Muppet Meeting Films

thumb|300px|right|1987 Entertainment Tonight segment on Meeting Films
Muppet Meeting Films are a series of short films produced for public screening during business meetings and training sessions. The films are two to three minutes long, and provide some comic relief in a long, dull meeting. The early films in the series, produced in 1975, featured puppets that would soon become stars on The Muppet Show -- Kermit, Sam the Eagle, Janice, Gonzo and Waldorf. In 1979, Jim Henson and Frank Oz created a new comedy team for the films -- Leo, a master speechmaker and wordsmith, and Grump, a cynical crank.
==IBM films==
Beginning in 1956, Henson's company produced a successful range of television commercials, most famously the "Wilkins and Wontkins" ads for a Washington, D.C. coffee company, Wilkins Coffee. In the mid-60s, Henson also produced special presentation films for the sales meetings of some of his clients, including Pak-Nit, La Choy and Wilson's Meats.
In 1965, information technology company IBM commissioned a set of films for their sales meetings. Henson worked on these films with David Lazer, the head of IBM's film and television division; Lazer went on to leave the company and work for Henson, producing many of the Muppet productions over the next twenty years, including The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie.
One of the IBM films, "Coffee Break Machine", features an early version of Cookie Monster, who devours a complex machine as the machine describes its purpose and construction. At the end of the sketch, the talking machine explains that it's wired with a security system set to explode if tampered with. The monster promptly combusts. This film was so successful that Henson performed the sketch in 1967 for The Ed Sullivan Show, and it was remade as a Muppet Show sketch.
Other IBM films included Rowlf the Dog playing the piano and singing "My Way", and "The Paperwork Explosion", a non-puppet film which included a soundtrack by Raymond Scott.
==Muppet Meeting Films==
The IBM films were a hit, and in 1975, Henson Associates created the Muppet Meeting Films, which could be licensed to other companies.
The films were produced as collections of three or four skits, usually running about two or three minutes each. The first collection, "Muppet Picker Upper", used puppets that would soon become major characters on The Muppet Show. After this collection, the Classic Muppets didn't appear in the Meeting Films, except for a brief Kermit cameo in 1993, and one film featuring Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in the late 90s (which was a clip from The Muppet Show episode 124).
The films produced from 1979 to 1987 feature Leo and Grump, a comedy duo performed by Henson and Frank Oz. Leo is the optimistic salesman, always trying his best; Grump is an old grouch who complains about everything.
In 1987, the cast and characters were featured in a short, behind-the-scenes segment for Entertainment Tonight. It was around this time that some new puppets were introduced, but none of them have constant identities, personalities, or voices. The most prominent is the David Lazer Muppet, an orange supervisor character (and a caricature of producer David Lazer). The character was identified on Henson.com as "The Company Man" but unnamed in the films until 1992's "Executive Island", where he was referred to as Fenneman. The only other character that maintains a constant voice and identity is Big Head, a grumpy boss character played by David Rudman, also introduced in 1992.
In the Meeting Films made after Henson's death, Frank Oz no longer performed in the films, and Leo and Grump were retired. Subsequent films employed a larger cast of Muppet performers, including Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Jerry Nelson, Joey Mazzarino, David Rudman, Peter Linz, Camille Bonora, Don Reardon, Jim Martin, Noel MacNeal and Julianne Buescher.
Other characters to appear included Luncheon Counter Monster and a monster who was later used on Muppets Tonight as Big Mean Carl. Several of the generic supporting characters were later adapted as characters for From the Balcony, notably Ted Thomas and The Weather Guy. Known directors of the various films include Brian Henson (who helmed a few of the 1992 entries) and David Gumpel.
The films continue to be distributed as rentals for business use by Enterprise Media. According to the company's website, popular titles include "Sell, Sell, Sell" (the top-ranked release), "Let's Have the Dam Break", "The Meeting That Would Not Die", "The Sky's The Limit" and "Win! Win! Win!".
