The Sound of Music

The Sow of Music.

Grover's hill is alive.

Elmo Goatherders

The Lonely Goatherd.

The Muppets comic strip from May 5, 1986.

The Muppets comic strip from May 6, 1986.

The Muppets comic strip from May 7, 1986.

The Muppet Show Comic Book alternate cover.

The Sound of Music is a Broadway musical written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II that was based on the biography of Maria von Trapp, which had previously inspired a German film in 1956. The musical opened in 1959 and ran continuously until 1963, with Mary Martin in the lead. The Academy Award-winning film version was released in 1965, starring Julie Andrews and featuring a puppetry sequence by Bil Baird.

Songs Performed in Muppet Productions

• "Do-Re-Mi"

-Judy Collins and Rowlf the Dog, episode 205 of The Muppet Show

-Kermit, and a chorus of Muppets, episode 310 of The Muppet Show

-Miss Piggy and Michelle Pfeiffer, the first episode of Muppets Tonight

-Bob, Bob Sings!

• "My Favorite Things"

-Miss Piggy and Michelle Pfeiffer, the first episode of Muppets Tonight

• "The Lonely Goatherd"

-Julie Andrews and the Muppets, episode 217 of The Muppet Show

• "Edelweiss"

-Bob, Bob Sings!

-Sesame Street Music Box Record Player

References

• When Julie Andrews appeared on The Muppet Show, Rowlf makes reference to one of her most famous roles as Maria in the 1965 film. In a sketch with Andrews which evokes similar imagery to that of the film, he mentions that he's seen the movie twice.

• In episode 319, following one sketch Statler comments that the hills are alive, leading Waldorf and Statler's Grandson to sing a verse from "The Sound of Music."

• Sam the Eagle meets a William Shakespeare in episode 323 of The Muppet Show. Believing him to be the real Shakespeare, Sam tells him that as a fan, he's seen The Sound of Music at least a dozen times.

• When the Dancing Mountains win the Fred Award for Best Performance By an Inanimate Object or a Group of Inanimate Objects in The Muppet Show episode 412, the main theme from The Sound of Music is played.

• Gonzo makes a reference to "My Favorite Things" on episode 512 of The Muppet Show.

• On episode 515 of The Muppet Show, Carol Burnett references the episode in which her friend Julie Andrews appeared and mockingly sings, "The hills are alive, with the sound of music!"

• The Monsterpiece Theater version of The Sound of Music involved Grover, dressed in a German outfit on a hill, listening for the sound of music. Once he finally hears it, the hill literally becomes alive.

• In the Sesame Street segment "The Turtle Who Wanted to Make Friends," Shelly the turtle hides in his shell at the sight of a caterpillar coming towards him. The caterpillar mistakes the shell for a mountain and hums "Climb Every Mountain" as he crawls over it.

• The Winter 1985 issue of Muppet Magazine featured a comic spoof called "The Swine of Music."

• The Muppets comic strip featured a three-day runner featuring Kermit and Piggy performing a tribute to The Sound of Music. The May 5, 1986, strip featured Miss Piggy discussing the titular lyrics with Kermit, before the hills (mountains, really) offer their opinion. In the following day's strip, Kermit and Piggy prepare for The Sound of Music tribute at the Muppet Theatre; instead of getting seven Austrian children to play the Von Trapp family, Kermit has instead hired the Seven Dwarves (from the Disney film). The final part on May 7 featured Kermit and Piggy delivering their tribute to The Sound of Music on stage with a performance of "So Long, Farewell" (aided by Statler and Waldorf as they exit their box).

• Excited about Birdnardo Birdtolucci coming to Sesame Street in Episode 2575, Gina lists a number of films he's directed including The Sound of Egg.

• In the "Power" episode of The Jim Henson Hour, Gonzo tries to convince Kermit to endorse his new act, which he claims is the definitive roller-poultry version of The Sound of Music and includes an organ version of the music from the film.

• In a Sesame Street sketch where Mr. Johnson makes the mistake of hailing Grover's taxi, Grover remarks that the library has music to listen to, such as The Sound of Music soundtrack, and he begins singing part of the titular song (erroneously saying "the air is alive"). He later mentions the movie theater, where one can watch The Sound of Music.

• Miss Piggy and Michelle Pfeiffer vie for the starring role of Maria, while performing "Do-Re-Mi" as part of a medley of songs from the film. Andy and Randy Pig and Lew Zealand were amongst the von Trapp children in this sketch from the first episode of Muppets Tonight.

• The Muppet Parodies 1998 Calendar featured a spoof on the original film's poster, named The Sow of Music, again featuring Miss Piggy in the title role.

• In "Elmo's World: Music," The Music Channel shows a documentary about the very first music played in the entire world ever. It then advertises that coming up next is The Music Man, The Sound of Music and Name That Tune.

• In "Elmo's World: Telephones," a Tickle Me Land scene of Elmo hiking up a mountain is scored by a brief section of "Climb Every Mountain."

• In the Farscape episode "Picture If You Will," John Crichton asks Maldis to sing that "farewell, goodbye song the kids sing." Maldis replies that he doesn't do requests.

• In Episode 3928 of Sesame Street, Slimey and Glo Worm portray Jack and Jill, slowly going up the hill. As they climb, they sing snatches of "Climb Every Mountain" and "The Sound of Music."

• In the Elmo's World installment "Families," Dorothy imagines an Elmo Goatherd Family. The scene alludes to The Sound of Music through costuming, concept, and especially Father Elmo (referred to as "Elmo Von Trapp" in the script), whose first line is "The hills are alive with the sounds of music!" (with a swaying hill in the background).

• In What's The Name of That Song?, Super Grover notes, while flying over the city, that "the streets are alive," when he realizes that's a different musical.

• The proposed artwork for Cover B of issue #4 of The Muppet Show Comic Book features Miss Piggy dressed as Maria von Trapp, romping through the Swiss countryside as in the film's titular opening number, while Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, Janice, Link Hogthrob, and Dr. Julius Strangepork (as the seven von Trapp children) look on.

• In Issue #2 of Muppet Snow White, Wayne and Wanda audition for the Seven Dwarves by singing the title song but are cut off after only a few words.

Connections

• John Barrowman was a Judge on the Canadian version of How do you solve a problem like Maria?
• Petula Clark played Maria in the 1981 London West End revival.
• Nicholas Hammond played Friedrich von Trapp in the film version.
• Florence Henderson played Maria in the original National Broadway tour.
• Audra McDonald played Mother Abbess in The Sound of Music Live!
• Carrie Underwood played Maria in The Sound of Music Live!
• Jon Voight was a replacement for Rolf during the original Broadway run.
• Maria Lucia Heiberg Rosenberg played Maria Reiner in a production on "Det Ny Teater" in Denmark