One Way Sesame Street: Muppet Fonzie Jumps the Shark Teeth

 "One Way" is one of my earliest memories of watching Sesame Street as a three year old in 1978.  "One Way" featured a parody of Henry Winkler's "The Fonz" from the TV show "Happy Days" on his motorcycle trying to navigate his way down a one way street.  The song "One Way" was performed by singer and composer Christopher Cerf, who created a great deal of music for Sesame Street.  "One Way" was released on record albums, attributed to Sesame Street's resident rock band, "Little Chrissy and the Alphabeats" (Cerf also performed for these musical Muppets, notably the song "You're Alive").

"One Way" was simply a memory stuck in my head for decades until I finally saw it again on YouTube.

I created Muppet Fonzie, the motorcycle, and the One Way sign using shells, rocks, and other sea junk found on the beaches of Venice, Florida (I used paint and glue, too).

Interestingly, Henry Winkler was speaking at an event for the Tidewell Foundation in nearby Sarasota last month and I unfortunately did not get to go see him.  That would have been cool, like Fonzie.

The Good Sesame Place

How does one get to Sesame Street?  Well, in Florida, you can find Oscar, Ernie, Big Bird, and Bert in a few different locations.

The biggest bird in the Sunshine State isn't a pelican.  It's a yellow Muppet.

 Big Bird is one of the latest sculptures I've made using materials I've found on the beaches near my home in Venice, Florida.  Here in Florida, the Sesame Street Muppets can be found at Busch Gardens in Tampa (Sesame Street Safari of Fun, opened in 2010) and SeaWorld in Orlando (Sesame Street Land, opened in 2019).  While these are relatively new additions, Sesame Street is no stranger to theme parks.
The very first Sesame Street theme park, Sesame Place, opened in Pennsylvania in 1980.  The small play park, operated by Busch, eventually morphed into a (still small) ride and water park.  Eventually, Sesame Place started getting cross promoted in materials for its sister Busch Gardens and SeaWorld Parks, appearing on brochures, shopping bags, and eventually in the form of small "lands" with attractions and shows.

A second Sesame Place is coming to San Diego in 2021 (replacing the existing SeaWorld Aquatica water park.
While Big Bird is no longer considered the main character of Sesame Street, the endearing modern day feathered dinosaur is still the mascot for Sesame Place parks.  For now.

Big Bird's best buddy is Mr. Snuffleupagus.  For many years, quite a few adults on Sesame Street thought that Snuffy was an imaginary friend that Big Bird had made up (because they never saw him).

Snuffleupagus started appearing at the Sesame Place theme park in Pennsylvania fairly recently.  He has also appeared at Busch Gardens Tampa, where he has his own ride called "Snuffy's Elephant Romp" (featuring Muppet Elephant ride vehicles) in Sesame Street Safari of Fun.

Grover is a rather super monster on Sesame Street, and in the world of theme parks.  Grover (and his alter-ego, Super Grover) has his own high-flying roller coasters at Sesame Place, Busch Gardens parks, and SeaWorld parks.

Grover was sort of the original "breakout" Monster character of Sesame Street.  Before a certain ticklish, crimson-colored Muppet took over the spotlight.

Sesame Street airs all over the world, and often features localized characters.  These international Muppets used to be showcased in Sesame Place at a ride called "Grover's World Twirl".  One of these characters was Nimnim (which means "Tiny") from the Egyptian version of Sesame Street called "Alam Simsim".

Nimnim is the colorful Egyptian counterpart to Big Bird.

Boombah the Lion takes on the Big Bird role in Galli Galli Sim Sim, India's version of Sesame Street.

Galli Galli Sim Sim has a very catchy theme song.

In 2014, Sesame Place debuted Cookie's Monster Land.  This area features play components and five rides, including the Disco themed Monster Mix-Up, which replaced Grover's World Twirl.

Me want Cookie!  Me from the beach, so me want Pecan Sandie!

Bath tub loving Ernie is the go-to guy for interactive water play elements at Sesame Place and the Sesame Street lands.  Whether it is a fountain, water slide, or wave pool, Ernie is ready with his rubber duckie.

Of course, the giggling Ernie was first performed by Muppet founder, Jim Henson.

Bert would be happy to know that there are indeed pigeons on some of the beaches in Venice, Florida.

