Coloring Book Review: The Muppets (Art of Coloring)

It’s time to grab your crayons, it’s time to take a look, it’s time to meet the Muppets in the Muppets coloring book! That’s right, grown ups, the Muppets are now an adult coloring book (YAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!). Alright, you can stop flailing your arms around, I get it. You’re just as excited as I am for Art of Coloring: The Muppets.

The weirdness of Gonzo the Great, the corny stunts of Fozzie Bear, the glamour of Miss Piggie, the rock n’ roll life of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem, the mishaps of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker, the critical eye of Statler and Waldorf, the tasteful cuisine of Swedish Chef, and the everyman spirit of Kermit the Frog are all captured here in black & white outlines for your creative expression to run wild. If you’ve been looking for an excuse to use up some of those bright colored pencils, then look no further!

With “100 images to inspire creativity,” the most Muppety coloring book that ever booked is an even mix of character images and collages, which are mostly made up of things you find laying around any old house, like rubber chickens, mustachioed spy glasses, vinyl records, film canisters, flowers, megaphones, banana peels, and clipboards. Did I say house? I meant to say things you would find backstage at a taping of The Muppet Show.

My favorite Muppets are Beaker and Swedish Chef, both of whom get quite a bit of coverage here in hilarious ways. But the most fun to color pages are the collages featuring lots of Muppets, and all of the Miss Piggy pages. Like a true diva, she never repeats an outfit and her wardrobe varies from grass skirts to evening gowns to a karate uniform and even Lady Liberty (an apparent Muppet 3D nod). I even discovered quite a few rarer characters, like Captain Link Hogtrob lurking in the backseat of a station wagon full of Muppets and Beans sitting in Fozzie’s magician hat (“Maybe BEANS can set off the fireworks!”).

Art of Coloring: The Muppets has everything but the kitchen sink… No wait, I’m wrong, there’s a kitchen sink here, too! It is missing a few of the more recent characters, such as Pepe the King Prawn Jumbo Shrimp, BoBo the Bear, and Walter the Whistler, but if you’re a classic Muppets fans, or a Muppet Show purist, than Beans is as close as you’ll come to the post-Jim Henson era. I was also surprised to find a Christmas page, which made me want to bring out my favorite Muppet film, A Muppet Christmas Carol. Who cares if it’s only May?

So Muppet fans, jump in your Studebaker, grab your friends, take a left at the literal fork in the road, and go grab your copy of Art of Coloring: The Muppets. It’s full of fun, wacky, retro humor that will take you back to the good ol’ days when Jim Henson’s gang got together for a weekly variety act for all ages. To quote the great Beaker, “Meep meep meep meep meep, meep meep meep meep meep!” (“That’s not funny, that’s gross!” – Michelle Pheiffer on Muppets Tonight).

Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).