Minor Movie Mentions

The following is a list of Muppet Mentions made in movies outside of the Henson/Sesame fold, all of which are too brief or minor to constitute having their own page in the Movie Mentions category. See also: Minor TV Mentions.

Alice
In Woody Allen's 1990 comedy Alice, a friend of the title character says that her son cries whenever he has to leave the house, "especially if Sesame Street is on."


 * Connections
 * Alec Baldwin played Ed
 * Mia Farrow played Alice
 * William Hurt played Doug Tate
 * Julie Kavner played a decorator
 * Bernadette Peters played the muse

Bart Got a Room
As Danny goes through a list of potential prom dates, he asks his friend for an opinion of Sokolov. He replies, "Too tall for you. Like, Big Bird tall."


 * Connections
 * Cheryl Hines played Beth Stine
 * William H. Macy played Ernie Stine
 * Jon Polito played Bob

Bee Movie
A 2007 computer animated feature by DreamWorks Animation, about a bee name Barry B. Benson deciding what to do after graduating from college. When Barry talks to Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden since he is suing Honey Farms for taking the bee's honey, he finds the image of a bear as the jar of honey inappropriate to represent honey. However, Mr. Klauss Vanderhayden replies that they're very lovable creatures and names a few bears, including Fozzie.


 * Connections:
 * Matthew Broderick voiced Adam Flayman
 * John Goodman voiced Layton T. Montgomery
 * Larry King voiced a bee version of himself
 * Ray Liotta voiced himself
 * Megan Mullally voiced Trudy
 * Michael Richards voiced Bud Ditchwater
 * Chris Rock voiced Mooseblood the Mosquito
 * Jerry Seinfeld voiced Barry B. Benson and was the writer and producer
 * Patrick Warburton voiced Ken
 * Oprah Winfrey voiced Judge Bumbleton

Beyond the Mat
In this 1999 wrestling documentary, World Wrestling Federation (WWF) Senior Vice President of Merchandising Jim Bell claims the following:


 * "There's a direct similarity between WWF and the Muppets. Family owned company, whole business based in performance and characters, with real human beings playing characters. In our case, they just don't happen to be using puppets."


 * Connections:
 * Ron Howard produced

Clerks
Dante and Randal are debating which Star Wars movie was better: Return of the Jedi or The Empire Strikes Back. Dante prefers Empire, pointing out that "All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets!"

Crazy for Christmas
A 2005 Christmas TV movie, nominated for a Directors Guild of Canada award, it features billionaire Fred Nickells who has suffered a nervous breakdown, giving early retirement to all his staff. Two members staff on, the doorman and Nickell's lawyer. Played by Daniel Fathers, lawyer Aurthur Finnegan is gay. Telling Nickell's new driver about his relationship, he says "he works on Sesame Street. He plays Snuffleupagus' back end." The boyfriend appears at the end, however the role was not credited.

Death to Smoochy
A dark comedy following Sheldon Mopes' (Edward Norton) rise to stardom with his Barney-like character Smoochy the Rhino, and all the amoral inner workings of the children's entertainment that he encounters. Early in the film, Sheldon states "I was born on November 11th, 1970. You know what else happened on that day? [The] first broadcast of Sesame Street!" (The statement is factually incorrect by one year and one day.) Later, while Robin Williams' character Randolph Smiley (aka Rainbow Randolph) smashes Angelo's television set, he calls Smoochy a "Muppet from hell," during a barrage of expletives. The film also features the Leonard Bernstein song "I Feel Pretty," which the Muppets have performed in numerous times.


 * Connections:
 * Danny DeVito directed and co-starred as Burke Bennett
 * Harvey Fierstein played Merv Green
 * Todd Graff played Skip Kleinman
 * Jon Stewart played Marion Frank Stokes
 * Robin Williams played "Rainbow" Randolph Smiley

Dogma
In Kevin Smith's 1999 movie about two fallen angels, Bartleby is on a killing spree with his wings fully spread. To stall him, Jay yells, "Hey Big Bird! Ready for the counting game?! Count the shells!" and proceeds to fill the angel with bullets from an uzi.


