Austria, far right, on the Interpol map in Muppets Most Wanted
Constantine's luggage includes a hotel stamp from Vienna, spelled "Wien" in German
Christoph Waltz firmly corrects his nationality in a deleted MMW scene
Uncle Matt faces a Tyrolean train
Austria is a Euoropean country, bordered by Germany, Switzerland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Hungary, and Italy, among others. The national language is German.
Austria played an important if complex role in European history and politics, as a major part of the Holy Roman Empire from the 12th through early 19th centuries (and with Austria's Hapsburg dynasty as emperors for most of that time). It then formed its own empire and subsequenty the Austria-Hungary empire. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914, and the empire declaring war on Serbia, ignited World War I. During World War II, the country was annexed by Germany. When postwar Allied occupation ended in 1955, Austria declared itself permanently neutral, but in the modern day, it retains strong cultural and economic ties with Germany.
The capital and largest province of Austria is Vienna. During the height of its empire days in the 17th and 18th centuries, Vienna was the center of what would be termed the Classical Era of Western music, through great composers including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert, and Johann Strauss, Jr., whose "Blue Danube" is named after the river which flows through Vienna. Ludwig van Beethoven, while not an Austrian native, spent his entire career as a composer in the city. Waltzes are particularly associated with the Austrian capital. The world famous Vienna Boys Choir was officially founded in 1924, and notable former members include composer HK Gruber and actor Peter Weck.
Vienna also gave the world painter Gustav Klimt and is where Sigmund Freud founded psychoanalysis. Austrian scientists have been key contributors to quantum physics and nuclear research. Austrian cinema figures range from Fritz Lang (director of Metropolis and M starring Peter Lorre) to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Christoph Waltz. Austria has been used as a filming location in several Muppet projects co-produced with Germany, and Austrian performers and personalities have worked on them. The latter group includes Sesamstrasse actors Elisabeth Vitouch and Adele Neuhauser, Peter Alexander (who featured the Muppets in two of his specials), and Kurt Zips (who dubbed Dr. Bunsen Honeydew on Die Muppet Show and elsewhere).
One thing which Austria and Vienna do not produce, however, are the tinned meat products known as Vienna sausages.
Location shooting[]
- For Die Fraggles, the German co-production of Fraggle Rock, several postcard segments were shot not only in Germany but Austria and Switzerland as well. An Austrian segment shot in Tyrol, in which Uncle Traveling Matt rides the Zillertalbahn locomotive, appeared in all known versions of "The Beanbarrow, the Burden and the Bright Bouquet." Die Fraggles only postcards include one in "Catch the Tail by the Tiger" with Uncle Matt encountering Alpine musicians.
References[]
- An unused gag for The Muppet Show episode 313 would have had Fozzie Bear mistakenly think Helen Reddy is Austrian rather than Australian and prepare an Austrian band number.
- The Eddie Lawrence comedy single "Old, Old Vienna" was used on Sam and Friends, and many classical Austrian songs and composers have been utilized in Muppet productions.
- Elizabeth on Sesamstrasse was referred to as a guest from Vienna. Later, the recurring segment "Wolf vom Wörtersee" punningly references the Austrian lake Wörthersee.
- The Vienna Downhill Boys Choir in The Muppet Show episode 512 combine two Austrian traditions, choir singing and alpine skiing.
- The Salzburg Sauerkraut Singers perform in The Muppet Show episode 517. Their name references another major Austrian city, Salzburg.
- According to a 2005 interview with the UK magazine POP, the many fashionable abodes of Miss Piggy include "a superiority complex in Vienna."
- While not officially part of the Muppets' European tour in Muppets Most Wanted, Austria figures peripherally several times. Most prominently, Austrian Christoph Waltz is the special guest star for their Berlin performance. In a deleted scene, only included in the extended Blu-ray cut, Scooter announces Waltz as an Australian superstar, receiving a stern correction from the actor (and canceling the Australian opening number). The joke reverses the unused Muppet Show Helen Reddy gag. Instead, reflecting both his name and his county, Waltz performs a waltz with Sweetums.
- In another cut scene from the same movie, an Interpol map of Europe includes Austria. It is shown in closer view when Jean Pierre Napoleon and Sam the Eagle travel by map.
- Still from Muppets Most Wanted, the travel stickers on Constantine's luggage include one for the Grand Hotel Wien (Vienna, as spelled in German).