LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Two hundred and fifty years ago, the Founding Fathers signed the Declaration of Independence. To mark the anniversary, our series America In Pursuit has been exploring culture, history and objects from American life. Here's NPR's Jennifer Ludden with another of those objects.
JENNIFER LUDDEN, BYLINE: You know this beloved cultural icon from movies, "Sesame Street" and...
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE MUPPET SHOW")
JIM HENSON: (As Kermit the Frog) It's "The Muppet Show," with our very...
LUDDEN: Kermit the Frog's origin story starts well before "The Muppet Show" hit the air in the 1970s. We find the original Kermit Puppet at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.
(SOUNDBITE OF BEEP)
LUDDEN: In a large storage room, curator Ryan Lintelman opens the doors of a tall metal cabinet.
RYAN LINTELMAN: Here they are.
LUDDEN: We see lots of faces - Kermit, Oscar the Grouch, Elmo and others - sitting upright as if they're ready to start bantering away. Jim Henson created Kermit in 1955 for a local TV show in Washington, D.C.
LINTELMAN: He cut a ping-pong ball in half for the eyes.
LUDDEN: And he used an old spring coat of his mom's, which is more beigey green than the bright green Kermit would later become.
LINTELMAN: It wasn't even Kermit the Frog at that time. He kind of looks more like a lizard.
LUDDEN: Henson's great innovation was realizing the new medium of television, with its close-up shots, could give these puppets more personality. He'd make Kermit pucker his face or wince in reaction. He became a prankster, an organizer amid chaos, and what Henson's son Brian has called a world-class straight man.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "SESAME STREET")
HENSON: (As Kermit the Frog) Let's hear you sing the alphabet.
JOEY CALVAN: (As self, singing) A, B, C, D, E, F, Cookie Monster (laughter).
HENSON: (As Kermit the Frog) Cookie Monster isn't a letter of the alphabet. I'm leaving.
JOEY: (As self) I love you.
HENSON: (As Kermit the Frog) I love you, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF KISS)
LUDDEN: But Lintelman says what has always made Kermit the Frog uniquely American is his eternal optimism.
LINTELMAN: He's somebody who is always thinking about the future. He's trying to deal with his own shortcomings - right? - it's not easy being green - but relies upon the sort of found family of friends that he has around him to, you know, achieve his goals and help them achieve theirs.
LUDDEN: Even if that's not always easy, either.
Jennifer Ludden, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BEIN' GREEN")
HENSON: (As Kermit the Frog, singing) It's not easy being green. It seems you blend in with so many other ordinary things. And people tend to pass you over. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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