Cookie Monster

I love to do Cookie Monster balloons but I'm getting really sick of hearing this:

"Did you hear?! They changed Cookie Monster's name to Veggie Monster and he doesn't eat cookies anymore!!!"

No matter what I say, they don't believe me when I tell them that no, really, he's still Cookie Monster. I can direct them to Snopes, I can direct them to Muppet Wiki; sometimes, people just want to be angry.

Instead, I'm going to load up this Colbert Report video on my phone and play it every time I hear the rumblings of Veggie Monster unrest: Stephen Colbert accuses Cookie Monster of abandoning the pro-cookie agenda. It's five of my favorite minutes in all of television (and educational, too!)

Here, the Cookie Monster balloon demonstrates his googly-ness:

*I wish I could take credit for this awesome eye design but I can't. I learned it years ago when I first started and it's still one of my very favorite tricks. Everything's better with googly eyes.

Pepe

I'm really torn about this entry. On the one hand, I feel like this balloon came out pretty nice and it was fun to make--not an hours-long struggle like some of the Muppets have been. On the other hand...

Pepe is a controversial Muppet. It seems that most who like him REALLY like him and everyone else...not so much. Personally, I'm cool with him. I saw Muppets from Space again* over the summer and I came out kinda liking the guy and saying "okay" at the end of every sentence.

Whatever the case, he has more Facebook fans than I do. An inactive, probably unofficial Twitter account for the prawn has 50+ followers, nearly as many as very active, totally official me.

That inspired me to set a goal: I'd like at least twice as many Twitter followers as Pepe. If you're enjoying my work, please help a girl out and follow me on twitter as @BlackCatBalloon. If you want to be super awesome, tell your friends to as well. I won't be beaten by a crustacean, okay?



*Our local theater does free weekday movies during the summer and the ad said "Muppets Take Manhattan". We stood in line for half an hour waiting to see it on the big screen--the first time I've seen the movie in years, the first time my kids would have ever seen it.

You can imagine my disappointment when it turned out to be Muppets from Space, which I didn't love during its original release. This time, though, it was pretty enjoyable. Maybe it was that I'd forgotten Josh Charles (who makes anything better) was in it. Maybe it was the fact that it was free. Maybe it was because the kids were just happy to see Muppets and eat popcorn.

Mostly, I think it's because when I first saw Muppets from Space, I didn't have kids. In the past 5 years, I have become intimately acquainted with some really crappy children's entertainment and now understand that even my least favorite Muppet movie is infinitely better than an episode of Caillou.

Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle

Who's in the mood for a slightly obscure Muppet? How about one that gargles Gershwin (gorgeously?)

I've been thinking about Angus McGonagle, the Argyle Gargoyle because my 3-year-old learned to gargle and he's driving us all crazy. I think I'll teach him to do the weird little arm motion Mark Hamill did when he gargled with Angus, just to put a little showmanship into it.

The color on this one is kind of funky. I strive for accuracy but apparently, my camera does not.

Kermit the Frog

Kermit looks simple but I really wanted to get him right. I won't disclose how much time I spent working on/obsessing over him but I will tell you this: after the first five or so hours, a kind of Muppet delirium set in. Pigs in Space madness, perhaps.

Shortly after finishing, I posted the word "Yaaaaay!" on a friend's Facebook wall in response to some good news and pictured myself flailing my arms, Kermit-style.

I still haven't recovered. My whole day has looked sort of like this, minus Alec Baldwin in his boxer shorts. I'm rather enjoying it.

Edited to add: Disappointment! The 30 Rock video of Kenneth seeing the whole world as Muppets is gone. I'll try to find another and re-post soon.

More balloons, another blog!

Thanks to everyone who's been following my Muppet Project! I'm having tons of fun with it and am always thinking about my next design. As long as there are Muppets to be twisted, I'll keep going.

That said, I also do non-Muppet balloons and they need a home too. I give you Black Cat Balloon Blog: a collection of designs inspired by tv, movies, cartoons and whatever else pops into my head. Today's entry is Strong Bad from Homestarrunner.com. Check it out and if you like what you see, tell a friend! Heck, tell 50 friends. A tweet might be nice, but I'm not telling you what to do or anything...

Mahna Mahna

Did you know that this bit debuted on the Ed Sullivan show? Did you know that the pink things are called "Snowths" and the orange-haired dude's name actually is Mahna Mahna? Muppet Wiki taught me those things but this is the most important fact of all: you will be singing this song for the rest of the day.

Statler and Waldorf

This blog is great! It's amazing! Outstanding balloon twisting! Bravo! Actually... it's not that great...You were up HOW late working on this? What kind of a project is this? Get a real job! Boo! BOOOO!!!

Statler and Waldorf embody one of my most deeply held beliefs: if you're going to be a jerk, at least have the decency to be funny about it.

Super Grover

I know I've been focused on The Muppet Show so far (and there are many more of those to come) but it's time for a short detour into Sesame Street.