It's kind of crazy that the original performer for Bert (Frank Oz) would later become a director for some wild films like Little Shop of Horrors and What About Bob?

I also made Oscar the Grouch.  He's created using genuine sea trash, like bits of coral and sharkteeth.

Sesame Street's resident bad boy got his own wooden roller coaster, "Oscar's Wacky Taxi"
 at Sesame Place in Pennsylvania in 2018.

Oscar and Big Bird were both performed by puppeteer Carroll Spinney.  Oscar's character was inspired by a taxi driver that Spinney encountered.

OK, that's it.  Now SCRAM!

Ludo is Your Friend in the Labyrinth

I saw the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth by myself in an empty movie theater in Sarasota, Florida when I was a kid.  The movie was a disappointment when it debuted, but has gained a big cult following over the years.  I decided to make a statue of Ludo using some of his rock friends.  When the Muppet Babies cartoon did a Labyrinth themed episode, Ludo was described as an "Orangutan Troll" which seems like a very appropriate description of Ludo's appearance.  It is somewhat shocking to live in Sarasota today and be able to find merchandise of Ludo at Books A Million.

I also built Sir Didymus and Ambrosius, Sarah's canine friends in Labyrinth.

When I first watched Labyrinth, the concept that the events of the movie were a dream Sarah was having didn't even cross my mind.  I didn't make the connection of all the character toys in Sarah's bedroom and that Ambrosius was the same type dog as Sarah's dog, Merlin.  It is very Wizard of Oz.  Of course, Labyrinth ended up inspiring other people.  Sir Didymus seems to have been an inspiration for Puss in Boots in the Shrek series, and Buck the Weasel in the Ice Age films.

Fraggle Rock Test McDonald's Happy Meal: Dismissed Doozers

In April 1987, McDonald's Test Marketed a Fraggle Rock Happy Meal in the Charleston-Huntington and Bluefield Beckley areas of West Virginia.  Limited Test Market and Regional Happy Meal toys were a thing in the late Eighties and early Nineties.  I first became aware of this phenomenon reading Tomart's Price Guide to McDonald's Happy Meal Collectibles by Meredith Williams (from 1992).

Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock debuted on HBO in 1983.  The McDonald's Happy Meal is actually tied to the 1987 animated series that premiered on NBC in the Fall of 1987.  FYI, the animated Fraggle Rock was, like Muppet Babies, produced by Marvel Animation.

The Fraggle Rock Test McDonald's Happy Meal is rather fascinating.  There were four toys in the set.  Two are familiar to people who know about the Fraggle Rock McDonald's toys that were released nationally in March of 1988.

Gobo Fraggle was the first character released.  The carrot car in the Test had wobbling wheels.  The wobbling was eliminated on the Gobo and Red cars when the Fraggle Rock Happy Meal went National in 1988.  It should be pointed out that the Fraggles did not, to my knowledge, drive vegetable cars.

The Test Fraggle Rock Happy Meal was half Fraggle toys, half Doozers (the mechanically amazing construction guy creatures from the series).  Bulldoozer and Friends was the second toy in the set.  On the shows, the Doozers appeared to all be identical, until they took off their construction hats, revealing their individual appearances and personalities.

The Doozers are a natural fit for toy vehicles.  However, they did not make it to the National McDonald's Happy Meal.  Why?  Well, I imagine some folks were mighty disappointed that the only Fraggles in the Fraggle Rock Happy Meal were Gobo and Red.  You just know that the McDonald's toy designer folks LOVED the Doozers.

There was a special Doozer McDonald's Happy Meal box designed that did not even make it to the Test.  A prototype of the Doozer box was made, but never produced in large quantities.

The fact that the Doozers were dropped from the Happy Meal toy line is a crime against Muppets.  The Doozers actually freaking walked on the show in 1983.  I also love the fact that the comparatively larger Fraggles EAT the Doozer constructions.  Brilliant!

Cotterpin Doozer and Friends was Set 4.

Cotterpin was the red-haired, rebellious girl Doozer (performed, like Mokey Fraggle, by Kathryn Mullen).

When the Fraggle Rock McDonald's Happy Meal went National in 1988, Mokey and Wembley (with Boober) replaced the two Doozer toys.  Here we can see Cotterpin for a size comparison.  I should point out that the toys pictured are NOT mine.  I've never even seen the Test toys in person and they are extremely expensive.  The Cotterpin toy shown here is actually missing the front piece of the forklift.

