Muppets: The Green Album facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Muppets: The Green Album |
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| Compilation album by
Various artists
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| Released | August 23, 2011 | |||
| Studio | Various | |||
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| Length | 36:40 | |||
| Label | Walt Disney | |||
| Producer | Dani Markman | |||
| The Muppets chronology | ||||
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| Singles from {{{Name}}} | ||||
Muppets: The Green Album is a special music album. It features twelve famous Muppet songs. But here's the cool part: they are all sung by different popular music artists! This kind of album is called a cover album.
Walt Disney Records released the album on August 23, 2011. You could buy it as a CD or download it digitally. A fun music video was also made for the song "Muppet Show Theme Song". It stars the band OK Go and, of course, the Muppets!
Disney first announced this project in 2009. It was part of a plan to make the Muppets popular again. The album also helped get people excited for The Muppets movie. That film came out just three months later. The album's name, The Green Album, is a funny nod to the Beatles' famous White Album. The cover art shows Kermit the Frog's face. It looks like old rock album covers from the 1960s.
Muppets: The Green Album was a big hit! Critics really liked it. It even reached number 1 on Billboard's Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts. About 30,000 copies were sold at first. The album also made it to number 8 on the Billboard 200 chart. This was the first time a Muppet album reached the top 10!
Contents
Album Release and Promotion
Before the album officially came out, Walt Disney Records offered a sneak peek. They made the whole album available to listen to online. This was through NPR's First Listen program. It let fans hear the songs a week early.
The music video for "Muppet Show Theme Song" came out on August 19, 2011. You could watch it online or buy it. Later, on August 31, OK Go and Animal performed live. They were on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
The Music Video
The music video for "Muppet Show Theme Song" is super fun. It starts with the band OK Go getting ready to sing. They have a big, fancy machine to help them. But then, Sweetums accidentally breaks it!
After that, the video shows OK Go in scenes that look like their other famous music videos. It also has funny moments that remind you of classic The Muppet Show sketches. The Muppets are right there with them! At one point, Statler and Waldorf are even shown watching the video on a computer.
The video ends with some silly dream scenes. For example, Damian Kulash wakes up scared next to Animal. Another scene shows Tim Nordwind waking up next to Rowlf the Dog and other animals. The video cleverly includes ideas from OK Go's past music videos. These include "Here It Goes Again" and "This Too Shall Pass".
This video was shown on the Disney Channel and Disney XD. It also played on Radio Disney. It even won an award! It got the People's Voice Webby Award for "Viral Video" in 2012.
Muppet Performers in the Video
Many talented puppeteers brought the Muppets to life in the music video:
- Steve Whitmire played Kermit the Frog, Rizzo the Rat, Beaker, Statler, and others.
- Eric Jacobson performed Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle.
- Dave Goelz was the voice and puppeteer for The Great Gonzo, Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf, and Zoot.
- Bill Barretta played Rowlf the Dog, Dr. Teeth, Pepé the King Prawn, and Swedish Chef.
- David Rudman performed Scooter, Janice, and others.
- Matt Vogel was Sweetums, Camilla the Chicken, Floyd Pepper, and more.
Songs on the Album
Here are the songs featured on Muppets: The Green Album and the artists who covered them:
| No. | Title | Artist | Length |
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| 1. | "Muppet Show Theme Song" | OK Go | 2:36 |
| 2. | "Rainbow Connection" | Weezer And Hayley Williams (Of Paramore) | 4:00 |
| 3. | "Mahna Mahna" | The Fray | 2:13 |
| 4. | "Movin' Right Along" | Alkaline Trio | 2:33 |
| 5. | "Our World" | My Morning Jacket | 3:05 |
| 6. | "Halfway Down The Stairs" | Amy Lee (Of Evanescence) | 2:25 |
| 7. | "Mr. Bassman" | Sondre Lerche | 2:41 |
| 8. | "Wishing Song" | The Airborne Toxic Event | 2:47 |
| 9. | "Night Life" | Brandon Saller (Of Atreyu) And Billy Martin (Of Good Charlotte) | 2:59 |
| 10. | "Bein' Green" | Andrew Bird | 4:10 |
| 11. | "I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along" | Matt Nathanson | 2:42 |
| 12. | "I'm Going To Go Back There Someday" | Rachael Yamagata | 4:15 |
| Australia/New Zealand Bonus Tracks | |||||||||
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| No. | Title | Artist | Length | ||||||
| 13. | "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" | Missy Higgins | 1:58 | ||||||
Album Team
A lot of people work behind the scenes to create an album. Here are some of the key people who helped make Muppets: The Green Album:
- Dani Markman was the main person in charge, known as the executive producer.
- Stephen Marcussen was responsible for the final sound quality, called mastering.
- Steve Gerdes handled the creative look and design of the album.
Chart Performance
Muppets: The Green Album did very well on music charts in 2011.
| Charts (2011) | Peak position |
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| Canadian Albums Chart | 14 |
| U.S. Billboard 200 | 8 |
| U.S. Billboard Alternative Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Digital Albums | 5 |
| U.S. Billboard Kids Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Rock Albums | 1 |
| U.S. Billboard Tastemakers Albums | 11 |
See also
In Spanish: Muppets: The Green Album para niños
