The Best of Kermit on Sesame Street

The Best of Kermit is a 1998 Sesame Street direct-to-video special, in which Grover hosts a tribute to Kermit. The program features Steve Whitmire as Kermit in the framing story and Frank Oz as Grover, surrounding clips of Kermit as performed by Jim Henson.
The special features appearances by The Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf, as well as new segments in which Grover talks to real-life kids about Kermit.
The framing footage was taped in March 1998 at Sony Music Studios.Tony Geiss papers at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University
==Segments==
Image	Segment 	Description
 	FRAME 1 	Grover is backstage, explaining to the viewer that he's about to present The Frog of the Year Award to Kermit, and has prepared a poem for the occasion. Then the Three Little Pigs enter, saying that they are there because they are friends of Kermit ("He talked to us twice on Sesame Street News.") They say that they will bring Kermit the award, "the biggest prize a frog can get", and they will do whatever else they want. Grover presumes that this may mean trouble, but the Big Bad Wolf shows up and compels the pigs to behave. He tells Grover that if they bother him, just yell "Pig Control!"
 	FRAME 1 cont'd	An announcer introduces the show (presented by the American Frog Institute), and Grover goes onstage to read his poem for Kermit, "What is a Frog?" He says a few things about frogs, including the fact that they love their elbows.
 	Muppets 	Kermit sings "I Love My Elbows."
 	FRAME 2 	Grover tells a girl that he did not know that frogs had elbows, and asks her if she knew. She says she did, because she knows a lot about frogs.
 	Muppets 	"Caribbean Amphibian"
 	FRAME 3 	Continuing his poem, Grover claims that "A frog also has big ears and a long nose. And teeth, lovely white teeth". Grover shows clips on the video screen.
 	FRAME 3 cont'd	After those clips, Grover is convinced that frogs don't have those things, but states that they do have calmness, and never get angry. However, all of the clips shown show Kermit getting angry.Clips of Kermit being angry include:
*Kermit yelling at Grover after getting ears put on him
*Kermit trying to tell Grover that he doesn't have a nose
*The Wonderful World of T-Shirts
*Kermit wearing sunglasses
Grover is then convinced that frogs have no ears, no nose, no teeth, and do occasionally get angry, but Grover is certain that frogs know the alphabet.
 	Muppets 	"African Alphabet"
 	Muppets 	Kermit and Joey recite the alphabet.
 	Muppets 	Kermit sings "Do-Op Hop".Closing cut
 	FRAME 4 	Continuing his poem, Grover states that when a frog is sad, he doesn't get the blues -- He gets the greens.
 	Muppets 	Kermit the Frog sings "Bein' Green" against a farm field background.
 	FRAME 5 	Grover asks a girl what kind of weather frogs like. She doesn't think that frogs like snow, and explains why. "So maybe they like sunshine", says Grover.
 	Muppets 	Grover attempts to sell a weather machine to Kermit.New sound effects added
 	FRAME 6 	The pigs have tied up Grover and attempt to take over reading the poem: "What is a frog? Someone green and smooth with no snout or curly tail...who started out as a tiny wriggly tadpole..." But Grover yells "Pig Control!" and the wolf chases them away.
 	FRAME 6 cont'd	Grover and a girl discuss Kermit's award.
 	Muppets 	Kermit sings to the titular tadpole about the life awaiting it when it grows up to be a frog, but tells it to take its time growing up.Ending cut
 	FRAME 7 	Grover asks a girl if she knows what job Kermit does on Sesame Street. She knows that Kermit's a news person, but doesn't know what he says as a news person, so Grover whispers "Hi ho, Kermit the Frog here".
 	Montage 	A montage of Sesame Street News Flash segments, including scenes from...
*Humpty Dumpty 
*Mary and Her Little Lamb 
*Jack Be Nimble 
*The New Three Little Pigs Story 
*Hickory Dickory Dock 
*Rumpelstiltskin 
*Peter Piper 
*Cinderella's Fairy Godmother 
*Pinocchio 
*Mumford's Big and Small Trick 
*George Washington's Cherry Tree 
*The First Day of School in History 
*Man in Snowstorm
 	FRAME 8 	Grover continues his poem and says that Kermit is not a monster. He is a friendly animal with a collar, but no shirt. Grover says more about Kermit's appearance and concludes that he is proud the way Kermit is.
