The Muppets industry and popular culture in the United States, receiving recognition from various cultural institutions and organizations, including the American Film Institute, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, Library of Congress, and the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Muppets were created by puppeteer Jim Henson in the 1950s, beginning with Kermit the Frog, who would become Henson's most recognizable character. Originally conceived for an adult audience, Henson claimed, and later retracted, that he coined the term "Muppet" as a portmanteau of the words "marionette" and "puppet". In 1955, the Muppets were introduced in "Sam and Friends", a short-form television series
The Muppets' Wizard of Oz Dorothy, having been reunited with her aunt and uncle, and feeling that she is not ready to leave Kansas to become a real star, rejects, but Aunt Em says that she wants her to go with the Muppets on their Star Hunt, much to her even bigger surprise. She then sings "Good Life" on television with them at the Muppet Theater as the film ends. Whitmire and Goelz make on-screen cameos as audience members at Aunt Em's Diner during the finale. When The Walt Disney Company acquired the Muppets franchise from The Jim Henson Company in February 2004, the Muppets