70 Years, 70 Kermits

With this design, I wanted to pay tribute to Kermit's history by capturing many of his most iconic (and yes, some obscure) looks over the last seven decades. 

I originally prepared this piece as part of the 70th anniversary Muppet celebration on Instagram, but I tweaked it further. I had some people asking for a key as well, which I have included below.

Row 1: Sam and Friends (1955), Tales of the Tinkerdee (1962), Kermeena on The Ed Sullivan Show (1967), Sesame Street (1969), Vampire Kermit on The Muppet Show (1977), The Mysterious Ms. Mask on The Muppet Show (1977), Elton John Kermit on The Muppet Show (1978), Tuxedo Kermit on The Muppet Show (1979), John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together (1979)

Row 2: Cowboy Kermit in The Muppet Movie (1979), Director Kermit in The Muppet Movie (1979), Reporter Kermit in The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Rosenthal disguise in The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Pizza Twin disguise in The Great Muppet Caper (1981), Froggen-Schewin (Frankenstein) in The Miss Piggy Calendar (1982), As Danny Zuko (Grease) in The Miss Piggy Calendar (1982), As Napoleon Bonaparte in The Miss Piggy Calendar (1982), As Flash Frogers (Flash Rogers) in The Miss Piggy Calendar (1982)

Row 3: John Denver & The Muppets - Rocky Mountain Holiday (1983), Muppet Magazine V1.1 (1983), As Prince Charles in Muppet Magazine V1.2 (1983), As Fluke Flystalker of Star Bores (Luke Skywalker in Star Wars) in Muppet Magazine V1.3 (1983), Broadway producer disguise in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), "Boffo Socko" agent disguise in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Baby Kermit in Muppet Babies (1984), American Gothique Kermit (Grant Wood's American Gothic) in Miss Piggy's Art Masterpiece Calendar (1984)

Row 4: Green Boy Kermit (Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy) in Miss Piggy's Art Masterpiece Calendar (1984), Arisfroggle (Rembrandt's Aristotle with a Bust of Homer) in Miss Piggy's Art Masterpiece Calendar (1984), Froggo Amphibini (Jan van Eyck's The Arnolfini Portrait) in Miss Piggy's Art Masterpiece Calendar (1984), The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years (1986), A Muppet Family Christmas (1987), As He-Frog (He-Man and the Masters of the Universe) in Muppet Magazine v5.3 (1987), Crocodile Kermie (Crocodile Dundee) in Muppet Magazine v6.3 (1988), As Michael Jackson in Muppet Magazine v6.2 (1988), As Indiana Jones in The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990)

Row 5: Muppet*Vision 3D (1991), "Fall in Love with Books" American Library Association poster (1992), Bob Cratchit in The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992), Tadz II Toads (Boyz II Men) in Muppet Trading Cards (1993), As Prince in Muppet Trading Cards (1993), Captain C. Cruise of The Pigseidon Adventure (The Poseidon Adventure) in Muppet Trading Cards (1993), Kermit Unpigged (1994), Captain Abraham Smollett in Muppet Treasure Island (1996), As David Byrne on Muppets Tonight (1996)

Row 6: Frogzilla on Muppets Tonight (1996), Virgil the Monkey on Muppets Tonight (1996), Frogo the Dragon on Muppets Tonight (1996), Kermit Letterfrog (David Letterman) in Kermit the Frog's Advertising Parodies Calendar (1996), As John Lennon in The Muppet Parody Calendar: The Sequel (1997), Frogman (Batman) in The Muppet Parody Calendar: The Sequel (1997), "Building a Nation of Readers" American Library Association poster (1997), Lawrence of Amphibia in Muppet Parodies Calendar (1998), The Kerminator (The Terminator) in Muppet Parodies Calendar (1998)

Row 7: As Jake LaMotta in Raging Bullfrog (Raging Bull) in Muppet Parodies Calendar (1998), Frog Ventoori (Ace Ventura) in Muppet Movie Parodies Calendar (1999), Muppets From Space (1999), It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002), Kermit's Swamp Years (2002), Scarecrow in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005), As Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Amphibian: At Wit's End (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) at Muppet*Vision 3D (2007), A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa (2008), The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora (2010)

Row 8: As Green Lantern in "Being Green" trailer for The Muppets (2011), As Edward Cullen in Vamphibian (Twilight) poster for The Muppets (2011), As Constantine in Muppets Most Wanted (2014), The Muppets Present... Great Moments in American History (2016), Muppet Babies (2018), As Miss Piggy in Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021), Mansion Show host in Muppets Haunted Mansion (2021)

Life's Like a Movie...

I've always been a big fan of huge Muppet gatherings. You know the ones - the holiday festivities of A Muppet Family Christmas, the wedding in Muppets Take Manhattan (and Muppet Most Wanted), and so on. But it is the finale of the original Muppet Movie that moved me so much as a kid that it still gives me goosebumps.

Here is my tribute to that magical moment, in which I tried to capture as many Muppets as I could fit into a single scene, all of them in a fairly close proximity to their original placements. Some of them weren't even visible in the movie (like Link Hogthrob), so it meant poring over behind the scenes photos and even asking for some assistance from Instagram friends (thank you!). 

Illustrated are (top to bottom, left to right): Miss Kitty, Billy the Bear, Luncheon Counter Monster, Sopwith the Camel, Fletcher Bird, Mean Mama, Big Bird, Doglion, Mildred Hextetter, Beautiful Day Monster, Behemoth, Bubba, Swinetrek Crew Member 1, J.P. Grosse, Swinetrek Crew Member 2, Muppy, Zelda Rose, Blue Frackle, Brewster, Crocodile, Two-Headed Monster, Gladys, Newsman, Female Whatnot Dancer, Louis Kazagger, Lenny the Lizard, Baskerville the Hound, Natalie the Cow, Green Frackle, Uncle Deadly, Clancy, Maurice, Grover, Wayne, Wanda, Dr. Julius Strangepork, Female Whatnot singer ("Blue"), Droop, Mutt, Afghan Hound, Dog ("Oh, Lonesome Me"), Pumpkin Anything Muppet, Bertha, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Male Whatnot Dancer, Fleet Scribbler, Marvin Suggs, Penguin, Link Hogthrob, Swedish Chef, Waldorf, Baby 1, Statler, Gills Brother 1, Baby 2, Gills Brother 2, Gills Brother 3, Baby 3, Baby 4, Ernie, Bert, Georgie, Guy Smiley, Whatnot singer 1 (variation on Sleeze Brother), Whatnot singer 2 (variation on Sleeze Brother), Blue Whatnot, Purple Whatnot, Shakey Sanchez, Floyd Pepper, Scooter, Fozzie Bear, Janice, Gills Brother 4, Sam the Eagle, Robin the Frog, Jim Frawley Muppet, Blue Whatnot, Teal Whatnot, Nigel, Kangaroo, Miss Mousey, Beaker, Bunsen, Miss Piggy, Kermit the Frog, Rowlf the Dog, Crazy Harry, Dr. Teeth, Frog 1, Frog 2, Frog 3, Frog 4, Frog 5, Whatnot dancer (Fleet Scribbler's dance partner), Woodrow Woodpecker, Lew Zealand, Ronald Duck, Zoot, Beauregard, Animal, Gonzo, Camilla the Chicken, Koozebanian Pup 1, Koozebanian Pup 2, Koozebanian Pup 3, Lobster 1, Lobster 2, Chicken, Mel, Doris, Harvey, Clyde, Duke, Shirley, Canary