Miss Piggy will be taking her rightful place in the Smithsonian Institution’s Jim Henson Muppets collection, alongside her sweetheart Kermit the Frog.
Piggy will be among more than 20 puppets and props being donated by Cheryl Henson, Jim Henson’s daughter. Among the Muppets finding permanent homes at the Smithsonian will be Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street, the Swedish Chef from The Muppet Show and Boober Fraggle and Uncle Traveling Matt from Fraggle Rock.
The Smithsonian currently houses Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, both the original Kermit and his later counterpart from the Muppet Show and Sesame Street and the cast of Henson’s early television series Sam & Friends. Much of the Institution’s collection of Muppets were originally donated by Cheryl’s mother Jane Henson.
Miss Piggy was designed and built by puppet creator Bonnie Erickson for the Muppet Show pilot of 1974. The creation of Piggy was inspired by jazz singer Peggy Lee.
Erickson said, “When I first created Miss Piggy I called her Miss Piggy Lee—as both a joke and an homage. Peggy Lee was a very independent woman, and Piggy certainly is the same. But as Piggy’s fame began to grow, nobody wanted to upset Peggy Lee, especially because we admired her work.”
The donated puppets will be on display in November, 2013 as part of the “Puppetry of America” at the National Museum of American History.
Source(s): Brett Zongker of The Associated Press and the Smithsonian Magazine.
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