France

Kermit visits Paris in a Kermit's World Tour magnet.

A Pig in Paris

Miss Piggy modeling Prada in Paris in 2005.

Piggy dreams of Paris in Ready, Set, Recycle!

Kermit embracing French stereotypes for the Institut International de la Marionnette.

Cookie Monster enjoys a croissant while visiting Paris for the 2024 Olympic Games.

France is a European nation famed for its cuisine, the Eiffel Tower, and a populace stereotypically marked by snooty accents and moustaches. The country donated the Statue of Liberty to the United States of America. Miss Piggy has famously affected a French accent and a Parisian sophistication, and used to pretend she could speak French. In Muppet Treasure Island, an indignant Benjamina Gunn (played by Piggy) claims her mother came all the way from France for the wedding to Captain Abraham Smollett.

Productions

• France has had its own versions of Fraggle Rock, in which Uncle Traveling Matt occasionally visited French landmarks like the Eiffel tower.

• The country has had two Sesame Street adaptations: 1, Rue Sésame and the more recent 5, Rue Sésame.

• Le Muppet Show, the French dub of The Muppet Show, was followed by the all-French production Muppets TV in 2006.

• The World of Puppetry with Philipe Genty was filmed in several French cities.

• Jim Henson hosted a multi-week course in television puppetry for the Institut International de la Marionnette.

References

• The French language is spoken in Canada and figured in some early Sesame Street episodes and quite heavily in Sesame Park, particularly through Louis, the Francophone Otter.

• In The Muppets Take Manhattan, Miss Piggy and Eileen sell the French perfume "Quelle Difference". As Piggy describes the perfume in a rage; "It's French! It's feminine! It'll help ya grab one of those rotten, stinkin' men!"

• The Queen of France appears in the Muppet Babies book I Want to See...

• French artists who have worked with the Muppets over time include Charles Aznavour, Catherine Deneuve, Mireille Mathieu, and Jean-Pierre Rampal.

• Respectively in episodes 311 and 319 of The Muppet Show, guest stars Raquel Welch and Elke Sommer speak some lines in French.

• A French bread talks in French with Charles Aznavour in episode 109 of The Muppet Show.

• The non-French but French-speaking guest stars of The Muppet Show Peter Ustinov (episode 112) and Petula Clark (episode 220) dubbed themselves in Le Muppet Show.

• Andre, a painter appearing in the "Look at That Face" sketch in episode 115 of The Muppet Show, speaks with a marked French accent.

• Pierre LaCousse, a French chef (referring to the French chef Paul Bocuse), appears in the panel discussion in episode 119 of The Muppet Show. Vincent Price refers to the French chief Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935).

• The Worm Winter Games were held in Squiggleville, France. The games were presented in Episode 3061 of Sesame Street, where Oscar brings Slimey to compete in the games. Mademoiselle Escargot is one of the contestants, and hails from France.

• In Elmo's 12 Days of Christmas, three French hens are substituted with three French friends.

• Gordon Blue, a contestant on "The Crying Game," is from Paris, France.

• During the animated portion of The Street We Live On, Super Grover mistakenly thinks Sesame Street is the Champs-Élysées.

• Kermit visits Paris in one of the Kermit's World Tour magnets from 2005.

• Miss Piggy modeled a Prada couture outfit at trendy boutique Colette in Paris in June 2005, promoting a new line of Muppet T-shirts, celebrating Kermit's 50th anniversary.

• The United States is currently represented in France by Ambassador Charles Rivkin, former CEO of The Jim Henson Company.

• In The Muppets, Miss Piggy is shown to have been working as a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris.

• Promoting Muppets Most Wanted, Kermit says they skipped France on their European tour in the film. "Two good reasons. [He glances down at his legs] These babies, right here." Referencing the French's penchant for frog leg cuisine.

Uncle Traveling Matt at the Eiffel Tower on the French Fraggle Rock.

Three French Friends.

Big Bird and Elmo in a poster from Plage de Repos, as illustrated by Ernie Kwiat.

Notre Dame de Paris cathedral in 2011's The Muppets