Prepare your party hats and swoopfoomers! This Friday, Muppet Wiki turns 20 years old! It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. It’s been two decades of having all the Muppet knowledge in the universe at our finger tips and now, we never have to worry about not knowing who performed that one Whatnot in the Kaye Ballard episode of The Muppet Show. All this week, we have some very special pieces to celebrate the occasion, starting with this’un!
Muppet Wiki is all about collaboration, and in the spirt of working together, today we present the product of all you fine knowledge seekers out there. A couple of weeks ago, we asked people to submit their choices for the Top 20 Muppet Wiki Articles. Now, with 51,000+ pages to choose from, you can imagine there were a lot of unique choices (and a few overlapping as you’ll see). But, we here at Tough Pigs Nerve Center were able to whittle that list down using a series of scientifically-approved tests, experiments, and maybe the occasional game of “Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe.”
And so, the folks have spoken! We are now pleased to present what can definitively be said as the twenty best articles on Muppet Wiki! Let’s go to the list!
“I just like how it shows the variety of the simple head shapes and colors but then you get to see all the stand out characters that came form the anything Muppets. You know, fun stuff.”
– Weston Zlatnik
“I mean… just look at it”
– Louis Reynolds
And look at it people did, because there were also submissions for Muppet sex (Max R.), Masochism (ASR), Nether regions (Eevee Rubin), and F*ck You! (James Lynch).
“Because this page covers the message of Bein Green from the melancholy start to the self-accepting lyrics. This also covers the song’s background with Joe Raposo and Jon Stone’s idea “We need a song for the frog.” This page lists the sung performances with images, like a chart. This page also includes Bein Green’s releases in videos, albums, and print releases. There is even a list of references to the song.”
– Paul Hipp
Bunsen and Beaker’s relationship
“Queer representation in the muppets is so important!!”
– Michala D
“This page unironically made me a hardcore Bunsen and Beaker shipper, which subsequently jumpstarted my art career. Thanks gay scientists.”
– Marty
“It was a huge help when I was writing an essay on queer history & the Muppets! Also Bunsen and Beaker are gay and more people should know about that so the page is great for spreading the word.”
– Becca
“When i was a wee little muppet fan i used to think that these two were dating (to be fair it was partially because i saw the episode where beaker got a bucket stuck on his head and bunsen said he looked cute in it)”
– Emi
“I like Bunsen and Beaker, and it gives those homophobes explicit evidence as to WHY these two are queer. GAY SCIENTISTS FOREVERRRRR”
– Addison
“Muppet Yaoi Real”
– Scarlet
“Gay scientists!!!”
– Carys Rose
“I like to see whenever a Muppet Performer is seen on camera without a puppet on their arms.”
– Jason
“My word, there are so many pages to consider — so many that I almost didn’t partake in this (hence why I’m finally submitting this less than an hour before the deadline), but if I had to pick just one… my mind keeps going back to Don Sahlin’s page. It really is just an excellent and well-written team effort of an article that extensively and wonderfully explains just how important Sahlin was to the Muppets and the Muppet spirit, not only in front of, but also behind the camera — not to mention, it is simply an excellent example of the high standards Muppet Wiki has grown to hold itself to for 20 years.”
– Jesse Brisson
“I love this page mostly because of the ongoing drive to learn the names of EVERY SINGLE BACKGROUND FRAGGLE. They could’ve easily have just handed the puppeteers some puppets, have them do something silly, then give them right back, but instead they gave them entire lives and characters, I’m obsessed!”
– Zach
“It’s a microcosm of what makes the Muppet fandom, and Muppet Wiki specifically, so great: that simultaneous need to catalogue everything Muppet-related while also making fun of our own commitment to doing so. This is a page about a children’s book I’ve never read, published years after Muppet Babies ended, and I don’t know how on Earth I got there (common Muppet Wiki scourer sentiment), but the description is so gloriously snarky and well-written. That insurance that even a tiny, relatively pointless Muppet artifact gets a page this funny is part of why I love it so much.”
