Minor Unfinished Projects

This is a list of minor Muppet projects that have not made it past the development stage, for which not enough information exists to constitute its own page.

Adventures of the Snerf-Poof from Planet Snee

Adventures of the Snerf-Poof from Planet Snee was a proposal for a surrealistic Muppet project made by Jim Henson in the late 1960s.

ASTRO G.N.E.W.T.S.

ASTRO G.N.E.W.T.S. was a proposed concept for a 30-minute television special that could air as the second-half of an episode of The Jim Henson Hour. The special would have blended puppets with animation, computer graphics, and video effects.

Intimate Portrait

In the late 1990s/early 2000s, Craig Shemin and Jim Lewis developed a pitch for an episode of Lifetime's documentary series Intimate Portrait centered around Miss Piggy. Budgetary constraints prevented such a project from going forward.

Kermit at the Smithsonian

An after-school special proposed by Jim Henson in 1975 for ABC following the popularity of the Ernie and Bert puppets' stay at the Smithsonian.

Kermit's Christmas Capers

Kermit's Christmas Capers was announced as a proposed television special for the 2005 holiday season; however, the project was cancelled before filming due to changes in management with the Muppets Holding Company.

Merry Christmas, Strega Nona

During the production of Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola, Craig Shemin and Jim Lewis collaborated on a treatment for a Christmas special based on the 1986 book. The special never went to production due to budget constrictions.

Miss Piggy mystery books

A July, 1990 article in Publisher's Weekly described a merger between Muppet Press with Disney Press in "the impending acquisition of Henson Associates". The article mentioned that "plans are in the works for a line of Muppet Babies toddler books, a Miss Piggy mystery series and a biography of Henson by Louise Gikow."

Muppet Beach Blanket

“Jim Lewis and I tried for years to get a [Muppet] Beach Blanket type movie greenlit, that [would] have had lots of Tiki themes in it...but to no avail!!”
—Kirk Thatcher on Twitter

The Muppet Love Song Album

According to the Winter 1983 issue of Muppet Magazine, The Muppet Love Song Album was to be released by Warner Bros. Records shortly after Miss Piggy's Aerobique Exercise Workout Album.

Muppet Roast

A celebrity roast was pitched as an idea and sold to Disney in 2007 by Hugh Fink, Scott Ganz and Andrew Samson.

Muppet Robin Hood

In an interview with Starlog, Brian Henson stated that a first draft of a feature-length version of Robin Hood starring the Muppets had been written, but the company felt that "there had been too many Robin Hoods."

Muppets in Camelot

From The Muppet Show episode 305

Muppets in Camelot had been mentioned by the Jim Henson Company many times in the late 1990s, and was "kicked around" for several years for a potential feature film. A script outline was produced, but the film didn't move forward into production.

The Muppets Leave Hollywood

The Muppets Leave Hollywood was an outside script bought by the Henson Company in February 1998. In the script, the Muppets (playing themselves) are living the high life in Hollywood until Kermit decides they've lost their purpose in this greedy world and takes them all back to the swamp.

The Muppets Save the World

From The Muppet Show episode 419

In the early 2000s, around the time when superhero movies were making a comeback, Craig Shemin proposed a film involving the Muppets getting superpowers. The Muppets would receive their powers while driving home from the movies through a radiation storm. Gonzo would be blessed with the ability to transform, but only into something he'd just seen. This results in him changing into Matt Damon, who featured in the movie they attended.

Noah's Ark Musical

Following the London musical Doctor Dolittle, the Jim Henson's Creature Shop was approached by the creator of Dolittle, Leslie Bricusse, on a musical based on the story of Noah's Ark. Preliminary work on the creatures was started, but the show was never produced.

Picture-book specials

Following the 1986 airings of The Tale of the Bunny Picnic on HBO and The Christmas Toy on ABC, the cable channel considered producing more in the series of "picture-book specials". A 1988 article in Channels, a magazine for the television industry, revealed:

“Henson has ten specials in development that he would like to place, including a Valentine's Day program called Puppy Love starring Muppet dogs, and a special called The Lizards for the summer. These will eventually be turned into a series of videocassettes distributed by HA. And the books, published by Henson's publishing division with Scholastic, will further the publishing aspirations of the company.”

Henson revived the idea of producing more picture-book specials in his original pitch for The Jim Henson Hour—wanting to produce monthly episodes with stories in the vein of Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas, The Christmas Toy and The Tale of the Bunny Picnic.

Pipe Dream

Pipe Dream is a lesser known Rodgers and Hammerstein musical which ran for 246 performances on Broadway in 1955, based on the novel Sweet Thursday by John Steinbeck. A film version of the musical was proposed starring the Muppets. Humans would play Doc and Suzy; Muppets would play the other roles—with Miss Piggy as Fauna, Kermit as Mac and Fozzie as Hazel.

Screaming Edith

A 1993 Wall Street Journal article mentioned plans for a new Muppet project:

“[Brian] Henson's record label will soon introduce "Screaming Edith", a new Muppets hard-rock band whose videos Henson wants shown on MTV.”

Super Sesame Heroes

An animated Sesame Street spin-off starring Super Grover and a team of other Sesame Street monsters (Cookie Monster, Rosita, Elmo and Zoe), meant to teach conflict resolution. A proof-of-concept pitch was made for the international markets, but the series never came to full fruition.

Tales of Muppetland installments

Following the airing of The Muppet Musicians of Bremen in 1972, Jim Henson began brainstorming ideas for future installments. Ideas included adaptations of Aladdin, Jack the Giant Killer, The 13 Clocks, and The Velveteen Rabbit.

To Russia with Baseball: A Muppet Report

A documentary centered around the exhibition games of the American All-Stars and Soviet teenage baseball teams. Richard Hunt recorded commentary with Scooter and Beaker during August 1989 in Detroit, Moscow, and Leningrad. The incomplete project was pitched to various outlets and was ultimately left unfinished.

Untitled Miss Piggy pregnancy movie

While brainstorming ideas for a fourth Muppet film to follow The Muppets Take Manhattan, Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl considered a proposal for a film where Miss Piggy might be pregnant. Henson dismissed the concept, calling it a little too "specific and explicit."

Untitled Muppet Origin Story Series

In a 2022 interview, Steve Whitmire stated that prior to his departure from Disney and the Muppets in October 2016, he had been invited to pitch a Muppet series to The Muppets Studio which he had been co-writing with one of the Muppet writers. According to Whitmire, the show was what he called at the time "a Netflix-like series" with around six episodes that would tell the story of how The Muppets got together. The series would not have resembled The Muppet Movie, but rather mirror the feeling of the project and help re-establish the characters for a new generation. Whitmire stated, "I don't want this to sound arrogant, but I truly believe it would be the definitive project that would've turned the Muppets around."

When Kermit Met Piggy

Just prior to the deal with EM.TV, Jim Lewis wrote a script where Miss Piggy retells the story of her romance with Kermit, parodying various other romantic comedy films. The project would also follow other Muppet couples, including Gonzo and Camilla, and Rizzo and Yolanda.

See also

• Unfinished Movies
• Unfinished TV