 * Connections
 * Alan Rickman played Metatron
 * Chris Rock played Rufus

Elf
Some scenes taking place at Gimbles Department Store feature various Sesame Street toys in the background.

Flushed Away
A 2006 computer animated feature by Aardman Animation, about a mouse trapped in the sewer. At one point, heroine Rita addresses the villainous toad with "Hoy! Kermit!"


 * Connections:
 * Sean Barrett supplied additional voices
 * Miriam Margolyes voiced Rita's Grandma

Helvetica
A 2007 independent feature-length documentary film about typography and graphic design, centered around the typeface of the same name. During the montage of the usage of the Helvetica font for video medias, a clip of Telly Monster talking about D words with the D|letter D is shown.

Also, when we meet graphic designer, Michael C. Place, and go to his company office, a Big Bird Kubrick is seen behind his own creation of figurines.

Hot Fuzz
In one scene, Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) tells PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) the story of how he always wanted to become a policeman. At one point, he adds "Barring the summer of 1979, when I wanted to be Kermit the Frog." When he finishes, Butterman comments, "I think you'd have made a great Muppet."

The DVD's "Fuzz Facts" text commentary explains that Simon Pegg's favorite Muppet is actually Animal, which didn't fit the character.


 * Connections:
 * Bill Bailey played the twin Sergeants Turner
 * Jim Broadbent played Inspector Frank Butterman
 * Martin Freeman played the Metropolitan Sergeant
 * Bill Nighy played the Chief Inspector
 * Billie Whitelaw played Joyce Cooper
 * Edward Woodward played Tom Weaver

I Love You, Man
When Peter Klaven gets set up on a man-date with a guy from his brother's gym, he gives him the nickname Elmo because of his high, squeaky voice.


 * Connections:
 * Jane Curtin played Joyce Klaven
 * Paul Rudd played Peter Klaven
 * Jason Segel played Sydeny Fife

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
In one scene, director Chaka Luther King claims the white man stole his idea for Sesame Street, which would have been known as "NWP" ("Niggas With Puppets").


 * Connections:
 * Jason Biggs played himself
 * Mark Hamill played Cocknocker
 * Brian Lynch played Comic Book Shopper #1 (uncredited)
 * Chris Rock played Chaka Luther King
 * Jon Stewart played Reg Hartner

Jingle All the Way
Walk-arounds of Ernie and Bert appear in the Christmas parade sequence.


 * Connections:
 * Arnold Schwarzenegger played Howard Langston.
 * Judy Sladky played Snoopy during the Christmas parade.

The Manhattan Project
A scene from the 1986 film (about 25 minutes in) features Paul Stephens (Christopher Collet) discussing the presence of plutonium in a supposed medical facility in his town with his study date. In the background, her younger brother is watching The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, specifically the "Aggression" sketch. The 1975 special was written by Marshall Brickman, who directs this film.


 * Connections:
 * Marshall Brickman co-wrote and directed the film
 * John Lithgow played Dr. John Mathewson
 * Philippe Sarde (who scored The Bear) scored the film

Miss Congeniality 2 : Armed and Fabulous
Gracie Hart, wearing a flamboyant, feathered Las Vegas costume: "You can do this, you know you can because you are Sam fuller F.B.I. Nothing and nobody scares you. And I am Gracie Hart and at this moment I am also Big Bird and nothing scares me except... except loosing Cheryl, because having a friend like her and having any friend for me is a really really rare thing. Okay?"


 * Connections
 * Sandra Bullock played Gracie Hart
 * William Shatner played Stan Fields
 * Regis Philbin played himself
 * Michael Caine played Victor Melling in the first movie
 * Candice Bergen played Kathy Morningside in the first movie

The Mist
The 2007 film adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist tells the story of a group of small town residents trapped together in a food store as the outside world experiences a disaster that begins picking off lives. Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden) riles a group of religious fanatics who begin chanting "expiation!" in response to God's will in the face of unknown dangers. Observing the loss of control exhibited by her followers, Ollie Weeks (Toby Jones) remarks, "Welcome to Sesame Street, kids. Today's word is 'expiation'."

