Look, R2, it's our large yellow bird friend!
July 16, 2014 6:32 AM   Subscribe

What's the intersection between Star Wars and the Muppets? Chances are you'll think of Yoda. Maybe you knew that Jim Henson & his creature-makers had nothing to do with the original Star Wars movie. And sure, you probably knew that some of the Star Wars cast were featured on the Muppet Show (watch on YouTube). But wait, there's more.

Back before all that, R2D2 and C3PO also appeared on Sesame Street, where they taught Big Bird numbers, fell in love , helped sing the alphabet song (audio), and argued about how to pronounce banana.

Star Wars characters were also featured in the Muppet Babies episodes: Gonzo's Video Show, and The Next Generation.

And if that weren't enough, Disney released Star Wars character Muppet Figurines as part of their Star Tours collection (more here)

Want more tidbits? 9 Surprising Ways Muppets and Star Wars Are Connected and Yoda rehearsal puppet (yours for just 22 thousand dollars)

And while we're on the subject: Could the Disney-Lucas Deal Mean the Return of Muppet Babies?
posted by Mchelly (24 comments total) 20 users marked this as a favorite
 
Please note: in the "appeared on Sesame Street" clip, C3PO uses parsecs as a measurement of distance.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:40 AM on July 16, 2014 [8 favorites]


Could the Disney-Lucas Deal Mean the Return of Muppet Babies?

That would make my dreams come true. And do the same for you.
posted by Metroid Baby at 6:42 AM on July 16, 2014 [11 favorites]


Could the Disney-Lucas Deal Mean the Return of Muppet Babies?

It could mean the return of Muppet Babies to my nightmares.

Seriously, those cartoons are creepy. The Muppets are adult pigs and frogs and bears and whatevers, and when you put them in diapers my head doesn't classify them alongside baby humans; it chucks them in with diaper-wearing fetishists.
posted by savetheclocktower at 6:53 AM on July 16, 2014 [6 favorites]


Best. Post. Ever! :)
posted by zarq at 7:03 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Frank Oz, you double-timing floozy. Why does Yoda sound like Grover?
posted by St. Peepsburg at 7:03 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Please note: in the "appeared on Sesame Street" clip, C3PO uses parsecs as a measurement of distance.

Maybe because it is?
posted by signal at 7:17 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


C3PO uses parsecs as a measurement of distance

And why not?
posted by Segundus at 7:19 AM on July 16, 2014


The signal moves faster than I do...
posted by Segundus at 7:21 AM on July 16, 2014 [2 favorites]




And why not?

Han Solo didn't.

/geek
posted by Mchelly at 7:21 AM on July 16, 2014 [2 favorites]




In my Star Wars universe, Han Solo didn't know what he was talking about when he made the "twelve parsecs" boast and was just trying to show off without fully understanding the terminology, which fits in better with the character of a person who would shoot Greedo first. Which he totally did.

Also, the Christmas Special doesn't exist.
posted by Curious Artificer at 7:46 AM on July 16, 2014 [5 favorites]


ISTR seeing this picture sometime when I was a kid. Anyway, I love it now - its like everything good about my childhood in one easy photo.
posted by Pogo_Fuzzybutt at 7:48 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Great. Now explain Yaddle.
posted by greenland at 8:43 AM on July 16, 2014


So is that Muppet Show episode considered canon post-Disney-deal?
posted by Naberius at 9:13 AM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]


Great. Now explain Yaddle.

Do you remember Bill Clinton's half-brother Roger?

Yaddle is Yoda's Roger Clinton.
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:22 AM on July 16, 2014 [3 favorites]


I was under the impression that Han Solo made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs meant he found a clever shortcut.
posted by gucci mane at 12:01 PM on July 16, 2014


Oh, I guess that link zarq posted above is what I am talking about, although I didn't know the details of the run itself :/
posted by gucci mane at 12:04 PM on July 16, 2014




I was under the impression that Han Solo made the Kessel run in 12 parsecs meant he found a clever shortcut.

There are a million explanations along these lines, including the idea that the Millennium Falcon is so maneuverable, it could make that run in a shorter course than most ships needed by skirting the edge of a black hole.

My preferred explanation is that maybe 33-year-old George Lucas just didn't understand astrophyics that well...
posted by heathkit at 3:28 PM on July 16, 2014


…or maybe everyone else is just a little too clever for their own good.
posted by George Lucas at 4:37 PM on July 16, 2014 [5 favorites]


Halloween Jack: Canonically, the Kessel Run goes through a region of space filled with black holes, making shortcuts extremely dangerous, so a shorter distance is more impressive. It was originally a mistake, but this became the official explanation, so if you argue otherwise on a fan forum you will be banned from it, because nerds. Not because of nerds, just because nerds.

Of course, with Disney ditching the original expanded universe, who the hell knows any more. They say writers and designers for the new EU will be able to take elements from the old EU, but it wouldn't surprise me if they have to ask for approval. I bet they won't have to ask for approval to contradict the old EU. And that they're already clamoring to contradict the Holiday Special. "Life Day? What's a Life Day?"
posted by BiggerJ at 4:12 AM on July 17, 2014


Thanks, everyone, but I was aware of the No-Prize explanation.
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:59 AM on July 17, 2014


Okay, I am so, SOOOO cynical about Star Wars. I saw the original movie in the theater with my dad and OMIGOD YEAH but almost everything since then has seemed to be downhill. But this? They're doing practical effects that are good enough that a character can wander through the shot and interact with the person talking to the camera? Oh. Hey. Maybe this one won't suck like Episodes 1-3 did SHUT UP STAR WARS FANGEEKS I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK THOSE MOVIES SUCKED AND SHOWED WHAT A HACK LUCAS IS.
posted by Lexica at 6:24 PM on July 20, 2014


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