While this week celebrates the 70th anniversary of The Muppets, there is one thing we aren’t celebrating – Kermit the Frog’s birthday! Sure, May 9th 1955 may be the day Kermit the Frog first appeared on our television screens (well, not MY television screen, I wasn’t born until 1989), it doesn’t mark his day of birth, as our own Joe Hennes recently discussed with ACTUAL May 9th-er, Lisa Henson.
May 9th has had its day in the sun, sure. Official calendars, articles, advertisements, all of them have stated that May 9th is the day the frog was born. But it turns out everyone has been wrong! It all stems from a report during the 50th celebration, when an NPR story claimed May 9th was when Kermit was born. However, they were talking about the creation of the idea of Kermit, not his actual birth as if he was a real walking talking frog (spoilers, he’s a puppet).
And while it makes sense that we’d consider this Kermit’s anniversary, is it fair to assume he was born that day too and appeared on TV just mere hours after his birth? I’ve been on TV a few times, the first time was in April 2008, but I wasn’t born that day – again, I was born in 1989.
(Actually, if we’re splitting hairs, technically Kermit first appeared on TV in March of 1955, we just don’t have any surviving footage, so we’ve all just chosen to ignore this, Principal Skinner/Armin Tamzarian style)
Muppet Birthdays and ages hurt my head at the best of times. Elmo’s birthday is February 3rd but he’s always 3 and a half years old? Bert’s birthday is July 26 but he’s both 20 and 65 and either could be true? But I digress…
So, if it isn’t May 9th, then when IS Kermit’s birthday? We have some options…
SEPTEMBER 24th
September 24th is the birthday of two very important men in Kermit the Frog’s life; his original performer, Jim Henson, and his immediate successor, Steve Whitmire. During her recent chat with Joe, Lisa Henson claimed that The Jim Henson Company used to call this Kermit’s birthday, which makes sense as a way to honour both Jim and the character he created. This date being tied to two of Kermit’s three performers means it’s significant whether intentional or not. It’s a great option, but unfortunately it’s not got any merit in Muppet continuity (which we all know is flawless).
LEAP DAY
Coz he’s a frog! Get it? This joke came from Sesame Street Unpaved, and maybe we should just pave right back over it.
SOMETIME IN MAY
Arguably, the most likely answer is that even if it isn’t May 9th, Kermit’s birthday is (or was) sometime this month. Multiple times predating the May 9th rumor, Kermit’s birthday seemed to revolve around this time of year. Kermit told Muppet Show guest star Jim Nabors that he was a Taurus, which puts his birthday between April 20th and May 20th. On May 16th 1977, Kermit appeared on the show Dinah! where host Dinah Shore threw him a 21st birthday party, even though at that point he’d have been turning 22. Personally, I don’t think we should celebrate it on May 16th, as that’s the anniversary of Jim’s passing. This episode of Dinah! was filmed on April 13th, which is too early for Kermit to be a Taurus, and would put him square in the Aries field (but also, who cares because astrology is genuine nonsense – fight me).
So, based on all the evidence we have, Kermit’s birthday is probably around those dates. But this wouldn’t be much of an article if I didn’t get a bit ridiculous with it, so how about some ideas of when Kermit’s birthday SHOULD be?
MAY 26th
Putting Kermit’s birthday in May still feels right. And why not go with a day that means a lot to Muppet fans? May 26th obviously being the day after Frank Oz’s birthday, but more importantly, it’s my birthday, and so I’ve decided it’s important to Muppet fans. You can send me a gift care of Shane Keating.
WORLD FROG DAY
Of course we all celebrate World Frog Day on March 20th, so why not make it the day of the most successful frog of all time? No, not Mr. Toad from Mr. Toad’s Wild Hellfire Nightmare Ride at Disneyland, I of course mean Kermit! (Plus, Mr. Toad is a toad, it’s right there in the name). It would be a way to honor both the concept of frogs AND the concept of Kermit the Frog! It just makes good sense! I’ll call the calendar people now.
…They said ‘New phone who dis’…
THE DATE JIM’S MOM’S COAT WAS MADE
It’s well known that Jim cut up his mother’s old turquoise felt coat to make the first Kermit, so perhaps we should establish when the coat was originally made? If it was cut up in 1955, and it was old then to the point that she wouldn’t care, I’d age it at that stage at least 25 years old. That puts it at 1930. I spoke to my mother about her old coats, and she’s had one in the back of her closet that she bought in 1988, making it 37 years old this year. If we average those out, let’s say Jim’s mom’s coat was 31 years old. That makes it 1924. Which means if we go by that count, Kermit is actually 101 this year. Date wise, which I guess is what this article is about, we’d be looking at late-summer-into-autumn, before the winter chill comes. That would put us in late-September, early October. Which means Kermit’s birthday could be the 11th of October. Or the 9th. Or the 14th. But not the 13th. Fun fact, no-one has a birthday on October 13th! And if they say they do, they are liars.
ABOUT 4 MONTHS AWAY
The question is – do we even need Kermit to have a birthday? Like, do we care that Fozzie doesn’t have a birthday? Or Gonzo? Or Mr. Poodlepants? Perhaps Kermit’s true birthday is what he told us in the Linda Lavin episode of The Muppet Show when Miss Piggy throws him a birthday celebration – today isn’t his birthday, it’s ‘about 4 months away’. Sure, it was filmed in May and broadcast in September, but now it lives on on Disney Plus to be watched at any stage of the year. Maybe that’s the joke we should stick to when we wonder about Kermit’s date of birth – no matter what time of year it is, his birthday is always ‘about 4 months away’.
WHENEVER YOU WANT IT TO BE
Birthdays are about celebrating the life of those we love. And we all love Kermit the Frog, so why don’t we celebrate him all the time? Maybe Kermit has 365 birthdays a year, even in a leap year because we paved over that joke about 7 paragraphs ago. Every day we Muppet fans do our best to celebrate these characters, the characters that we cheer, as Matt Vogel sings in his intro to his podcast, Below The Frame. Let’s not limit loving Kermit to one day a year, let’s celebrate him all the time, and Miss Piggy, and Joe the Legal Weasel, and whatever other random characters pop up over the rest of the 70th celebration. Pick your favorite character and celebrate THEM on YOUR birthday! Maybe you can share your birthday with Bubba the Rat! Who’s going to stop you? Me? I don’t know where you live! (Except for you, I know where you live).
By Jarrod Fairclough – [email protected]
Click here to share your birthday with Mr. Poodlepants on the ToughPigs Discord!
