The Master of Muppets: Jim Henson Quiz

Estimated Completion Time
2 min
The Master of Muppets: Jim Henson Quiz
Image: refer to hsw

About This Quiz

Even if you're a die-hard fan of "Sesame Street" and "The Muppet Show," you can't possibly know all there is to know about Jim Henson and his work … or can you? Take the challenge and find out!
Which Muppet was the first of Henson’s creations to appear on network television?
Bert
Kermit the Frog
Rowlf
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

While Kermit was the first recognizable Muppet to appear on TV, it was only a local show. Rowlf was first created for a Purina dog chow commercial.

Advertisement

What did Jim Henson major in while in college?
home economics
theater
puppetry arts
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Strange but true -- theater design, art and the other types of classes Henson took at the University of Maryland were part of the Home Economics department in the 1950s.

Advertisement

How was Henson involved in the creation and performance of Yoda, that lovable green Jedi from “Star Wars”?
He consulted on Yoda but suggested that Frank Oz do the voice and puppeteering.
He was the puppeteer for Yoda.
He built Yoda in his Creature Shop.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jim Henson made suggestions and consulted during the creation of Yoda, but Frank Oz brought the little guy to life.

Advertisement

What was Jim Henson’s cause of death?
cancer
strep throat
organ failure due to bacterial infection
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Lots of news outlets reported that Henson died of strep, but it was actually the bacteria that can cause strep -- as well as lots of other infections -- that led to organ failure.

Advertisement

Why didn’t the Muppet sketches ultimately work out on “Saturday Night Live”?
Jim Henson didn’t get along with SNL creator Lorne Michaels.
The writers didn’t know how to write for puppets.
The actors felt upstaged by the puppets.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Head writer Michael O’Donoghue quipped, “I don’t write for felt” -- and the abstract characters weren’t popular with the audience, either.

Advertisement

Which Henson project garnered him his first Academy Award nomination?
The 1966 short film “Time Piece”
“The Muppet Movie”
“Labyrinth”
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Other Henson projects won Academy Awards, but his first nomination came with a a surrealistic, nine-minute short film about an Everyman and the passage of time.

Advertisement

What was Henson’s first long-running TV show?
“Sesame Street”
“Sam and Friends”
“The Muppet Show”
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jim Henson worked on other local children’s shows, but “Sam and Friends,” which began in Washington, D.C., in 1955, was his first long-running gig as a puppeteer.

Advertisement

Which two main “Sesame Street” characters did Henson perform?
Ernie and Kermit the Frog
Kermit the Frog and Big Bird
Oscar the Grouch and Kermit the Frog
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

While Henson performed lots of one-off and minor characters and was involved in the creation of others, his two main characters were Ernie and Kermit the Frog.

Advertisement

Why was “The Muppet Show” filmed in the United Kingdom?
It was cheaper to film in the U.K.
The British liked puppets better than Americans.
The show was financed by British impresario Lew Grade and distributed through his London-based TV company, ATV.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Henson tried unsuccessfully to convince networks in the U.S. to produce “The Muppet Show,” but nobody got the humor and considered him a children’s performer.

Advertisement

Who took over performing Kermit the Frog after Jim Henson’s death?
Brian Henson
Steve Whitmire
Frank Oz
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Many people assumed that Brian Henson took over Kermit, and others have voiced Kermit on rare occasions, but Steve Whitmire is the only other person to perform Kermit.

Advertisement

How did Henson come up with the word “Muppet”?
It’s a combination of the words “marionette” and “puppet.”
His wife came up with it.
He just made it up.
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Henson used to tell interviewers that he combined “marionette” and “puppet” to form Muppet, but he rarely used marionettes and admitted that he just made the word up.

Advertisement

When did Kermit the Frog make his first appearance on television?
on “The Mike Douglas Show”
during the run of “Sam and Friends”
on “Sesame Street”
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

He was more of a lizard than a frog, and he started out turquoise instead of green because Henson made him from one of his mother’s old coats, but a version of Kermit appeared in the mid-1950s.

Advertisement

Which Muppet was voiced by Henson’s wife, Jane?
Miss Piggy
Prairie Dawn from “Sesame Street”
none of the above
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Jane Henson did the puppeteering for lots of Muppets on early Henson projects until quitting in the early '60s, but she only performed nonspeaking Muppets.

Advertisement

Who owns the Muppets today?
Jim Henson’s family
The Walt Disney Company
Sesame Street Workshop
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The name “Muppets” and most of the characters are owned by The Walt Disney Company; Sesame Street Workshop owns the characters that appear on “Sesame Street.”

Advertisement

Which “Fraggle Rock” character was performed by Jim Henson?
Boober
Convincing John
Wembley
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Not one of the “core” group, Convincing John, performed by Henson, lived away from the rest of the Fraggles -- probably because he usually tried to convince them to do crazy things.

Advertisement

Which of Jim Henson’s shows became the first Western show to be seen in Russia?
“The Muppet Show”
“Muppet Babies”
“Fraggle Rock”
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Although a popular Russian newspaper called “Sesame Street” imperialistic in the early 1970s, by 1989, enough inroads had been made to allow an airing of “Fraggle Rock” on Russian TV.

Advertisement

Which Henson project was first turned into a comic strip?
The Muppets
“Sesame Street”
“Fraggle Rock”
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

A “Sesame Street” comic strip ran from 1971 to 1975, but oddly enough, there were no Muppets in the first few years of the strip’s run.

Advertisement

Which of Jim Henson’s children appeared on “Sesame Street”?
Cheryl
Brian
Lisa
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

All of Henson’s children have worked in various capacities in his productions, but Brian was the first to appear on-screen, in animated shorts his father directed for “Sesame Street.”

Advertisement

When “The Dark Crystal” was released in theaters, which classic family film did it compete with?
“E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial”
“Tron”
“The Fox and the Hound”
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

Audiences were already wary of this dark movie from Henson that didn’t have any Muppets in it -- going up against one of the most successful sci-fi films ever didn’t help!

Advertisement

The unproduced screenplay “A Tale of Sand” (written by Henson and Jerry Juhl) has been released in 2011 in what form?
TV miniseries
graphic novel
cartoon
Correct Answer
Wrong Answer

The screenplay, written in the 1960s and '70s, couldn’t be made into a film due to its unusual story, broad scope and existential nature.

Advertisement

You Got:
/20
refer to hsw