===Muppet Picker Upper (1975)===
File:Early.sam-and-cosgrove.jpg|The Muppet Introduction|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Muppet Introduction
File:Announcement.jpg|Just a Few Announcements|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Just a Few Announcements
File:Sell Sell Sell.jpg|Sell, Sell, Sell|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Sell, Sell, Sell
File:controls.jpg|Controls|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Sell, Sell, Sell#Controls
===Muppet Breaker Upper (1979)===
File:Slightsnare.jpg|Introduction with a Slight Snare|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Introduction with a Slight Snare
File:FiveBasicRules.jpg|The Five Basic Rules of Selling|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Five Basic Rules of Selling
File:MeetingFilm-Wheels.jpg|Wheels of Progress|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Wheels of Progress
File:Secretofsuccess.jpg|The Secret of Success|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Secret of Success
===Muppet Gimme a Break (1979)===
File:MeetingFilm-MealBeak.jpg|Meal Break|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Meal Break
File:Grumpcritic.jpg|Grump Critic|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Grump Critic
File:Letshavethedambreak.jpg|Let's Have the Dam Break|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Let's Have the Dam Break
===Muppet Side Splitter (1981)===
File:Idealsalesrep.jpg|The Ideal Sales Rep|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Ideal Sales Rep
File:MMF.Computer.jpg|Computer!|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Computer!
File:Takethisform.jpg|Take This Form and File It|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Take This Form and File It
===Muppet Breakthrough (1983)===
File:Whatsthismeetingabout.jpg|What's This Meeting All About?|link=Muppet Meeting Film: What's This Meeting All About?
File:Bigplan.jpg|The B.I.G. Plan|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The B.I.G. Plan
File:Whoneedsabreak.jpg|Who Needs a Break?|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Who Needs a Break?
File:Balloonexecs.jpg|The Sky's the Limit|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Sky's the Limit
===Muppet Perk-Up (1985)===
File:Halfminutemanager.jpg|The Half-Minute Manager|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Half-Minute Manager
File:Benefits2.jpg|Benefits|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Benefits
File:Nobodysperfect.jpg|Nobody's Perfect|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Nobody's Perfect
===Muppet Lift Off (1985)===
File:Supersalesperson.jpg|Super Salesperson|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Super Salesperson
File:Safetyzone.jpg|The Safety Zone|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Safety Zone
File:Rapup.jpg|The Rap-Up|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Rap-Up
===Muppet Coffee Break (1987)===
File:MMF.Explosion.jpg|Explosion|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Explosion
File:Leoandthemonster.jpg|Leo and the Monster|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Leo and the Monster
File:MMF.Coffeebreakmachine.1987.jpg|The Coffee Break Machine|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Coffee Break Machine
===Muppet Breakaway (1987)===
File:MeetingFilm-Savvy.jpg|Sales Savvy|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Sales Savvy
File:Artofnegotiation.jpg|The Art of Negotiation|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Art of Negotiation
File:Breakrules.jpg|Break'n the Rules|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Break'n the Rules
===Muppet Breaking Point (1992)===
File:MMF_THE_BIG_PICTURE.jpg|The Big Picture|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Big Picture
File:Executivesisland.jpg|Executives' Island|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Executives' Island
File:Themeetingthatwouldnotdie.jpg|The Meeting That Would Not Die|link=Muppet Meeting Film: The Meeting That Would Not Die
===Muppet Mayhem (1992)===
File:Greatmoments.jpg|Great Moments in Business History|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Great Moments in Business History
File:MFM.jpg|Blinded By Research|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Blinded By Research
File:Thinkbigger.jpg|Think Bigger|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Think Bigger
===Teaser (1993)===
File:Mmf-teaser.jpg|Luncheon Counter Monster muscles Gimley's Boss to finish his sales pitch
===Muppet Breakout (1993)===
File:Howtosell.jpg|How to Sell|link=Muppet Meeting Film: How to Sell
File:Greatsalespeople.jpg|Great Salespeople in History|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Great Salespeople in History
File:Howtoendameeting.jpg|How to End a Meeting|link=Muppet Meeting Film: How to End a Meeting
===Muppet Know How (1993)===
File:Nowhearthis.jpg|Now Hear This!|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Now Hear This!
File:MeetingFilm-Top10.jpg|Top Ten Reasons to Take a Break|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Top Ten Reasons to Take a Break
File:Winwinwin.jpg|Win! Win! Win!|link=Muppet Meeting Film: Win! Win! Win!
File:Teamworkinaction.jpg|Teamwork in Actionexcerpt from The Muppet Show episode 124
==External links==
*Enterprise Media's Muppet Meeting Films page - Links to available product and sample clips.
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Category:Muppet Shorts