Yoda is technically not a Muppet. He is a puppet, and is operated and voiced by Frank Oz, who is a Muppeteer, but the puppet and the character were not created by the Henson company, so he’s not a Muppet.
I’m impressed by the other references, though – Hoggle from Labyrinth and Wembley from Fraggle Rock are especially good picks!
And The Daily Show interview with Piggy is great – though I haven’t looked at it online. If you listen closely, you should be able to tell that Frank Oz, Piggy’s puppeteer, is struggling not to laugh at Jon.
Rowlf. If anyone has the chance, pick up his solo album (pre-Henson’s death) “Ol’ Brown Ears Is Back.” Nothing like hearing him croon “New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel. I also adore Beaker.
Being a Disney freak as well, I’d recommend going to see Muppets 3-D at WDW or DLP. Sam the Eagle, Beaker & Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, the Swedish Chef, Statler & Waldorf, Fozzie Bear, the penguin orchestra, even a live Sweetums make the rounds. Very, very amusing.
Amazing about these Muppets and their creators is that they are at once funnier than almost all comedy and marionette troupes, and yet have the talent to break out some of the most somber pieces this side of Shakespeare (witness the Mr. Hooper and the Jim Henson tribute shows). The only person who have come close to being as creative and successful in multiple audio-visual media forms as Jim Henson is Steven Spielberg.
My favorites are the “ousted” Bert and Ernie. They seemed more human, more realistic, than most humans I know.
I also adore Beaker.
And Cookie Monster, of course…