Muppets gallery comes to Queens movie museum

The Muppets may have taken Manhattan, but they're getting a spiffy new home in Queens.

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Bert and Ernie of "Sesame Street" fame, the stars of "Fraggle Rock" and other puppets, costumes and items from throughout Muppets creator Jim Henson's career have been donated to the Museum of the Moving Image, which is building a new gallery to house them, the institution announced Tuesday, The Associated Press reports.

Encompassing almost 400 items ranging from original puppets to behind-the-scenes footage, the gift is a boon for the 25-year-old museum, which saw attendance skyrocket during a temporary exhibit in 2011 and 2012 of Henson's work. And it fulfills a cherished goal for Henson's widow and collaborator, Jane Henson, who died last month.

"She loved the Muppet characters as though they were part of her own family," and the actual puppets themselves were very special to her, said one of the couple's daughters, Cheryl Henson. "It was her dream to have these dear friends find a good home where they could be seen and enjoyed, and where new audiences could learn about the many facets of my father's work."

The exhibit is to open next year at the Astoria museum. The city is chipping in $2.75 million toward the $5 million cost for a project it sees as furthering its goal of persuading tourists to venture beyond Manhattan.

"The only major item that I know will not be represented is the Muppet that they made of me," Mayor Michael Bloomberg joked, as he bantered with Miss Piggy about the city's film and television industry and reminisced about their joint work in the 2008 TV special, "A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa," which featured Bloomberg as himself.

"You were wonderful -- almost lifelike," the porcine prima donna quipped.