News Update: July 14, 2011

NEWS UPDATE: July 14, 2011

Earlier this week, we linked to two preview songs from the upcoming Muppets: The Green Album which features Muppet songs covered by some of music's most popular and talented artists. The songs we linked to were "The Muppet Show Theme" by OK Go and "Halfway Down the Stairs" by Amy Lee... both of which have been removed unceremoniously for copyright reasons. Well, fear not, Muppet fans, because Spin.com has an exclusive listen to "Our World" (from Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas) as performed by My  Morning Jacket. I love it--a lot. Give it a listen and judge for yourself!

Speaking of The Green Album, Disney has launched a new website called MuppetsMusic.com (http://www.muppetsmusic.com/) to promote the release of both The Green Album and the soundtrack for The Muppets (which the website reveals is to hit stores on November 22--the day before the film is released in US theaters). On this new site you can purchase one of two exclusive combo packs which include The Green Album, an exclusive poster, and a t-shirt featuring the winning design from the Threadless contest. The combo pack that includes the physical CD of The Green Album costs $40, while the one that includes a digital download of the album is $35.

It's impossible to argue that SesameStreet.org isn't the best of the best when it comes to official websites for Muppet characters. Disney's Muppets.com, for instance, pales in comparison when you see the countless video clips and interactivity options presented to you on Sesame Workshop's crowning achievement. Well, this wonderful site has gotten even better thanks to an updated page on the Sesame Street Muppets. This page features links to numerous "profile pages" for numerous Sesame favorites. This includes classic, hugely popular characters like Big Bird, Elmo, and Cookie Monster but shockingly and wonderfully includes pages for practically unknown or retired such as Little Chrissie, Ovejita, Little Murray Sparkles, Clementine, Fluffy, and Big Jeffy. It's crazy, it's awesome--therefore, crazy awesome--check it out!

The iTunes Store has been erupting with great new--and old--Sesame Street content over the past week. There's a new iPod Touch and iPhone app called, simply "iYip" starring the Yip-Yip Martians as performed by Matt Vogel and David Rudman. The app lets you hear the Martians spout words and phrases such as "You Betcha," "Booya," and, my favorite, "Awesome." You can also set yourself an alarm clock and be woken up by the Martians random words. It's awesome and well worth the $1.99 price tag just for the fun of it.


But the most exciting iTunes release for Sesame Street this week was the incredible Sesame Street Classics, Vol. 1 which, for $17.99 gives you twelve full, hour-long episodes of Sesame Street from Seasons 1 to 20 and, when purchasing the full season, a "Behind the Street" segment and, free to everyone, a Sesame Flashback retrospective. The fact that it is listed as Vol. 1 makes it seem that we'll see even more classic Sesame Street coming to iTunes very soon... so buy it if you can to encourage the release of even more--and because it's absolutely awesome. Trust me.









The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, ryguy102390@gmail.comSource URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/iPhone%20Applications
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Sesame Street Saturdays: New Facebook Pages and New iPhone Applications

It's a small Sesame Street News Update today! Yesterday was a fun day for Sesame Street, as they unveiled five new character profile pages on Facebook and released two new iPhone applications on iTunes.

There are five new Facebook pages for Murray, Telly, Zoe, Prairie Dawn, and The Amazing Mumford. Truly we are witnessing Mumford's most amazing magic trick--getting himself a Facebook fan page! Seeing such a relatively unknown fan-favorite character receive the Facebook treatment gives hope to seeing other not-as-popular characters as well. Here's hoping for Gladys the Cow!

The new iPhone applications released by Sesame Street yesterday were "Bert's Bag" and "Count TV." The two apps, just like the Sesame Street apps before them, were developed with IDEO Toy Lab and each are available for $2.99 on iTunes. I've played a little bit with both of them and they're both a lot of fun. It's always great to see Bert in any capacity and counting with his bag is great. In his app, the Count introduces classic Sesame Street clips to count along with. Look for a review of both of these apps sometime next week!













The Muppet Mindset by Ryan DosierSource URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/iPhone%20Applications
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Muppets on Your iPhone: Elmo's Monster Maker

MUPPET ALERT
The Muppets appeared on The Nerdist Podcast yesterday to be interviewed by very big nerd Chris Hardwick. Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Animal, Pepe, Swedish Chef, Bunsen, and Beaker all appeared for the occasion. They discuss "Bohemian Rhapsody," The Webby Awards, what they do in their spare time, and so much more. This is a can't miss Muppet appearance, so click the link and give it a listen for free!





Elmo's Monster Maker
$3.99 on iTunes






Ryan Dosier - Today I sat down and played with Elmo, and I'm not ashamed to say it! (Okay, so I wouldn't do it in public, but I'm not ashamed to say I did it in private!) Yes, today I played Elmo's Monster Maker, an iPhone Application that allows you or your preschooler to design a monster Muppet who then dances and plays with Elmo.

The premise is very simple and the game is very easy to control. You simply touch the monster's face to add or change the eyes, nose, or headgear for your monster. The game doesn't need to be complicated or strategic, it's just a lot of innocent fun. Isn't that what Elmo is all about?

The monsters featured in the game vary in size, shape, and color. After you've selected a monster body, you have to pick a pair of eyes, a nose, and a hat for your monster by touching its face and the top of its head. The options for eyes, noses, and hats change depending on the monster body as well, so there are literally hundreds of combinations that can be made.

After you make your monster there are three different options: dance, play with Elmo, and take a picture. And they are all pretty straight-forward options, so I won't go into too much description of them. It's fun to see your creation play with Elmo for a little bit and dancing Muppets are always fun. When Elmo takes a picture of your monster, the picture is saved to your iPhone or iPod Touch's Photos section where you can view it at any time.

This app really is a lot of fun. Even yours truly, a 19 year old Muppet fan, had fun playing with Elmo and making monsters. However the initial appeal did dissipate fairly quickly for me. There are so many times you can watch a monster dance with Elmo in a day.

However, I'm sure this app is a huge hit with preschoolers and parents of preschoolers. They must get a kick out of seeing something they actually made play with their friend Elmo. I'm sure their parents also get a kick out of checking their Photos on their iPhone and finding 350 new monsters.

So, in conclusion, I can't recommend this app enough to parents of preschoolers who love Elmo (and what preschooler doesn't?). But if you're an older fan, you might want to save your $3.99 for "Grover's Number Special," which is a lot more fun for older fans (and which will be reviewed sometime next week).

And, with that... it's time to BOOGIE!
















The Muppet Mindset by Ryan DosierSource URL: https://jimhensons.blogspot.com/search/label/iPhone%20Applications
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