Fox Folk Friends

Today, we celebrate Muppet creator Jim Henson’s 90th birthday!

Jim Henson inspired the whimsy and heart central to all things muppet, reinventing the way we view monsters, puppetry, and a character's power to educate. Thank you Jim! ❤️

Puppeteers in action behind the scenes

X the Owl’s home is a knot hole in the Tree that’s in the center of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. He’s a fine feathered friend – eager to learn, curious, and open to discoveries. He receives lessons from the Owl Correspondence School (OCS) on a wide range of subjects and excitedly awaits their arrival. To show his delight on any occasion, he enthusiastically calls out “nifty-galifty!”

Like his hero, Benjamin Franklin, X is an avid reader, loves poetry and rhymes. And like Ben Franklin, he even has a printing press in his knot hole where he now and then prints announcements for Neighborhood of Make-Believe events.

X’s best friend and neighbor is Henrietta Pussycat. They share lots of interests and conversations. But like all friends, there are times when conflicts arise. X can be bossy and Henrietta can be stubborn. But they find ways to talk about their feelings, and are able to repair their friendship and move on.

Lamb Chop first came to life in 1957 — a simple sock puppet, no fanfare, nothing fancy. Over 40 years later, Shari Lewis was still performing with her, right up until she passed away in 1998.

What made it work wasn't the puppet. It was Shari. No mugging for the camera, no forced energy — just warm, easy chemistry that somehow made a piece of felt feel completely real. Compare early clips to later ones and the bond looks identical, decades apart.

Fans still say it best. One wrote simply: "loved them both, a class act." That's really the whole story.

Big Bird comes to visit his friend X the Owl:
misterrogers.org/videos/big-bird-comes-to-visit-x

In case you didn’t know…

X the Owl was one of the original puppets from The Children’s Corner, and was named X because he “X-scaped” from a cage. Here’s what he had to say about that: “…my friend and true tame tiger pal, Daniel S. Tiger, let me out of my cage at the county fair…Daniel said to me ‘X SCAPE’ and I said, ‘Well, how about that.’ I flew out and I’ve been his pet ever since and now I live in a tree right next to Daniel’s Clock.”

Daniel shares a special relationship with Lady Aberlin, and they often greet each other by rubbing noses and saying “ugga mugga.” He is also a kind friend to his schoolmates, Ana Platypus and Prince Tuesday. They learn with each other and from each other.