Ripley’s Believe It or Not!

A child assembling a multicolored peg portrait of Kermit at the Ripley's Believe It or Not! Odditorium in Cavendish Beach, PEI.

An excerpt from the 2013 book Dare to Look, page 195 highlights the exhibition "Broken Heroes" by Patricia Waller which features crochet figures of childhood figures falling upon hard times. In this case, Ernie becoming homeless.

This cartoon from August 22nd, 2020, reveals that the cookies that Cookie Monster would consume on Sesame Street were merely painted rice crackers.

Kermit doll at Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada in 2019.

Ripley's Believe It or Not! is an American franchise, founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the Believe It or Not feature proved popular and was later adapted into a wide variety of formats, including radio, television, comic books, a book series, and a batch of worldwide museums referred to by them as Odditoriums.

Ripley Entertainment's publishing and broadcast divisions oversee numerous projects, including the syndicated TV series, the newspaper cartoon panel, books, posters and games.

Mentions

• Since the conception of Sesame Street and The Muppets, many odd or "unusual" facts regarding the series would be included in the company's daily BION newspaper cartoons. For example, the 3/12/2017 comic showed an illustration of Kermit playing his banjo while a caption underneath said "Most Muppets are left-handed!"

• Many factoids regarding Sesame Street or Muppets are included with the yearly Ripley's Believe It or Not! books issued throughout each year. For example, page 67 of Reality Shock from 2015 features an image of three fused purple sea sponges in the Caribbean reefs; sparking hysteria on the Internet as people commented they looked similar to Cookie Monster.

• Robert Bradford is an artist from Cornwall that makes assemblage statues of humans and animals using discarded toys. Ripley’s owns several pieces of his work and distributes them in their Odditoriums. One particular piece of his is an angel that was formerly displayed in Ripley’s Niagara Falls and is now located in their Newport museum. In video of the angel, a toy of Big Bird facing backwards can be seen next to the statue’s left-side wing.

• A common gag found in most Ripley's Odditoriums includes a giant "Color Brite" wall similar to the Lite-Brite toys where multicolored pegs are placed on a board to create an image. At least four artwork images are displayed up top to show examples of what can be created, and one of them is a Kermit portrait.

• Posted to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not! website on April 22, 2011, was an article reporting on a hyper-realistic computer sculpture of Bert made by Madrid artist Nacho from The Effects Lab.

• Drzach and Suchy are a duo of artists from Zurich that create shadow casting artwork featuring famous faces through a combination of art, lights, and plastic L-shaped bricks. Ripley's owns at least a few of their work in the collection and formerly displayed in their Odditorium at Baltimore was an illusion portrait of Kermit and Miss Piggy that change depending on which way you view the piece. Another Kermit and Piggy piece by them was made using colored bricks.

• On July 31, 2020, the official Ripley's YouTube channel uploaded a video part of their "Cool Stuff… Strange Things" web series that explored the "dark alleys" of Sesame Street’s history. They include Big Bird almost taking a ride onboard the fated Challenger shuttle only for his height to mercifully leave him out, Mr. Snuffy finally being introduced to the human cast because of "high-profile sex abuses," Count von Count having arithmomania, the compulsive love of counting which was an affliction of legendary vampires (the video includes a mention of Muppet Wiki during that segment); and the trademark trait of Don Music banging his head against the piano in frustration leading to kids copying what they saw on television, therefore causing severe concussions and the character's retirement. (YouTube)

References

• When Gary asks Mary how her day in Los Angeles went before she leaves him in the middle act of The Muppets (2011), she remarks that "I went to Guinness Book of World Records… alone. Then, Ripley's Believe It or Not… solo." These are actual museums on the Hollywood Boulevard strip, located just a few miles away from El Capitan Theatre which stood in for the abandoned Muppet Theatre in the movie.

Connections

• Dean Cain hosted the 2000 version
• Marie Osmond co-hosted the 1982 version