- published: 24 Nov 2009
- views: 50885225
The Muppets are a group of puppet characters created by Jim Henson starting in 1954–55. Although the term is often used to refer to any puppet that resembles the distinctive style of The Muppet Show, the term is both an informal name and legal trademark owned by the Walt Disney Company in reference to the original characters created by Henson.
Henson has said the word "Muppet" predated the show Sam and Friends. He would sometimes tell people the term had been created by combining the words "marionette" and "puppet", but he also said that it was really just a made-up word.
After earlier unsuccessful attempts, the Walt Disney Company bought the Muppets in 2004. Exceptions include characters appearing on Sesame Street (as they were previously sold to Sesame Workshop, although they have always had creative rights, only reimbursing the Jim Henson Company to create and provide their Muppet characters for their use) and the Fraggles of Fraggle Rock (which are still owned by the Jim Henson Company). The legal trademark on the term "Muppet" is currently held by The Muppets Studio, a wholly owned division of the Walt Disney Company, although Sesame Workshop and the Jim Henson Company continue to occasionally use the term on their characters with certain permissions from Disney.
The Swedish Chef is a Muppet that appeared on The Muppet Show. He was operated by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously and is now puppeteered by Bill Barretta.
A parody of television chefs, the Swedish Chef wears a toque blanche and has bushy eyebrows that completely obscure his eyes. He was one of the few Muppets to employ an actual puppeteer's hands, originally Oz's, in the designs – that is, they were visible to the audience through his sleeves and facilitated handling food and utensils.
Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches begin with him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing his signature song in his typical mock Swedish – a semi-comprehensible gibberish mimicking Swedish phonology and prosody. The song's lyrics vary slightly from one episode to the next, but always end with "Bork, bork, bork!" (translates as 'away/be gone') as the Chef throws the utensils (or whatever else may be in his hands) aside with a clatter that seems to startle him.
After this introduction, the Chef begins to prepare a recipe while giving a gibberish explanation of what he is doing. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue in the viewer to what he is attempting; for example, "Aweenda shmure da froog's legs." These hints are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, sports equipment, hand tools, etc.) to prepare his dishes. In the pilot episode of The Muppet Show, the Chef's commentary was supplemented by Chinese subtitles, but this was abandoned for all other episodes of the series. The sketch typically degenerates into a slapstick finale where the ingredients or equipment get the better of him.
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Actors: Steve Allen (actor), James Caan (actor), Edward Asner (actor), Christopher Atkins (actor), Martin Balsam (actor), Don Ameche (actor), Harry Belafonte (actor), Tony Bennett (actor), Milton Berle (actor), Theodore Bikel (actor), Tom Bosley (actor), Barry Bostwick (actor), Warren Beatty (actor), George Burns (actor), James Cagney (actor),
Genres: Comedy, Family, Music,Another Bert and Ernie Singalong
thanks to Charles Evans (cee1@ra.MsState.Edu)
[The arrowed lines are from memory, because I did not hit REC on the VCR
fast enough . . .]
> [E. walks in with pot and plops it on B.'s head]
> E: Here Bert, try this on!
> B: Hey, hey, Ernie, what are you doing? Get that pot off my head! Why?
> E: Well haa, ya see Bert, a little while ago, I dropped and broke the
> cookie jar.
> B: Oh, Ernie, you didn't!
> E: Mmm hmmm.
B: Oh well, all right, so you broke the cookie jar, but what's it gotta do
with that pot there, huh?
E: Well you see, I had to put the cookies somewhere...
B: Yeah?
E: Bert, um... just a second. I... I... I'll show you, Bert.
B: [looks at camera] I don't understand.
E: [brings in sugar bowl with cookies] See, I broke the cookie jar and so I
had to put the cookies in the sugar bowl, see? [takes a taste of one]
B: Well... yeah, Ernie, but but if you put the cookies in the sugar bowl,
then where'd ya put the sugar?
E: Well, I'll show you, Bert! [famous Ernie hmm] Hmm hmm hmm [leaves with
bowl and Bert looks at camera]
B: Ya show me. [does the famous head tilt]
E: Ok, well you see, I put the sugar in the flower pot here.
B: In the flower pot?! Oh great... just great. Well _where'd_ you put the
flower that was growing there, huh?
E: Oh I'll show you, Bert! [takes away the pot]
B: Ya gonna show me again... I don't get this.
E: [brings in milk bottle and flower] Ya see, I had to plant this flower here
into this milk bottle, see... nicely planted, I watered it and everthing.
B: [Looking very stunned] [E. looks straight into camera all proud, shaking
his head about his nose] ERNIE!!!! [Shaking head]
E: [Calmly] Hmm?
B: Well now WHERE is the milk?!
E: Oh, I'll show you, Bert.
B: [E. leaves] Ya gonna show me where the milk is too. Oh Ernie, I ...
[looks at E. returning with a root beer bottle.. stunned]
E: See I put the milk into the, uh, soda bottle
B: [Gets close to E. in quiet voice gradually getting louder] Ernie... I'm
trying to be patient, but __where__ is the soda??
E: Oh just a second, Bert, I'll show you... [calmly as usual, Bert getting
more stunned and irritated gives out his famous]
B: Aaaaaaahhhh!
E: [Brings in the soda-filled fishbowl] It wasn't easy, but I put the soda in
the [straining] mmm fishbowl
B: In the fishbowl?! Ernie, this is CRAZY!! Now where are the fish?!?
E: Oh... well, I'll show you, Bert. [even calmer than before]
B: [stares into camera as E. leaves for a few seconds and ...] Ooohhhh,
Ernie, what are you doing now? [Mouth wider than ever in shock]
E: Oh, I gotta carry it out here, Bert... I put the fish in... to... the
cowboy hat, ya see.
B: [looks down into hat as fish squirts water in B.'s face] Oh, no... Eeeyah!
[wipes faces stands there with mouth firmly closed very angry]
E: [points calmly at fish in hat] Take it easy there, fella.
B: [angrily] Ernie, Ernie, that is MY cowboy hat...
E: Yeah, so? [VERY calmly]
B: But ya, you but the fish in it, Now what am I gonna do when I wanna play
cowboy?
E: Oh, umm, well [reaches for pot and puts it on B.'s head] Ride em cowboy,
Bert! [pats Bert on back] [E.'s patented laugh] Keheeheeheehee
[End music begins with Bert standing there as usual, and Ernie leaving.
There was one neat trick done in it, at the end when Ernie put the pot
on Bert's head (probably at the beginning.. which I didn't see). You
know how Ernie's hands are real and the person's arm go in at his
elbows, which are always below the counter/stage, but to get the pot
on the head, the hand person, had to make a quick .. nicely-done move
behind Bert and up with the pot.. with Elbow behind Bert so Ernie's