I don't know what the fascination is, exactly, but I have always enjoyed puppets and everything to do with them. From Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop to Sesame Street, the Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and even the ever funny comedian/ventriloquist/puppet master, Jeff Dunham, I have watched and loved them for as long as I can remember.
I guess you could blame my Aunt Barb. When I was very little, like four or five years old, she used to use her hands to tell us stories. Since we didn't have any puppets, either socks were used or, as I said, just the bare hands. It's a habit I kept for many years and even though I now own several puppets, to this day I'll occasionally talk with my hands puppet-style, if I don't happen to have a puppet or stuffed animal, well, 'on hand' if you'll excuse the pun.
I'm not even joking. Though sometimes I think my family wishes I were.
Another reason I enjoy the Muppets is pure nostalgia.
I remember going to see the Muppet Movie in a drive-thru theater when I was little. And we also had both the eight track (for the car) and record versions of the soundtrack and my sisters and I would listen to it over and over and OVER again. Though, of course, the only way you could keep listening to the eight track was to convince your parents to keep on driving.
The Muppets remind me of a time of joy and innocence, imagination and pure fun. They were creative, they were funny and they are embedded in the childhood memories of hundreds if not thousands of children.
And now a whole new generation of kids can go watch their newest movie in the theater... or while sitting in the living room of their own home.
Isn't life grand?