– Joe Newman-Getzler
Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street
“This page is a treasure trove of Kermit goodness, offering a detailed rundown of his many sketches and newsflashes on Sesame Street. But what really sets it apart is its exploration of Kermit’s more subtle appearances throughout the show’s history. Whether he was popping up in street scenes or making cameo appearances, Kermit always brought a unique energy to the show. And let’s not forget the impact of Jim Henson’s creative vision – without this legend, Sesame Street would have been a very different place.”
– Michael Bardouniotis
Muppet Show guest stars who were born in 1896
“I can vividly see the writing process of this one, starting as a list of guest born in the 1800s then jumping at the point to make the article sillier after realizing they are from the same year”
– Tori Schmidt
“Because I really love the muppet comic strip, from the art style, to the writing/humor!”
– ElbeeIF
“It’s downright adorable that it exists. Very important historical moments to document.”
– Abigail W.
Muppets who grow teeth and tongues
“This may be the single most psychologically damaging page on the entire wiki.”
– David Levy
“Come on. It’s about specifically Muppets that grow teeth and tongues. It’s peak writing and everyone regardless of their interest in Muppets needs to know this information. I’m being serious.”
– Rosaire Antares-Polaris
“its funny”
– niko
“i like the muppets”
– Ellie Panoviciu
“It’s very useful for drawing Muppets.”
– Sebastian
“This page has been hugely valuable for me in my Muppet replica projects. It can be such a pain to try and figure out what colour something is from an image alone, so it’s beyond helpful to be able to look up the exact pantone shade of a character. Plus the extra care added to include swatches of the pantone shades make this a super pleasing page to scroll through. I love seeing how colours are shared between different characters! So this page gets my vote for how useful the page is, as well as the aesthetics of the page itself.”
– Kristi O
“id like to shout out the pantone color page which has been an invaluable resource as an artist + i always love seeing whats going on on the sandbox pages.”
– max r
“As many know, Prairie Dawn is my favorite Muppet, and I also really love these references to old-school feminist texts. However, this article is specifically important to me because I advocated for its creation and got to watch the admins assemble it. That really inspired me to go and make Wiki pages of my own.”
– Becca Petunia
Recycled props, costumes, and sets
“I find it endlessly fascinating how a prop that somebody built for a specific, say, Muppet Show episode, can turn up in many different ways outside its initial appearance, or an iconic bit of wardrobe from one of the Muppets’ feature films being reused as a piece of attire much later down the road for another character.”
– Evan Schad
“An in-depth catalog of all the props and set dressing in Sarah’s room in Labyrinth. Before the Wiki, there was no central location to compile this kind of information, or to work on it collectively.”
– Grant Harding
“There is nothing more joyous in the world than flipping penguins. Fight me!”
– KTLyn
“I like when the wiki is playful and makes me laugh — you know, like the Muppets do. This one takes a big topic and applies it to a Muppety thing in a fun way.”
– Ryan Roe
“It contains everything. No other article is necessary.”
– Erik Browne
To quote a wise and cute philosopher, “And there you have it!” Those are arguably the best pages Muppet Wiki has to offer! But of course, there were more entries than open slots, so some honorable mentions include:
- Muppet autographs (Andrew Reitman)
- Baseball (Matthew Soberman)
- Cowabunga (Danny Horn)
- Big Bird Dump Truck (Geoff S.)
- Let’s Lay An Egg (Sophie)
- Hairpieces (Michael Wermuth)
- Bernie (Cooper Wood)
- Puppety Sockman the Puppet (Anonymous)
- Monsterpiece Theater (Molly Kisner)
- The Cheese (SlipsSC)
- and one dishonorable mention to the single, poor soul who put in “Joe Hennes“
Thanks again to everyone who submitted and bless your intellectual Muppet pursuits!
Click here to complain about the absence of Puppyduck on the Tough Pigs Discord!
By Shane Keating