Who couldn't use the help of a cute, adorable superhero once in a while (even if he doesn't help all that much?)

Obviously, this is old-school Super Grover. He's the one I grew up with and I love him. However, even though I'm usually a Sesame Street/Muppet purist, I'm also totally digging the updated, extra superhero-y Super Grover 2.0. (In case you're not familiar, here he is explaining his new upgrades with Jimmy Fallon. Check out the adorable t-shirt bit they do.) SG 2.0 is irresistible.

The Frog Issue

To those of you wondering why I haven't done Kermit yet, there are two reasons:

1.) This project is a work in progress and I'm working through the Muppets in no particular order.

2.) I'm waiting on the right Kermit-color balloons. They're not here yet. It's hard enough being green, let alone being the wrong shade of it.

Patience. Kermit is coming soon, along with more bears and chickens and frogs and things!

Lew Zealand

I've had a couple of requests for Lew Zealand (and by requests, I mean people writing "FRESH FEESH!" on my Facebook page. You know who you are.) The fact is, I was planning to do Lew anyway because I love boomerang fish, his righteous mustache and that swell frilled collar.

Next time I eat Pepperidge Farms goldfish, I'm going to throw them at someone while screaming "FRESH FEESH!" I plan to act surprised when the fish crackers don't perform their boomerang action. 

Miss Piggy

This SNL clip doesn't really have all that much to do with The Muppets but in a way, it's partly responsible for this project. Ever since we saw it, my husband and I have been walking around saying "Hiiii-YA!" and I've had Miss Piggy on the brain. 

Sorry for the pre-video commercial but trust me--it's worth the wait.

Crazy Harry

Crazy Harry is The Muppets' resident pyrotechnics enthusiast.

There's not a lot out there about him, so here's a video where he appears for about a second. Tonight being the State of the Union address and all, Stars and Stripes Forever (and a little Sam the Eagle action for good measure) feels appropriate.

Rowlf

I love this clip of Rowlf singing "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along" in The Muppet Movie. Rowlf, Kermit, a sad song and a little bit of Steve Martin at the end? Perfection. Not to mention the fact that this song is Jim Henson pretty much singing a duet with himself.

Research (okay, googling) shows that some believe Rowlf is based on singer Tom Waits. I have no idea if the theory's true but I dig it. More research shows that people with a lot of time on their hands make videos of Rowlf playing piano with TW songs dubbed in. Seeing as I spend my time making balloon animal Muppets in my glass house, I won't throw any stones.

As a balloon, Rowlf was one of my favorite kind of challenges. He totally stumped me for a week and then suddenly, it all made sense. Bonus: I now know that I love balloon candelabras. How cute is that thing? I'm going to shoehorn them into as many other designs as possible.

Fozzie Bear

My favorite Fozzie Bear line appears in the Raquel Welch episode of The Muppet Show.

Backstory: Fozzie's started going to therapy and has become more assertive. Good stuff! He eventually goes back to his old ways and sums it up here (the line happens at 1:35 but why skip ahead? It's all good.)

The aggro Fozzie storyline serves to distract from an episode that's basically just a bunch of aroused Muppets. Raquel's appeal apparently crosses all boundries of age, species and one's status as a Fabricated American (to borrow a term from Greg the Bunny.)

Also, this episode has the Muppaphones!

The Swedish Chef

My job gives me some unique opportunities. I get to meet lots of people, travel a bit and hang out at parties (and those parties often have cake!) I get to be creative and look at things from different perspectives. That's all great but my favorite part is getting to say things like this:

"Does this chicken look properly terrified?"

Animal

I like Animal. Apparently, though, a lot of people like him way more than I do. When I did my first two Muppet balloons (Beaker and Gonzo) the response was always the same: "Cool! Where's Animal?" Now the response is just "WOMAN!" People really like yelling that.

Gonzo

Gonzo the Great: mixes highbrow performance art with tire-eating and being shot from a cannon. Frequently bombs onstage. He's the kind of Muppet a balloon twister can really relate to (except for that chicken-loving thing.)

Beaker

Beaker was the first Muppet I did.

My kids were obsessed with this clip http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysIzPF3BfpQ of Beaker, the Swedish Chef and Animal singing a Christmas song. I couldn't get his little voice out of my head, so I exorcised my demons through balloons.

Muppets

I'm always trying to find something new and fun to do, balloon-wise. A girl gets bored with dogs and swords and flowers.

I've loved The Muppets for as long as I can remember and now my kids are starting to get hooked. I love watching the old Muppet Shows with them as they have no idea who any of the guest stars are or what's going on but if there are flipping penguins to be seen, they will watch.

With that in mind, my new project is to twist as many Muppets as possible. Everyone's got a favorite and I intend to get to each of them. If I have to watch hours of Muppet Show dvds and YouTube clips for research, so be it. I'll suffer nobly for the sake of the project.