The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential style of musical variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, the eponymous media franchise encompasses films, television, music, and other media associated with the characters. Owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the Muppets were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004, which established the Muppets Studio division to oversee the characters. The Muppets originated in the short-form television series Sam and Friends, which aired on WRC-TV and in syndication from 1955 to 1961. Following appearances on late-night talk shows and in advertising during the 1960s, the Muppets began appearing on Sesame Street (1969–present) during their formative years in the early to mid-1970s and attained celebrity status and international recognition through The Muppet Show (1976–1981), their flagship sketch comedy television series that received four Primetime Emmy Award wins and 21 nominations during its five-year run. During the late 1970s and 1980s, the Muppets diversified into theatrical films, including The Muppet Movie (1979), The Great Muppet Caper (1981), and The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984). Additionally, new Muppet characters were created for Fraggle Rock (1983–1987). Disney began involvement with the Muppets in the late 1980s, during which Henson entered negotiations to sell the Jim Henson Company. The Muppets continued their media presence on television with series such as The Jim Henson Hour (1989) and Muppets Tonight (1996–1998), both of which were similar in format to The Muppet Show, as well as the animated spin-off Muppet Babies (1984–1991); three theatrical films: The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Muppet Treasure Island (1996) and Muppets from Space (1999), and the television film It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002). Disney bought the Muppets and Bear in the Big Blue House (1997–2006) from the Henson family in February 2004 and manages the characters through the Muppets Studio, though the deal excluded the characters from Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock. Subsequent projects have included the television film The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), two theatrical films: The Muppets (2011) and Muppets Most Wanted (2014), a primetime series (2015–2016), the streaming television series The Muppets Mayhem (2023), and most recently the television special The Muppet Show (2026). Throughout seven decades, the Muppets have been regarded as a staple of the entertainment industry and popular culture in the United States and English-speaking areas around the world. They have been recognized by various cultural institutions and organizations, including the American Film Institute, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Library of Congress, and both Academies of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and Television Arts and Sciences.
History
1950s–1960s: Beginnings
The Muppets were created by puppeteer Jim Henson in the 1950s; Henson initially claimed that he coined the term Muppet as a blend of the words marionette and puppet, though he later denied this. Henson's earliest creations included Kermit the Frog, who became his most recognizable character. Originally conceived for an adult audience, the Muppets were introduced in 1955 in Sam and Friends, a short-form television series produced for WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. Developed by Henson and his future wife, Jane Nebel, the series was the first form of puppet media not to incorporate a physical proscenium arch typical of such works, relying instead on the natural framing of the television set through which it was viewed. During the 1960s, the characters—in particular, Kermit and Rowlf the Dog—appeared in skits on several late-night talk shows and on television commercials, including The Ed Sullivan Show. Rowlf became the first Muppet character to appear regularly on network television when he began appearing with Jimmy Dean on The Jimmy Dean Show. In 1966, Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett began developing a children's educational television program and approached Henson to design a cast of Muppet characters during this stage. Produced by the Children's Television Workshop, the program debuted as Sesame Street in 1969 on NET, and later PBS. Henson and his creative team became closely involved with Sesame Street during the years that followed; Henson waived his performance fee in exchange for retaining ownership rights to the Muppet characters created for the program. Sesame Street garnered a positive response, and the Muppets' involvement in the series became a vital component of its increasing popularity, providing an "effective and pleasurable viewing" method of presentation for its educational curriculum.
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