The art of the Muppets

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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Matt Hochberg

There are a number of wonderful franchises that are at Walt Disney World that are licensed to Disney to allow to be seen in the parks and these include the Winnie the Pooh characters, Indiana Jones, Star Wars and the Muppets. Of all of these, the Muppets hold a special place for me because of the fun they represent. In our on going series with Disney Character Sketch Artist Jason Zucker, let's look at some of the exclusive Muppet merchandise that is for sale at the Studios. At the Sunset Couture store on Sunset Boulevard, there's a number of interesting items for sale.

A cornerstone of Jason's work is based around interesting watches and there are some fun options for those looking to have the Muppet characters be a part of their timepiece. Jason mentions they recieved a few years ago some designs for watches of the Muppets characters from the Jim Henson Company and they include, Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzy and Animal. In addition to the watch designs, there are also character sketches that can be turned into watches that feature the same four characters. Jason also mentions that the Stage One Company Store, which is near Muppetvision 3D, sells the Muppet sketches along with other great Muppet merchandise. Jason notes that the Muppets are still a popular franchise with Disney fans and that many are still sold, "The Muppets are still very popular to this day and once in a while we do sell our Muppets watches; we will have that Muppets fan come in and want that personalized watch."

Zucker adds that the options that are available for the watch, including a full color option and the ability to add names on the watch along with a favorite saying if the guest desires. Along with the watch designs are your regular sketches of the Muppet characters that come in a variety of poses as well and for Zucker, there's little question as to which is his favorite, "Kermit with his banjo, of course from his signature song 'Rainbow Connection'. He's also fun to do because he is the original and the one we all love and remember." A full color watch will cost $350 and that includes the original artwork done by a Disney Sketch Artist, a certificate of verification and the watch in a unique collector tube. The sketch based watch, which includes one color plus black, costs $200.

There is some great art work related to the Muppets but even Zucker isn't completely satisfied with the choice of Muppet characters available. Many fans have their own personal favorite Muppet characters such as Kermit or Gonzo or Bean Bunny or Rawlf or even the Swedish Chef and Zucker has his own personal wish for which Disney character he would love to see on a design, "One of my favorite characters is Sam the Eagle. I think with the Fourth of July coming up, he would be a perfect selection for a watch or a sketch." For now there is no Sam the Eagle design, but hopefully that will be something that will change as time goes on.

The Muppets sketches can make for another great souvenir on their own. Like the watch sketches, you can pick a color in addition to black to be used to draw the character and they will run for $35 for one character or $65 for two characters and all the personalization is included. Given many characters often are chosen to be sketched with an obvious color, like green for Kermit or pink for Miss Piggy, Jason is willing to use any color you'd like since this is a personalized choice for the guest and it's up to you to choose your color for the sketches.

The watches and sketches are availble at Sunset Club Couture store on Sunset Boulevard, the Magic Kingdom, Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom and some sketches are also available at a store inside Animal Kingdom.