Clifford (Muppet)

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Clifford
The Muppets character

Clifford, as he appears on Muppets Tonight
First appearance

The Jim Henson Hour
Created by

Jim Henson
Portrayed by

Kevin Clash (1989-2012)
Information
Species Muppet Human
Gender Male
Occupation Entertainer, musician, talk show host

Clifford is a Muppet character, performed until November 2012 by Kevin Clash. He is violet-colored with multi-colored dreadlocks[1] and big lips.

Character Biography

He was created to be the bass guitar player for the Solid Foam band on The Jim Henson Hour. In that series, Clifford usually wore Hawaiian shirts and always wore sunglasses. When The Jim Henson Hour was canceled, Clifford was one of its few characters to reappear. In 1990, he appeared as a member of the Electric Mayhem band in The Muppets at Walt Disney World television special. In that special, Clifford did not play bass guitar; he did, however, play glockenspiel, tambourine and cowbells. Clifford also made appearances on The Arsenio Hall Show and VH1.

In 1996, Clifford became the host of Muppets Tonight, but with a redesigned look.[1] This new Clifford had eyes and wore a sweater and neck tie instead of a Hawaiian shirt. The puppet's head was also built slightly differently. When Muppets Tonight ended in 1998 Clifford contained to appear in Muppet productions though to date he has only appeared in Muppets from Space (1999) and The Muppets' Wizard of Oz (2005) after Muppets Tonight. Both film roles had little to do with the actual story and can be listed as cameos though he did have lines of dialogue in both feature films. He had a small part in Muppets from Space, wearing sunglasses again but now wearing a brown leather jacket and striped shirt. While he was treated as a part of the Muppet family in the movie, his screen time was minimal and he was not part of the movie's main plot, a quest to rescue Gonzo. At MuppetFest, a Muppet fan convention held in 2001, Kevin Clash revealed that he disliked the eyes of the Muppets Tonight redesign and was happy to see the revert to sunglasses. Clifford made a brief cameo in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz as the manager of the nightclub Poppyfields.

Clifford did not make an appearance in the 2011 film The Muppets because the film geared towards more of the classic Muppets and he won't appear in Muppets Most Wanted. Since Kevin Clash retired from the company in 2012. It is unknown if we'll ever see him in any other Muppet productions.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Mifflin, Lawrie (1996-03-10). "Following in the Frog's Footsteps". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-19. 
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