As a fan of the Fraggles, I can understand how people were probably disappointed at the lack of all 5 main Fraggles in the Test.  The vegetable cars are pretty cute.  But dang, those Doozer vehicles are pretty Rev (Doozer speak for "cool").

Re-watching Fraggle Rock, the Doozers are my favorite part of the show.  They are actually inspired by bees and termites.  My favorites are Wrench and Turbo from the episode "Doozer Is As Doozer Does."

The Doozers may have had the last laugh.  The hard working, hard-hatted little guys got their own computer animated spin-off show called The Doozers in 2013.

The Muppet Christmas Carol At Taco Bell

Many people have happy memories of collecting fast food toys.  I vividly remember getting this Muppet Christmas Carol ornament at Taco Bell in 1992 and thinking it was pretty sad.

At the time, Taco Bell was not known for having cool toys for kids.  I don't think there were any commercials for this promotion.

At least the artwork (with Kermit as Bob Cratchit, Robin as Tiny Tim, and the penguin carolers) is nicely done.

These ornaments are just two stickers and a blank plastic disc with a piece of string.  You have to put them together yourself.

A better set of fast food toys (finger puppets) for The Muppet Christmas Carol was released at Hardee's in 1993.  You can check them out at The Muppets And Pee-Wee Herman: The Great Big Christmas Caper Adventure.

A more impressive set of Muppet fast food toys that required assembly was Jim Henson's Muppet Workshop At McDonald's.

Jim Henson's Muppet Workshop At McDonald's

In 1995, visitors to McDonald's could get a Jim Henson's Muppet Workshop Happy Meal.

This was much more popular than the Jim Henson's Muppet Sweatshop Happy Meal offered in 1994.

For the Muppet Workshop Happy Meal, kids (or more likely, parents) are put to work to create their toys.

Even the box itself can be turned into a puppet.  In this case, it is a Muppet Dog.

Kermit is always Green, so it is fitting that even the bottom of the box has a use!  That's where you'll find the ears for your dog puppet.

The puppets for the Muppet Workshop Happy Meal consist of hard plastic pieces.  Check out the Kermit the Frog on the Bird's red hat!

The bodies of these puppets are hollow, so feel free to feed your puppet French Fries just like those cute little birds you see eating fries outside your local McDonald's.

Once the head piece is snapped in place, you can add the provided accessories to your hard plastic puppet.

Well, don't you know about the bird?  Everybody knows that the bird is the word!

Is this the Muppet version of Snoopy and Woodstock?

Or perhaps this is Rowlf's niece, Hairy Potter.

It is easy to make your Muppet Dog speak.  Just push the lever at the back of its head.

Your Muppet Dog will be happy if you give it a McDonald's Hamburger patty.

Watch out for the Muppet Monster!

All the puppet pieces in this set are interchangeable, so you can come up with some very colorful characters.

The Muppet Workshop Happy Meal found a very clever way to make mass-marketed, creative fast food toy puppets.

Feed your Muppet Monster some tasty McDonald's Cookies!

A fourth toy (a yellow "What-Not" Muppet) was available, but I was not able to get that one.

The Muppet Workshop McDonald's toys came with coupons for Muppet Workshop Craft toys and kits.  And Cheerios, because I guess the Muppets like to eat Cheerios.

Each McDonald's puppet features an emblem of Kermit on the lever used to operate the Muppet's mouth.

Time to get to work and create some new Muppets!

I'm not sure how popular the Muppet Workshop toys were, but I don't think the brand lasted very long.  Then again, the Muppets have changed hands (as in ownership) a few times since 1995.

Disney and FAO Schwarz opened up the Muppet Whatnot Workshop (here's a link to a story I did about it in 2010), where puppeteers can create their own custom-built Muppets.  You can even order them online.  These days, it looks like there are fewer parts and costumes to choose from, but the puppets are less expensive to create now.

Disney And Jim Henson Present Dino-Motion Dinosaurs At McDonald's

Since the dawn of time, there have been TV sitcom families featuring a fat husband and a skinny wife. Yes, ever since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. That was the premise of ABC network's 1991 "Dinosaurs" series (created by Michael Jacobs and Bob Young), which was one of the first collaborations between Disney and Jim Henson.

