Academy Awards

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy at the 2012 Academy Awards.

Jim and Jane Henson arrive at the 52nd Oscars in 1980.

Kermit the Frog performs his nominated song, "The Rainbow Connection" in 1980.

Host Johnny Carson with guest host Miss Piggy in 1980.

Kermit and Piggy appearing at the 54th annual Academy Awards ceremony in 1982.

Kermit, Scooter, Statler and Waldorf, and Jim Henson at the 1986 Academy Awards.

Kermit, Jim Henson, Scooter, Richard Hunt at the 1986 Academy Awards with Cilia Van Dijk, producer of "Anna & Bella," and the winner of Best Short Film, Animated.

Kermit, Jim Henson, Scooter and Richard Hunt.

Scooter and Kermit backstage of the Oscars.

Host Whoopi Goldberg with Babe and Miss Piggy in 1996.

Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy at the 2012 Academy Awards.

Introducing Cirque du Soleil in 2012.

Academy Awards, or "Oscars," are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizing excellence in the film industry. The ceremonies have been held since 1929, and the celebration has been televised beginning in 1953. Jim Henson and the Muppets have received several nominations.

Additionally, the Muppets have made several appearances at these ceremonies.

After over thirty years since their first nomination, the Muppets finally won their first Academy Award in 2012. The trophy was awarded to Bret McKenzie in the Best Original Song category for "Man or Muppet" from 2011's The Muppets.

Nominations & Awards

1966

Time Piece

Nominations:

• Best Short Subject, Live Action Subjects: Jim Henson, director
  • Lost to Le Poulet, by Claude Berri

1980

The Muppet Movie

Nominations:

• Best Music, Original Song: Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher (for The Rainbow Connection)
  • Lost to Norma Rae, David Shire (music), Norman Gimbel (lyrics) for the song It Goes Like It Goes
• Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score: Paul Williams and Kenny Ascher
  • Lost to All that Jazz, Ralph Burns.

1982

The Great Muppet Caper

Nominations:

• Best Music, Original Song: Joe Raposo (for The First Time It Happens)
  • Lost to Arthur, Burt Bacharach, Carole Bayer Sager, Christopher Cross and Peter Allen for the song Arthur's Theme (Best That You Can Do)

1985

The Muppets Take Manhattan

Nominations:

• Best Music, Original Song Score: Jeff Moss
  • Lost to Purple Rain: Prince

2012

The Muppets

Nominations:

• Best Music, Original Song: Bret McKenzie (for "Man or Muppet")
  • Won

Submissions for The Muppets

In 2011, Disney submitted three songs from The Muppets for consideration by the Academy:

• "Life's a Happy Song"
• "Man or Muppet"
• "Pictures in My Head"

Appearances

• At the 52nd Academy Awards on April 14, 1980, Miss Piggy and host Johnny Carson converse about her failure to garner a Best Actress Nomination for her work in The Muppet Movie. To her question whether or not he thought her to be "Oscar material," he replies "Oscar Mayer maybe." Kermit the Frog performs his nominated song, "The Rainbow Connection." (YouTube)

• At the 54th Academy Awards in 1982, Kermit and Miss Piggy perform "The First Time It Happens" live on stage. (YouTube)

• At the 58th Academy Awards in 1986, Kermit, Scooter and Jim Henson present the award for "Best Short Film, Animated" to Cilia Van Dijk, Producer of Anna & Bella. Kermit gets a bit frazzled when Scooter is physically unable to open the envelope to announce the winner. An appearance by Jim Henson quickly rectifies the situation. Statler and Waldorf also make an appearance from the audience.

• During the 68th Academy Awards on March 25, 1996, Miss Piggy intercepts a video conference uplink between host Whoopi Goldberg and nominee Babe in order to assert her porcine ranking in Hollywood by offering to save the show with one of her sensational production numbers she titles "Porkahontas," but instead the audience is saved by the recovery of the initial connection.

• Dom DeLuise appeared in the In Memorial segment of the 2010 Academy Awards. The broadcast used a clip from The Muppet Movie.

• Kermit and Miss Piggy made an appearance at the 84th Academy Awards on February 26, 2012. They spoke of their first movie experiences and introduced a Cirque du Soleil act. The duo wore designer clothing to the show. As mentioned in a press statement:

Miss Piggy is wearing a dress by Zac Posen, jewelry from Fred Leighton, shoes by Christian Louboutin, handbag from and hair styled by Kim Kimble. Kermit is wearing a tux from Brooks Brothers

For more on Miss Piggy’s jewels:

1940s amethyst and diamond ring in gold (70.0 carats) –lavender is her signature color after all

1950s diamond and platinum swirl necklace (55 carats) with matching swirl bracelet (40 carats)

Celebrity hairstylist Kim Kimble (Beyonce, Shakira, Kerry Washington) put the finishing touches on Miss Piggy by adding a diamond and platinum headband (approx. 10 carats) and 1040s clip in the back.

Connections

Hosts of the Academy Awards ceremony have included the following:

Bob Hope Danny Kaye Jerry Lewis Tony Randall Carol Burnett Michael Caine Charlton Heston Diana Ross Liza Minnelli Dudley Moore Richard Pryor Robin Williams

Chevy Chase Goldie Hawn Billy Crystal Whoopi Goldberg David Letterman Steve Martin Chris Rock Jon Stewart Ellen DeGeneres Hugh Jackman Alec Baldwin Anne Hathaway

2012 Preshow

Kermit the Frog and Darren Criss sang "Rainbow Connection" during the 2012 E! Oscar preshow, a lead up to their red carpet show. There was also a solo recording of Criss made.(YouTube)

Hosting fan campaign

thumb|300px|The Muppets addressing the issue in 2012. In February 2011, one Facebook user started a campaign called The Muppets Should Host the 2012 Oscars, after a largely panned ceremony hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco. In November 2011, after co-producer Brett Ratner stepped down and Eddie Murphy subsequently resigned as well, the Facebook page went viral. By late afternoon on November 10, when Billy Crystal announced on Twitter that he was hosting, well over 20,000 had "Liked" the page.

Some media outlets labelled the page as a publicity stunt, officially run by Disney.

At the London premiere of The Muppets, at the May Fair Hotel, Kermit commented: "I am going to be presenting but not the way you think. I will be at the coat check, presenting people with their coats. It's a whole different job. So yes, I think Billy Crystal is taking all the glory. But you know, Billy's a good friend and we'll wait and see how that works out. Hear that, Billy? I'd love to work with you!"

See also

• CAMPO: The Committee to Award Miss Piggy the Oscar
• Academy Award winners
• The Fred Award
• Oscar Envelope
• The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street

External links

• The Academy Awards Database (official site)