(Barely muffed crowd and animal noises) OK, careful everybody...ow, you stepped on my fur...sorry...is this my best side? I want to look dignified...No, no you look wonderful Camilla...Should I have brought my rubber chicken? I feel so vulnerable without it...ah, ah BLOG TIME! BLOG TIME!
OK, ok...here goes.
If there is one thing I love even more then Star Trek, it's the Muppets.
I LOVE the Muppets.
I always have and I always will and in a way not unlike my love for Star Trek. They've had some identity issues over the years, produced some schlock and gotten purchased by the great and evil 'Kingdom of the Mouse' but I still love them. Pilled felt and all.
I've been fascinated with them ever since I was baby (according to my Mom). After all, we both first appeared in 1969. I'm only a few months older than Big Bird.
I've followed their antics from the both of our early days on through their less than successful Saturday Night Live appearances and of course the cultural phenomena that placed them in the hearts and minds of people worldwide, The Muppet Show. Coming from a family with a powerful fondness for theatre, film and television (especially if it involved comedy), I was familiar with some of their older songs and skits as my Grandfather had been a theatre manager in the later days of vaudeville. I did some additional research at the Museum of The Moving Image and the Museum of Television and Radio in order to watch those Muppet moments that came before my time such as Sam and Friends and Rowlf the Dog's appearances on the Jimmy Dean Show.
I was obsessed. I still am.
I have seen the first Muppets feature film, The Muppet Movie, over 35 times. I can quote most of it verbatim. I own over 25 books, including many collector's item editions on the Muppets and the art and technique of puppetry in general. I have built my own Muppet-like puppets and performed with puppets largely for fun or to entertain kids (not professionally as it were). With the exception of a handful of rare exclusives I own every Muppets action figure that was produced by Palisades Toys. I even worked for Henson Associates one summer.
When Jim Henson passed away in May of 1990 I was in college and skipped classes to go to the funeral. Mr. Henson was, and always will be, one of my greatest heroes and a big inspiration in anything creative that I do. (Boy does the world miss and need you Jim. More than it realizes.)
So what does all this have to do with a gaming blog you are asking yourself?
For many, many years now I've been working on a Muppets RPG. No, you read that right, a Muppets Role Playing Game. Every few months or years I get back to it and add, take away or otherwise modify some aspect of the game. It's one of those personal gaming projects we Game Master/Designers love to tinker with, though often we have little to no faith that the darn thing will ever be played. *Sigh*
While working on it again recently though an idea hit me that was so wild, so weird, I had to sit down in a quiet place and think on it for a while. Not only do the Muppets warrant their own RPG but I could insert the Muppets into almost any RPG genre with amazing results. Concepts started whirling and exploding in my mind and in the end I've come up with this...
March is Muppets Madness Month here at Barking Alien.
I'll be celebrating my latest gaming epiphany with rules from my Muppets RPG, Muppet Monster Manual entries, Pigs in Space Star Trek ideas, a Sesame Street RPG for getting your kids into gaming, Post Apocalyptic Gamma World Muppet concepts (I am completely serious), possibly a contest and much, much more.
Expect lots of art, creativity, humor and a heaping helping of Barking Alien insanity.
If you're still with me, it's time to play the music and light the lights...
AD
Barking Alien
This is going to be awesome.
ReplyDeleteOK I'm on board.
ReplyDeleteCredentials: I can still quote some Muppet Show sketches and own the DVD's. I too was a year 1 member of the Sesame Street club and own at least one coffee table book about it. One of the fun memories of when my kids were very young was the joy of getting to watch Sesame Street all over again. I've seen all of the movies multiple times and inflicted them on the kids as well.
So go man go!
Holy shit. This is... I don't...
ReplyDeleteMarch is going to be awesome.
March will be interesting. I'm still not sure if the answer is yes, fish, or both, but, it certainly won't be dull (Not that it normally is).
ReplyDeleteThis is intriguing.
ReplyDeleteWOW! No wonder you loved Monty Python GammaWorld. Situationist comedy where traditional comedic structure - setup, re-enforce, payoff - is thrown out the window. Don't have an punch line for your gag? No worries, cue Mad Harry who blows stuff up or open a cupboard and find it full of chickens, or rats, or large, random monsters. Where, if you throw enough gags - old and new - at a scene, eventually they collapse under their own weight and create hysterical laughter.
ReplyDeleteLovin' where you're going to take this!
'I have built my own Muppet-like puppets and performed with puppets largely for fun or to entertain kids (not professionally as it were).':
ReplyDeleteThis is cool beyond words. Jim Henson was continuing a long, proud tradition of quality entertainment in a medium which requires, handcraft, sociable skill, and dedication to the worthy goal of inspiring others through wonder and humor. Props to you for your interest and devotion to this medium, which, imo, can never be duplicated, only imitated(not so well) 'digitally'.
'When Jim Henson passed away in May of 1990 I was in college and skipped classes to go to the funeral. Mr. Henson was, and always will be, one of my greatest heroes and a big inspiration in anything creative that I do. (Boy does the world miss and need you Jim. More than it realizes.)':
Man, that was a sad day for me, too. I oftentimes wish I'd been able to do so, myself.
Absolutely with you on his value to cultural life, and just plain fun! The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth's social messages are brought across in a non-preachy, unirritating manner which speaks the best of Henson's philosophies, and his talent for creating whimsical but solidly exciting, evocative, immersive fantasies. Not to mention the Muppet Show(and the movies based on it) and Fraggle Rock's sly humor(even 'adult' references sneaked into the jokes, not noticed when you're young, they stick out later...). I'd love to see more classic Muppetry over CGI anyday!(And kids agree, if you notice! ;-))
'Post Apocalyptic Gamma World Muppet concepts (I am completely serious), possibly a contest and much, much more.': I'm VERY interested in seeing where you're headed with this.... Muppets in Gamma World? Hell YES! Let's do this thing!