Today's Video Link

Hey, it's the opening number from The Great Muppet Caper but guess what! It's in German! Andrew Leal sends me the following info on the folks who dubbed the track…

Andreas von der Meden (Kermit) has voiced the frog on Sesamstrasse (the German Sesame Street) since 1973, although unlike the other voices here, he was not in the Muppet Show dub. Bruno W. Pantel (Fozzie) appeared in Fritz Lang's 1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse and in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, he was the German voice of Peter Falk and Jack Benny. Gonzo is voiced by Werner Abrolat, who appeared in many international co-productions, usually as villains, working with Christopher Lee in The Castle of Dr. Fu Manchu and he was in Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More (as gang member Slim).

All good to know. Around the world, there are actors who specialize in dubbing specific American actors. Years ago, I met a gentleman who spoke for Jack Lemmon in most Spanish-language releases of Mr. Lemmon's movies. He was hired by different distributors in Spain and (I think) Mexico to do this and it intrigued me that those distributors would seek him out and pay whatever his price was, rather than just use anyone. They perceived some value in giving audiences a consistent voice coming out Lemmon's mouth even though it was obvious to all that it wasn't really Jack Lemmon's voice. So here's what Kermit and his friends sound like in Germany…