in various other well-known scenes in Muppet movies. But this Muppet Treasure Island scene is the first time we really got a good glimpse at Sam’s feet.
And there was one question that naturally came up: Does it make sense that Sam’s feet are yellow? Or should they be blue, like the rest of him? And in this article, I’m going to keep talking about that!
First, let’s take a look at a real American bald eagle:
If you have keen powers of observation, you no doubt noticed right away that this eagle has yellow feet. So maybe that should answer the question just like that. Real bald eagles have yellow feet, therefore Sam should have yellow feet.
However, if you continue to use those keen powers of observation, you will likely notice that none of this eagle’s feathers are blue. In fact, it has brown feathers on its body and white feathers on its head. OH! THAT MAKES IT LOOK LIKE IT’S BALD! HA!
Anyway, it’s pretty clear that Sam is not an ordinary bald eagle. (Another reason we can be pretty sure of that is that Sam can talk, which ordinary bald eagles are generally not known to do.) Fortunately, we have Muppet Wiki, which is its own treasure island full of artifacts from the history of the Muppets. That’s where I found most of these images revealing how Sam’s feet have been depicted throughout the years.
Back in 1977, Sam appeared in a comic strip in a Muppet Show “annual” published in the UK. In this strip, his feet are blue, just like the rest of him:
And sometime between 1977 and 1979, this PVC figure made by the Schleich company also gave him blue tootsies:
But merchandise is just merchandise, and not necessarily “official.” Are there any onscreen appearances before 1996 that have given us hints of Sam’s feet? I just happened to be watching the Julie Andrews episode of The Muppet Show recently, which includes one of the recurring sketches where Sam gives a speech. And hey! Check out the seal in the background!
It’s kinda hard to make out details, but it sure looks like that picture of Sam has feet that are… orange? More or less? Isn’t that interesting!
Over on the Tough Pigs Discord, a very good question came up in response to the podcast: What about the scenes in The Muppet Movie when everyone is sitting in the movie theater? Lots of Muppets have legs and feet in those scenes, including Bunsen, Floyd, Janice, and even Nigel.
What do Sam’s feet look like in that scene? Well, if you watch the movie, it’s hard to tell. They’re never clearly in the shot. I got excited for a second when I came to this shot and I thought I could see yellow talons near the bottom of Sam’s seat:
But a second later I realized it was just a yellow handkerchief in the shirt pocket of the pig sitting in front of him. Darn you, pig!
Tough Pigs pal Kyle managed to grab this screenshot of Sam in The Muppet Movie and brighten it up a little, and his feet (Sam’s, not Kyle’s) look like a more drab shad of blue, almost the same color as the theater seat:
Fascinating! Then Tough Pigs pal Tony contributed to the conversation with this photo of Sam on the set of The Muppet Movie. It’s in black and white, so unfortunately you can’t tell what color them feets is by looking at this picture:
Then I thought about the ending of The Great Muppet Caper, when all the Muppets are thrown out of a plane with parachutes. I checked that sequence, but nope — although a few Muppets are seen with their legs dangling from their parachute harnesses, Sam only appears in the standard waist-up shot:
Let’s go back to merchandise. Here’s a Sam plush that was sold at Disney World in the Muppet*Vision 3D gift shop. And his feet are yellow! If this was in the Muppet store when Muppet*Vision was new, it’s presumably from around 1991. That would be a pretty early example of Sam with yellow toes:
Other examples I’ve come across are from after Muppet Treasure Island, so it’s only logical that they would depict Sam’s gams as the same color they were in their big moment on the silver screen. Here’s a Sam plush that was sold at McDonald’s in Australia in 2003:
And here’s what may be the best piece of Sam the Eagle merchandise produced thus far, the Palisades action figure from 2004:
So if there was ever any uncertainty in the past, it seems like it’s now a sure thing: Sam the Eagle’s feet are, and henceforth shall be, yellow.
And most Muppet fans are pretty happy about that, if the Tough Pigs Discord is a representative sample. After the aforementioned podcast episode, I started a poll called “What color do you think Sam the Eagle’s feet should be?” 55% of those who responded went with yellow. (25% said blue, and 20% chose “I don’t have a preference.”)
If I you have any additional information on the way Sam’s feet have been depicted through the years, please let me know! And if you missed the poll, I still want to hear from you! What color do YOU think Sam’s feet should be? Click here to join in the discussion on the Discord, especially if your name is Eric Jacobson or Frank Oz.
A million thanks as always to Muppet Wiki for images and information! Click here to cheer for Sam in the talon show on the Tough Pigs Discord!
by Ryan Roe – Ryan@ToughPigs.com
