Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2002 21:39:49 -0400
Subject: PUPT: STARZ! Presents the World  Premiere of Kermit's Swamp Years


STARZ! Presents a Special Preview of Its STARZ! Family Channel With the
World 
Premiere of Kermit's Swamp Years(TM)


"Everything that you'll see, actually happened to me. It's what my early
years  
 
were like, warts and all." - Kermit the Frog(TM)
 
Two-Time Emmy(R) Nominee Steve Whitmire Brings a Young Kermit the Frog to
Life 
 
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 28 /PRNewswire/ -- A special preview of the STARZ!
Family channel featuring the world premiere of the live-action
comedy-adventure Kermit's Swamp Years(TM) will pre-empt regular programming
on the flagship STARZ! channel on August 18, 2002 at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT.  The
film tells the never-before-told true story of how the world's most famous
frog left the swamp for the very first time and began an adventure that
would 
change his life and ours, forever.
 
"Kermit the Frog(TM) is universally known and loved," said Robert Leighton,
president of Starz Encore Entertainment.  "So we're especially proud to
offer 
outstanding original fare like Kermit's Swamp Years to let viewers who are
perhaps unfamiliar with our channel see the great family entertainment
available on STARZ! Family."
 
Launched in May of 1999, STARZ! Family is the only movie channel showing 100
percent family movies, including never-before-seen STARZ! Family Premieres
like Kermit's Swamp Years.  Previous STARZ! Family Premieres have included
Possums, a football comedy starring Mac Davis and former Dallas Cowboys'
football coach Barry Switzer; Pirates of the Plain, a fantasy adventure
starring Tim Curry; and the heartwarming Stanley's Gig starring William
Sanderson and Faye Dunaway.  STARZ! Family is available on Echostar, and
selected cable systems such as AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter,
Adelphia, and Cablevision.
 
An international star for more than 45 years, Kermit the Frog is a friend
and 
a role model to millions.  He began his climb to the top of the amphibian
elite from humble beginnings.  Born one of several thousand in a southern
swamp, Kermit's life began swimmingly.  His early years were typical and
uneventful.  The most notable event in his adolescence was his
transformation 
from tadpole to frog.  Kermit's first television appearance was on a local
television station in Washington, D.C., where he starred on "Sam and
Friends," earning him his first Emmy(R) Award.  In 1956, he made his network
television debut on Steve Allen's "Tonight Show."  This led to many more
television appearances, a role on the groundbreaking show Sesame Street and
then a job as host of his own series, The Muppet Show, which debuted in 1976
and launched Kermit and his friends to international stardom.  Since then he
has made numerous television appearances, feature films, records and even
met 
the Queen of England at her recent Golden Jubilee celebration.  Yet little
is 
known about Kermit the Frog's childhood.  How did the tadpole become the
frog 
and celebrity he is today?
 
Kermit's Swamp Years explores Kermit's coming-of-age days when he was a
12-year-old frog with best friends Goggles(TM) and Croaker(TM). It was a
time 
when three young frogs dreamed of doing something extraordinary with their
lives.  The film follows Kermit and his buddies through a glorious adventure
into the world outside the swamp -- an experience that changed his life
forever.
 
"We are thrilled to bring the adventures of Kermit's youth to a new younger
Muppet audience by telling the story of Kerrmit's Swamp Years," said Michael
R. Polis, executive producer and senior vice president of marketing
worldwide 
for The Jim Henson Company.  "This is a warm and enthralling production that
will bring smiles to both current and new Muppet fans."
 
Kermit's Swamp Years features an acclaimed lineup of Muppet Performers:
two-time Emmy(R) nominee Steve Whitmire brings Kermit the Frog to life and
also performs Jack Rabbit(TM) and Chico(TM); Bill Barretta performs Croaker,
Horace D'Fly(TM) and Roy(TM); John Kennedy performs Blotch(TM) and
Arnie(TM); 
Daytime Emmy winner Joseph Mazzarino plays Goggles, and shares the
screenplay 
credit with Jim Lewis and even Emmy winners Dave Goelz and Jerry Nelson
provide a cameo appearance of a younger -- and yet ever irreverent --
Statler(TM) & Waldorf(TM).  Jim Lewis also wrote the story and is credited
with Michael R. Polis as executive producers.  The film is directed by
Emmy(R) winner David Gumpel, with Ritamarie Peruggi acting as producer.
Kermit's Swamp Years was shot on location in at Disney-MGM Studios in
Orlando, Florida during the fall of 2001.
 
The Jim Henson Company, an established leader in family entertainment for
more than 40 years, is a multimedia production company; one of the top
character licensors in the industry; a leading publisher of children's
books; 
and home to Jim Henson's Creature Shop(TM).  The Company is headquartered in
Los Angeles with offices and production facilities in New York and London.
The Jim Henson Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of EM.TV & Merchandising
AG based in Munich, Germany.  The Jim Henson web site is located at:
www.henson.com .
 
(C) 2002 The Jim Henson Company.  JIM HENSON'S mark & logo, KERMIT'S SWAMP
YEARS mark & logo, KERMIT, KERMIT THE FROG, MUPPET, MUPPETS, characters,
names and elements are trademarks of The Jim Henson Company.  All Rights
Reserved.



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