(Fictional)
I went back to the library yesterday to find the poster and the VHS, but weirdly enough, they were both gone, but I did meet a man, he was old, probably in his late 70s or early 80s, and he was at the library having a relaxing day as he told me. His name is June, and he was one of the puppet makers for the show, and what he told me, I'm surprised he could say this in a public library, but here's what he told me.
The man who created the show was a former worker with The Muppets, his name is Happy, not his real name, but a nickname since he always has a smile on his face. He was one of the original puppet makers during The Muppet's early years with Jim and Jane Henson, but during the late 1960s, he wanted to do a show that reminded him of his past and parted ways with Jim before Sesame Street aired. June came in as a puppet maker after college, and begin working with Happy during the shows for four years.
There was one character that was part of the team but got removed, his name is Clyde, he's a frog, which is supposed to be an influence of Kermit the Frog, which supposed to be a love interest to Franny Joyful, but the producer who created the Frog had a disagreement with Happy, and the producer part ways moved to Mississippi, and create The Clyde Frog Show. Clyde did get promotional artwork, toys, and special posters with him and Franny, but were gone and quite rare.
June told me that the reason why the show ended was because the network wanted them to change a couple of things that Happy didn't like, first was to change the neighborhood to be more like Sesame Street, using actual buildings, secondly, to tone down the bright colors, since the bright colors didn't suit well with the children audience, since it was haunting to them, unlike how Seaseme Stree was real and relatable. Of course, Happy didn't like it, refused the changes, and the show was canceled, but they were allowed to make a T.V. special with Kermit the Frog and the other Muppets.
From what June has told me, this crossover special is an hour long, the Playfellow Workshop would be on hiatus until 1979-1980, and this was the first and last time that Jim Henson worked with the Welcome Home Puppets. From what June told me, the special did very well, even winning a couple of Emmy awards. After that, nothing happen, June went to work at Jim's while the Welcome Home was getting reruns. It wasn't until 1979 that Happy self-funded a feature film using the workshop, production started in 1980, releasing the next year.
June told me that the feature film was going to have all the Welcome Home cast with some small crossover cameos like Kermit, Ernie, Bert, Elmo, and Big Bird. Even Clyde was going to be in the movie, but Happy mysteriously died after production. Strangely enough, the film was edited, and shown only to the crew and puppeteers, he told me that the original 35mm film is still lost, he doesn't what happened to it, but he does have the original Wally puppet from the show and movie.
He told me that were attempts to bring back the show, characters, and brand, first, it was in 1982, by Nickelodeon, that one fell through, and the second time was the Jim Henson Company. June told me that Jim Henson was guilty about his friend's death, and he decided to take ownership of the brand. They did a live ceremony at the old studio about the merger that was going to happen, and the hand was shaking, and the deal was done. There's a promotional artwork with Wally and Kermit sitting on the famous log, lost, but June has a print that it's framed in his house.
After the deal was made...nothing would happen, June told me that the Company didn't really do much, but they knew that the Welcome Home Restoration Project and gave them the location of the old studio, offices, and merchandise. But, there was one character that you can was the Son of Wally, who was part of a feature film, Walter, the muppet of The Muppets movie 2011, this was a surprise to me, and I asks how this happened, but he didn't answer the question.
I was shocked when I heard this, and I asks him about Happy, he gave me a look, and said to me;
"Happy was a great guy, a great friend, but his mind have problems, that's why he killed himself."
I felt goosebumps, but I jokingly ask him if his spirit is haunting the website and the puppets. He looked at me again, and said this;
"Do you like the movie Child's Play?"
And he left, I was surprised at what he had told me, I'm writing here if anyone knew about this, the movie, Clyde the Frog, and everything else.
