Muppet Wiki (website)



Muppet Wiki is a wiki "for everything related to Jim Henson and the Muppets." It is hosted by Wikia, which runs on MediaWiki software. This format allows visitors to add, remove, or otherwise edit and change the available content. Muppet Wiki works as a fan community on the collaborative project of creating in-depth encyclopedic articles.

The wiki's database currently contains encyclopedic articles (which does not include wiki discussions, project pages and redirects). The best of these entries have been voted on by the community and dubbed Quality Articles.

Muppet Wiki was founded on December 5, 2005. The wiki was established by Danny Horn, Scott Hanson and Peter Papazoglou. The three serve as administrators, along with Andrew Leal, Guillermo Gomez, Wendy, Henrik Rytter, Enrique, Julian Kleibeler, Jonathan Brangwynne and Nate Downs. The logo was designed by Scott Hanson and based on a theme from the March photo in The Miss Piggy Calendar 1980. This was incorporated into a new design by Julian Kleibeler in October 2010 with seasonal flair.

Although the wiki is run in an unofficial capacity, several industry insiders have made substantial contributions, adding to the wiki's verifiability (see "Mission" statement below). Their presence has been welcome in a capacity of their choosing: while some individuals have gone on record as identified experts, the anonymity of others is respected and acknowledged by the wiki hosts.

Mission
The goal of Muppet Wiki and its contributors is to build a database of articles related to Jim Henson's career and various character universes. Through the research of published works and various media content, the database is meant to serve as a comprehensive source of reference. An accurate account of works cited is provided when possible (by way of footnotes and adherence to other policies), and particular attention is given to verifiability. Special care is taken with disputed or erroneous information, and in some cases may result in a settlement in the form of a rumor disclaimer.

Although the name of the site is Muppet Wiki, the encyclopedia extends to areas outside of what may be publicly perceived as "Muppet" content in some cases. For example, Sesame Street, while well known for its inclusion of Jim Henson's Muppets, comprises a number of different contributions such as animation and live-action film unrelated to the Muppets. Because Sesame Street and the Sesame Street Muppets are so closely associated, these areas often blend into one another, and thus, have been included in some cases.

Similarly, Jim Henson's work outside of the Muppets is also stressed, one example being technology and characters furnished by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Of the works created by companies using material furnished the the Creature Shop, only those works produced by The Jim Henson Company are covered extensively. Other examples of non-Muppet Jim Henson content include The Cube and "Tick-Tock Sick."

Milestones and Press Coverage



 * Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia and Wikia, frequently uses Muppet Wiki as an example of how to build a successful wiki community in public lectures, seminars and interviews.


 * By December 5, 2006, Muppet Wiki's one year anniversary, the database housed 1,766 Muppet Characters, 548 Sesame Street Books, and 521 Muppet Show Songs; 12,130 articles in all, averaging a thousand articles per month in one year.


 * Muppet Wiki was featured in segment #4 of the August 3, 2006 broadcast of The 9 on Yahoo TV!


 * The site has been mentioned in major newspaper publications such as The Boston Globe, The New York Post, Australia's The Age and Denmark's Ekstra Bladet.


 * In the July 2007 print edition of reason magazine, coverage of Muppet Wiki is used as an example of Wikia's growth: "Consider, for instance, the astonishing growth and readership at the Wikia site devoted to Muppets. At a little over one year old, the Muppet Wiki has 13,700 articles. Every single one is about Muppets. Interested in an in-depth look at the use of gorilla suits in the Muppet movies? No problem. Just type in "gorilla suits" and enjoy a well-illustrated article that documents, among other things, the names of actors who have worn an ape outfit for Jim Henson. There is a timeline of all things Muppet-related. An entry on China details Big Bird's reception in the People's Republic. The site is astonishingly comprehensive and, perhaps more impressive, comprehensible to a Muppet novice."


 * National Public Radio listed Muppet Wiki's Cookie Monster article as a "Web Resource" in conjunction with a featured spot on their program In Character on February 8, 2008.


 * Kermit Culture, a collection of academic essays about the Muppets in popular culture, offers Muppet Wiki as an additional resource "for fans and scholars" of The Muppet Show cast. Two essays source articles on Muppet Wiki in their works cited: "The Muppets and Shakespeare" by Hugh H. Davis (Kermit, Prince of Denmark); "The Uniquely Strong but Feminine Miss Piggy" by Maryanne Fisher and Anthony Cox (Bonnie Erickson, Miss Piggy). Additionally, Muppet Wiki administrator and regular editor since January 6, 2006, Andrew Leal, contributed "Muppets and Money."


 * The National Post cited Muppet Wiki as the sole source for their 2009 interactive article "101 Muppets of Sesame Street," indicating that some journalist are using Muppet Wiki as a primary source of information.


 * Muppet Wiki reached 20,000 articles on November 16, 2009.


 * The official Sesame Street 40th anniversary book, Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street, published in 2009, cites Muppet Wiki several times as "an invaluable resource" for readers who would like to learn more about the series. Tough Pigs founder and Muppet Wiki co-founder Danny Horn is interviewed for the merchandise section, where he talks about his earliest memory of Sesame Street Merchandise.


 * Sesame Workshop has a link to Muppet Wiki on its parenting blog, Sesame Family Robinson. Sesame-Street.jp has linked to articles on Muppet Wiki (including Twiddlebugs and Meryl Sheep) for further, comprehensive information on entries for their monthly character feature.


 * Muppet Wiki is listed as a source in the resource materials provided at the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit.


 * Jim Henson: The Guy Who Played with Puppets lists Muppet Wiki as one of its website sources.


 * Production designers on The Muppets used Muppet Wiki "thoroughly for research."


 * In the audio commentary recorded for the Blu-ray release of The Muppets, director James Bobin stated that fans at Muppet Wiki and Muppet Central probably know more about the characters than the filmmakers do.

Seasonal logos
Beginning in October 2010, with a design overhaul of Wikia, Julian Kleibeler started designing various Muppet Wiki logos with seasonal flair. Based on the classic "MUPPET" font developed by Michael Frith, Kleibeler added imitating "WIKI" lettering; all the while incorporating the trademark Kermit eye that Scott Hanson first prominently used on the Wiki's original design, based on the first Miss Piggy Calendar's "private eye" icon, again designed by Frith. In the style of Google's commemorative Google Doodles used for special occasions, the blank space to the right of the logo has been used for special holiday images.