Muppets Most Wanted Spawned the Evil Kermit Meme 11 Years Ago. Here’s Why Jim Henson Wouldn’t Be Pleased

Henson died in May 1990, but he made certain positions about his beloved Muppets very clear

It’s been 11 years since we met “Evil Kermit.”

Muppets Most Wanted, the movie that contained the scene from which the viral meme derived, premiered in March 2014. Ty Burrell, Tina Fey and Ricky Gervais costarred with the beloved cast of characters, who have entertained audiences for nearly five decades.

In the film, the Muppets are tricked into taking their show on the road by a European Kermit lookalike named Constantine. Constantine has Kermit take the fall for his crimes and tries to assume his identity until the gang catches on to him and has to save the real Kermit from Siberian prison.

A confrontation between Kermit and his doppelgänger in the film led to countless memes about giving in to your darker impulses.

Interestingly enough, Muppets creator Jim Henson didn’t like the idea that Muppets could be evil. Even in movies in which there was a “bad guy,” it was important to Henson that they be redeemed.

“Even the most worldly of our characters is innocent,” Henson, who died of toxic shock syndrome at 53 years old in May 1990, said of his characters in a 1979 interview with The New York Times.

“Our villains are innocent, really. And it’s that innocence that I think is the connection to the audience.”

It was important to Henson that the Muppets appealed to the childlike wonder that lies in every one of us.

“Inside, we’re all children,” he said. “Everybody identifies with that feeling of looking around at this big world and not knowing who you are and what you’re supposed to be doing here.”

“When the Muppets are on the screen, I want the audience to believe in the moment. The audience can see that most of the characters end at the waist most of the time, and they can know who talks for them — none of that seems to kill the moment. But when they’re watching us perform, believing the moment is everything.”