Muppets Diorama: Tribute To An Underrated Gem
I don’t know what we were all doing In 2015 that was so darned important, but a good portion of us decided to not watch The Muppets, and thus we’re to blame for its cancellation after only one year. This week’s Muppet diorama is our attempt to make up for our part in that.
Look, we get busy. There are a vast number of things more important than watching television. But The Muppets? This show was a return to series television for the Muppets (in the US) after the cancelation of Muppets Tonight in 1998. That’s seventeen years without fresh episodic Muppets on TV! We couldn’t spare an hour a week for them?
Kermit looks weird without his jester’s collar, doesn’t he?
Here at Long Lost Friend Studio we’re just as guilty as the rest of you slackers. We weren’t as loyal to the show as we should have been and we regret it deeply. The Muppets, after all, ended on a cliffhanger. Kermit and Piggy, having broken up and moved forward successfully in their own lives, are thrown into a situation that could rekindle past emotions. But the cancellation prevented us from ever knowing their decision. I bear some of the weight of that unsatisfying outcome.
Speaking of bears…
So, Michelle and I decided it was time to light the lights on this series (in our own way) when choosing inspiration for our latest diorama. We wanted to produce a piece to be included in Gallery1988’s latest pop culture show, Idiot Box — a celebration of TV shows from 1999 to present day. And do you know what falls squarely within that time period? Of course you know. It’s The Muppets.
I could spend entire days napping under that tree.
We chose a scene from Episode 3 (Bear Left Then Bear Write) where Fozzie Bear has left the show to find his muse and write the great American comedy film. But Fozzie gets lost in the woods, startles some campers, and is shot by a forest ranger with a tranquilizer gun and an itchy trigger finger. Don’t worry, Kermit has been hot on Fozzie’s trail since he went AWOL and is there to save him.
“I can feel the Xylazine flowing through me, Kermit.”
For our diorama’s title, we took a cue from the title of that episode (and Fozzie’s reaction to the tranquilizer) and called our piece Bear Up, Bear Down. I sculpted Kermit from polymer clay, while Michelle made a very fuzzy Fozzie with wool. The base itself, the nature park where the chaos went down, was a joint effort.
“This is what happens when you cross me, Fozzie.”
We’re happy not only to be a part of the Gallery1988 show, but to be able to shine a light on a Muppet series that never got a chance to really hit cruising altitude. I’m not here to do any free advertising for Disney, but you can still catch the show on their streaming service (and if you do, I hope you enjoy it) but they’re never going to resolve that cliffhanger. That ship has sailed. We’ll never know if Kermit and Piggy ever get back together. Or, maybe we do? I guess reasonable people could assume the answer.
Regardless, what all of this means is that every time they produce another Muppets television show, I’m obviously going to have to watch it to avoid the guilt that skipping their last show has put me through. Or maybe I won’t. I don’t know. I’m a busy person with lots to do.
Whether or not you end up watching The Muppets, please feel free to enjoy our process video down below where we put our diorama together. And if you’d like to visit Gallery1988’s site to see what other shows people chose to honor, here’s a link to that.