The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson is a one-hour special that aired on CBS on November 21, 1990. The program was a tribute to Muppet creator Jim Henson, who had died earlier in 1990 due to toxic shock syndrome caused by a streptococcus infection, and featured characters from "The Muppet Show", "Fraggle Rock", and "Sesame Street". It marked Steve Whitmire's first onscreen performance as Kermit the Frog. This was also one of Richard Hunt's final puppetry works before his death in 1992. Kermit the Frog is away traveling, leaving Fozzie Bear and the other Muppets in
The Muppets other series such as "30 Rock". Following Disney's acquisition of the Muppets, puppets created by The Jim Henson Company are no longer referred to as Muppets. Puppets created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, such as those in "Labyrinth" and "The Dark Crystal", have never been considered Muppets, as they are generally more complex in design and performance than regular Muppets. The "Star Wars" character Yoda was originally performed by Frank Oz, one of Henson's regular performers, and is often described as a Muppet in media and reference works; he is not, however, and Henson was not involved in the character's