 	Muppets 	Kermit sings "This Frog."First few seconds cut and new music added
 	FRAME 9 	Everyone gets teary-eyed as the award is presented. Kermit comes up to get his award. He is about to take the small golden statue and make an acceptance speech, but Grover interrupts and says he can't give it to Kermit. The two briefly struggle over the award until Grover abruptly claims that it's not actually Kermit's prize. When Kermit asks where the real prize is, the pigs bring over the large prop statue of Kermit from the background. As Kermit struggles to carry it around, Grover sings "Frog of the Year", and tells the audience that "Froggy wanted to thank his mommy and daddy, and Sesame Street News, the frogs in the glen, the little people behind the scenes, the big people behind the scenes, and someone called Jim". Kermit collapses under the statue.
==Cast==
*Starring Jim Henson's Sesame Street Muppets:
**Frank Oz, Steve Whitmire, and Jim Henson
**with Muppet Performers: Jerry Nelson, Kevin Clash, Martin P. Robinson, Peter Linz, David Rudman, Noel MacNeal, Pam Arciero, Bryant Young, John Tartaglia, Tyler Bunch, Lisa Buckley, Rick Lyon, Richard Hunt, Jane Henson, Pat Hodelin, Richard Termine, Caroly Wilcox, Ed Christie, Camille Kampouris, James Kroupa, Jim Martin, Cheryl Blaylock, Brian Meehl
*Child Talent: Megan Ng, Katie Scharf, Joey Calvan
==Credits==
*Executive Producer: Nancy Kanter
*Produced by Karin Young Shiel
*Written by Tony Geiss
**Judy Freudberg, Cathi Rosenberg-Turow, Tom Dunsmuir (archive material)
*Directed by John Chiappardi
**Emily Squires, Jon Stone, David Heeley (archive material)
*Songs by David Axlerod, Chris Cerf, Dave Conner, Sarah Durkee, Tony Geiss, Paul Jacobs, Jeff Moss, Sam Pottle, Joe Raposo, Mark Saltzman, Norman Stiles
**"Frog of the Year" Music & Lyrics by Tony Geiss
*Additional Music: Dick Lieb
*Music Coordinator: Danny Epstein
*Jim Henson's Muppet Workshop: Mark Zeszotek, James Chai, Lara MacLean, Stephen Rotondaro, Carlo Yannuzzi
*Production Designer: Stephen Hendrickson
*Lighting Designer: Bill Berner
*Associate Director: Ken Diego
*Camera: Frank Biondo, Bobby Delrusso
*Music Supervisor: Dave Conner
*Control Room P.A.: Carol-Lynn Parente
*Executive in Charge of Production for Sony Wonder: Becky Mancuso-Winding
*Special Thanks to Cheryl Henson, Dulcy Singer, Amy Baroch, Benedetta Campisi, Ellen Goldfader, Ted Green, Nan Halperin, Marjorie Kalins, Wendy Moss, Chuck Nankivell, Jodi Nussbaum, John Phillips, Katrin van Dam
==Video releases==
Image:Bestofkermit-NEW.jpg|Sony Wonder (front)LV 49991
BestofKermitonSSbackcover.jpg|Sony Wonder (back)LV 49991
KermitBigbird Double.jpg|1999Sony WonderDouble feature with Big Bird Sings!ASIN B00000JNTM
BestofKermitVCDHVN.jpg|Singapore and Malaysia, 1999Berjaya HVNcat no. 451004
JapaneseBestofKermitonSesameStreetVHS.jpg|JapanSony
JapaneseBestofKermitonSesameStreetDVD.jpg|JapanSony
==See also==
*Kermit the Frog on Sesame Street
==Sources==
__NOWYSIWYG__
Category:Sesame Street Video
Category:Sesame Street Direct-to-Video
Category:Anniversary Productions