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The Plymouth Muppet Traffic Safety Show was a touring attraction brought to shopping malls around the US in the late 1980s, sponsored by the Plymouth division of Chrysler Motors. Children would ride in a minivan through a Muppet-filled movie set, teaching them various lessons about traffic safety. The children were filmed during the ride, and the ride ended with a showing of their own mini-movie.[1]
The attraction featured the first fully animatronic versions of the Muppets, before Muppet*Vision 3D. The Muppet characters included Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, Beaker, Robin the Frog, the Frog Scouts, a chicken (crossing the road) and some penguins. The show included a song, "Play It Safe." The audio track for the attraction was recorded by Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson.
The attraction begins with Kermit dressed as a crossing guard, welcoming the passengers and waving them through a tollbooth. Gonzo is the filmmaker, operating a camera in each of the six scenes. In the first scene, Miss Piggy is on the curb in front of an ice cream shop, and teaches the kids that you should look "left-right-left" before crossing the street. Fozzie Bear told the old "why did the chicken cross the road?" joke, with a chicken preparing to cross. In another scene, Animal demonstrated why darting out into traffic was dangerous, riding out of an alley on a Big Wheels-style toy bike. In another, Gonzo talked about bus safety as a group of penguins exited a school bus. Robin and the Frog Scouts appeared in a Plymouth Voyager minivan, demonstrating the importance of buckling your seatbelt. Beaker also had his own scene.
The attraction occupied 2,000 square feet, and stood nine feet tall. It included 40 animated characters, which were finished using official Muppet costume materials. Each car could carry six children, and total ride capacity was 175 passengers an hour.[2]
This show was created by Advanced Animations and appeared in malls and trade shows throughout the United States. Advanced Animations was the company responsible for the giant animated "toy clock" that was featured at FAO Schwarz in New York City.
The tour was scheduled to tour the country for three years.[3] Tour locations included:
- Burlington, Vermont's Burlington Square Mall (May 12-15, 1988)[4]
- Harper Woods, Michigan's Eastland Mall (May 20, 1988)
- South Bend, Indiana's Scottsdale Mall (May 26-29, 1988)[5]
- West Valley City, Utah's Valley Fair Mall (July 14-17, 1988)[6]
- Murray, Utah's Fashion Place Mall (roughly July 23-24, 1988)[7]
- West Covina, California's Fashion Plaza (August 4-7, 1988)[8]
- Tucson, Arizona's Park Mall (August 11-14, 1988)[9]
- Albuquerque, New Mexico's Coronado Centre (August 18-21, 1988)[10]
- Dallas, Texas' Prestonwood Town Center (September 1-4, 1988)[11]
- Columbia, South Carolina's Columbia Mall (September 22-25, 1988)[12]
- Biloxi, Mississippi's Edgewater Mall (September 29-October 2, 1988)[13]
- Miami, Florida (October 1988)[14]
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin (February 1989)[15]
- 1990 North American International Auto Show, Detroit, Michigan (January 1990)[16]
- Carolina Circle Mall, Greensboro, North Carolina (August 2-5, 1990)[17]
Sources[]
- ↑ Advanced Animations, "Muppet Traffic Safety Show".
- ↑ National Safety Town Center, "Muppet Traffic Show".
- ↑ Plymouth, Jim Henson and Kermit the Frog launch Muppet Traffic Safety Show national tour (Chrysler Corp.'s Plymouth division)
- ↑ Advertisement, The Burlington Free Press (Burlington, Vermont), 12 May 1988, page 3
- ↑ The South Bend Tribune (South Bend, Indiana), 25 May 1988, page 15
- ↑ "Muppet traffic safety show Fashion Place July 20-23", Orem-Geneva Times (Orem, Utah), 13 July 1988, page 8
- ↑ "Muppets Turn Safety Into Child's Play", The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah), 22 July 1988, page WV3.
- ↑ The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California), 4 August 1988, page SGV6.
- ↑ Newspaper ad, Arizona Daily Star
- ↑ "Coming to Coronado Centre ad", 17 August 1988, page 6.
- ↑ Farmers Branch Times (Farmers Branch, Texas), 20 July 1988, page 10
- ↑ The State (Columbia, South Carolina), 22 September 1988, page 33
- ↑ Sun Herald (Biloxi, Mississippi), 29 September 1988, page 5
- ↑ Palm Beach Post (broken link as of 15 April 2022)
- ↑ The Milwaukee Journal
- ↑ See photo in the gallery
- ↑ mall flyer