It’s been a while since I last wrote an article about the feet of a blue Muppet character, so I thought it was about time. After all, it’s a perfectly normal thing to think about.
Recently on Movin’ Right Along: A Muppet Movie Podcastwe talked about the scene in Muppet – Treasure Island where Sam the Eagle, in the role of Mr. Arrow, sits in a lifeboat to make sure it is seaworthy. The shot of Sam’s entire body in the boat is notable for one reason: you can see his feet!
What do you think about those feet? Actually, because Sam is an eagle, I think they are technically Claws. So what do you think about these claws?
I know there’s a group of Muppet fans who never like to see Muppet feet, which I’ve always found odd. I realize we only see Muppets from the waist up most of the time, but, you know… of course they have feet! How else are they supposed to cross the stage in the Muppet Theater? How else are they supposed to DANCE?
But Sam’s feet are actually a rare sight. Everyone knows the scene from The Muppet Movie where Kermit rides a bike and his feet are visible, and if you have seen that movie, you have also seen Fozzie dancing on stage at El Sleezo where his feet are visible. And the feet of various other Muppets have been seen in various other well-known scenes in Muppet movies. But that Muppet – Treasure Island In this scene we get our first good look at Sam’s feet.
And of course, a question arose: Does it make sense for Sam’s feet to be yellow? Or should they be blue, like the rest of him? And in this article, I’ll talk more about that!
Let’s first look at a real bald eagle:
If you’re a good observer, you probably noticed that this eagle has yellow feet, so maybe that should answer the question. Real bald eagles have yellow feet, so Sam should have yellow feet.
However, if you continue to use your keen observation skills, you’ll probably notice that none of this eagle’s feathers are blue. In fact, he has brown feathers on his body and white feathers on his head. OH! THAT LOOKS LIKE HE’S BALD! HA!
Whatever the case, it’s pretty clear that Sam is no ordinary bald eagle. (Another reason we can be pretty sure of this is because Sam can talk, something ordinary bald eagles generally can’t.) Luckily, we have Muppet Wiki, its own treasure island full of artifacts from Muppets’ history. That’s where I found most of these images showing how Sam’s feet have been depicted over the years.
In 1977, Sam appeared in a comic in a The Muppet Show “annually” in the UK. In this strip, his feet are blue, just like the rest of him:
And sometime between 1977 and 1979, this PVC figure from Schleich also gave him blue feet:
But merchandise is merchandise and not necessarily “official”. Were there any appearances before 1996 that gave us clues about Sam’s feet? I just happened to watch the Julie Andrews episode of The Muppet Show recently, including one of the recurring sketches where Sam gives a speech. And hey! Check out the seal in the background!
It is a bit difficult to see details, but it is certain Look like the picture of Sam’s feet that are… orange? More or less? Isn’t that interesting!
On the Tough Pigs Discord, a very good question came up in response to the podcast: What about the scenes in The Muppet Movie when everyone is sitting in the cinema? Many Muppets have legs and feet in these scenes, including Bunsen, Floyd, Janice and even Nigel.
What do Sam’s feet look like in this scene? Well, if you watch the movie, it’s hard to tell. They’re never clearly in the frame. I got excited for a moment when I got to this shot and thought I could see yellow claws near the bottom of Sam’s seat:
But a second later I realized that it was just a yellow handkerchief in the shirt pocket of the pig sitting in front of him. Damn it, pig!
Tough Pig’s buddy Kyle managed to capture this screenshot of Sam in The Muppet Movie and lighten it up a bit, and his feet (Sam’s, not Kyle’s) look like a duller shade of blue, almost the same color as the movie theater seat:
Fascinating! Then Tough Pig’s buddy Tony got involved with this photo of Sam on the set of The Muppet Movie. It is black and white, so unfortunately you can’t tell what color the feet are in this picture:
Then I thought about the end of The Great Muppet Prankwhen all the Muppets are thrown out of a plane with parachutes. I watched that sequence, but no – although you can see a few Muppets with their legs dangling from their parachute harnesses, Sam only appears in the standard shot from the waist up:
Getting back to merchandise, here is a Sam plush toy that was sold at Disney World. Muppet*Vision 3D Gift shop. And his feet are yellow! If that had been in the Muppet shop when Muppet*Vision was new, it is probably from around 1991. This would be a pretty early example of Sam with yellow toes:
Other examples that I have come across date from the period after Muppet – Treasure Islandso it’s only logical that they would depict Sam’s legs in the same color they were when they made their big appearance on the big screen. Here’s a Sam plush toy sold at McDonald’s in Australia in 2003:
And here is perhaps the best piece of Sam the Eagle merchandise produced to date, the Palisades action figure from 2004:
If there was ever any uncertainty in the past, it now seems certain: Sam the Eagle’s feet are and will remain yellow from now on.
And most Muppet fans are pretty happy with that, if the Tough Pigs Discord is a representative sample. After the podcast episode mentioned above, I ran a poll called “What color do you think Sam the Eagle’s feet should be?” 55% of respondents chose yellow. (25% said blue and 20% chose “I have no preference.”)
If you have any more information on how Sam’s feet have been depicted over the years, please let me know! And if you missed the poll, I still want to hear from you! What color do YOU think Sam’s feet should be? Click here to join the discussion on Discord, especially if your name is Eric Jacobson or Frank Oz.
Thanks as always to Muppet Wiki for the pictures and information! Click here to cheer on Sam in the Talon Show on the Tough Pigs Discord!
by Ryan Roe – [email protected]