Workers for the WESAYSO Development Corporation included Earl Sinclair, Roy Hess and B.P. Richfield. I had never noticed that the characters shared names with big oil companies.

The voice of B.P. Richfield, the ferocious boss at WESAYSO, was provided by the late Sherman Hemsley (who starred in the famous TV shows "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons").

The Dino-Motion Dinosaurs McDonald's Happy Meal featured push-button "puppets" of the Sinclair family packaged in gigantic plastic bags.

Fat dad Earl Sinclair (voiced by Stuart Pankin, who many people remember as an anchor on HBO's "Not Necessarily the News") was sort of a cross between Fred Flintstone and Dino the dinosaur.

Earl's wife, Fran, was voiced by Jessica Walter, an actress who has appeared in front of the camera quite a bit lately, starring in shows like "Arrested Development" and "Retired at 35".

Jessica Walter can also be heard as the voice of Malory Archer on the animated series "Archer" on FX.

Fran's mom, Ethyl (voiced by the late Florence Stanley) makes life miserable for Earl.

Florence Stanley appeared on many sitcoms over the years, including "My Two Dads," "Nurses" and "Mad About You." She also continued voicing characters in shows like "Family Guy" and in films like Disney's "Atlantis."

Many of the stories in "Dinosaurs" centered on teenagers Robbie and Charlene.

Robbie's best friend, Spike, was voiced by actor Christopher Meloni.

The cast of "Dinosaurs" was a mix of actors in costumes (with highly sophisticated animatronic faces) and traditional (yet still elaborate) hand puppets.

The funniest Dinosaur character name I remember was TV anchor Howard Handupme (a traditional puppet performed by Kevin Clash).

Robbie (voiced by Jason Willinger) was a rebel and often the voice of reason in the family.

Jason Willinger and Florence Stanley can also be heard in Disney's "A Goofy Movie" (1995).

Teenage daughter Charlene was voiced by Sally Struthers, so "Dinosaurs" reunited her with "All in the Family" co-star, Sherman Hemsley.

Sally Struthers also voiced Rebecca Cunningham on Disney's 1990 "TaleSpin" animated series.

Baby Sinclair was performed and voiced by Kevin Clash, who is known to millions of people as Elmo from Sesame Street.

The abusive Baby had his own music video and song called "I'm the Baby, Gotta Love Me."

Many McDonald's Happy Meal promotions had a special toy for kid under three years old. They were never seen in any of the advertisements.

Spitting at people was tame in comparison to some of the other things Baby Sinclair did on "Dinosaurs."

"Dinosaurs" was supposed to be the tip of the iceberg in the early 1990s partnership between Disney and Henson.

When Jim Henson died in 1990, the fate of many of the projects planned was in question.

Luckily, "Dinosaurs" made it to the small screen.

"Dinosaurs" is nothing like Disney's 2000 movie "Dinosaur." Except they both have unimaginative titles.

The writing on the "Dinosaurs" show was lots of fun, and the characters were not afraid to mock their own series.

"Dinosaurs" aired on ABC before the network was bought by Disney. In 1996, a similar Henson show called "Aliens in the Family" debuted on ABC. It did not do so well.

"Dinosaurs" had enough of a following for merchandise, including action figures and Valentines.
You'd have to be cold-blooded not to get a smile from Dinosaurs Valentines.

The characters work well as hand drawn characters.

Earl has a heart on for Fran.

The hand drawn Dinosaurs could also be found in comic books.

The artwork in these books kicks Jurassic.

ProSet had a line of Dinosaurs Collector Cards.

The range of expressions and emotions seen with these puppets is astonishing.

As part of the 20th Birthday Celebration for Walt Disney World in Florida, the Dinosaurs became one of the 20 reasons to visit Walt Disney World in 1992.

Since the Dinosaurs seen at Walt Disney World did not have moving eyes or mouths like their TV counterparts, they couldn't complain too loudly when they were told to leave the Disney MGM Studios (now called Disney's Hollywood Studios) by the time their show was off the air in 1994.

If the Dinosaurs happen to be lurking in the swamps somewhere at Walt Disney World in Florida, I'd like to suggest that they should go visit Dinoland at Disney's Animal Kingdom and maybe they'll be invited to stay there to become park mascots.