The home video release of the film includes a featurette called Drew Struzan: An Appreciation of an Artist. In addition to showing off some of Struzan's Muppet posters, footage of his studio reveals that he keeps a Kermit the Frog photo puppet replica overlooking his painting area.


 * Connections
 * Kelly Collins Lintz played Steff Drayton

Mr. Jealousy
In the 1997 romantic comedy, Eric Stoltz's character says he does a "pretty good Muppet walk" as he bounces off-screen with his head tilted into the air.

Mr. Mom
Mr. Mom is a 1983 comedy written by John Hughes about a family man who loses his job, and stays at home to care for the family while his wife goes off to work. The younger of the two sons, Kenny, wears Ernie and Bert slippers (one on each foot) which are seen at several points throughout the movie. Kenny also wears a t-shirt adorned with an image of the Electric Mayhem.


 * Connections:
 * Michael Keaton played Jack
 * Christopher Lloyd played Larry
 * Edie McClurg played a check out lady
 * Jeffrey Tambor played Jinx

Noises Off
Noises Off is a farcical play about the behind-the-scenes troubles of a new play. In a scene shot for the film version in New York City, an advertisement poster for Kodak can be seen displaying an image of Elmo and Big Bird.


 * Connections:
 * Carol Burnett, Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve and John Ritter appeared in the film.
 * T. R. Knight appeared in the Broadway revival.
 * Louise Gold appeared in the last month of a West End revival (October 2003).
 * Paxton Whitehead played Frederick Fellowes in the original Broadway production.

Notting Hill
William Thacker, played by Hugh Grant, opens the 1999 movie Notting Hill, talking about the location of the same name. His voice-over describes a montage of scenes:


 * "Notting Hill -- my favorite bit of London... There's the market on weekdays, selling every fruit and vegetable known to man... the tattoo parlour -- with a guy outside who got drunk and now can't remember why he chose 'I Love Ken'..."


 * (A woman with hair dyed bright blue exits a hair salon) "The radical hairdressers where everyone comes out looking like the Cookie Monster, whether they want to or not."

Poltergeist
The 1982 film written by Steven Spielberg features a poster of Every Body's Record on the childrens' bedroom wall.

The Pursuit of Happyness
A scene from the 2006 film, which is set in 1981, shows protagonist Christopher Gardner with a Sesame Street lunchbox featuring Grover, Big Bird, Prairie Dawn, Oscar the Grouch, Barkley, Lefty the Salesman and Sherlock Hemlock.


 * Connections:
 * Dan Castellaneta played Alan Frakesh
 * Will Smith played Chris Gardner

Rumble in the Bronx
The 1995 Jackie Chan movie features a blue sweater with Bert's head on it, worn by a little girl that is building a large sandcastle when Keung (Jackie Chan) comes ashore with the hovercraft.

The Sasquatch Gang
The 2006 film features a scene in which Gavin (Jeremy Sumpter) and Sophie (Addie Land) discuss their favorite fantasy films, including Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal.


 * Connections:
 * Stephen Tobolowsky played Ernie Dalrymple

She's All That
Mackenzie ask Laney when was the last time she tweezed her eyebrow. When Laney mention she never did, Mackenzie asked if she watch Sesame Street and if she knows the character, Bert.


 * Connections:
 * Matthew Lillard played Brock Hudson
 * Kevin Pollak played Wayne Boggs

Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon
1990 buddy cop martial arts comedy movie contains a scene in which Sammo Hung is a policeman dressed as a jewelry robber to foil a robbery and finds several robbers wearing cartoon masks (mostly Sesame Street characters).

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
1974 movie about a New York subway car that's hijacked and held for ransom.
 * Lt. Zachary Garber: Rico, you want to make yourself useful? Get personnel and tell them to get together a list of all motormen discharged for cause during the past five to ten years.
 * Lt. Rico Patrone: What are you looking for?
 * Lt. Zachary Garber: Somebody down there knows how to drive a train. You don't pick that up watching Sesame Street. Tell them we want it today.


 * Connections
 * Bill Cobbs played a man on the subway platform
 * Water Matthau played Lt. Zachary Garber
 * Doris Roberts played the mayor's wife
 * Jerry Stiller played Lt. Rico Patrone