Discussion Main / MuppetCameo

How strict is the definition of "Muppet" here? I know all the examples thus far have been of Henson/Disney/Sesame characters who are or were Official Muppets, but I've just remembered about the French and Saunders spoof of Titanic (1997) parodying how Extremely Irish the third-class passengers were by having them played by the leprechaun puppets from the Saturday Morning Kids’ Show Live and Kicking, and I feel like that's at least borderline.

I tried to fix this (by "original Muppets", the troper seems to mean the Muppet Show cast ... which came after Sesame Street, although Kermit himself predates both shows) but the more I did, the less it looked like an example.

• While the characters of Sesame Street are a special set of Muppets on their own, it should be noted that Kermit of the original Muppets tends to show up. (Oddly, this doesn't apply to most of the other original Muppets.)

Pulled this:

• The Muppets Bohemian Rhapsody
  • "Wipeout" and "Kokomo", both from the 1993 album Muppet Beach Party, received music videos (though the former was a UK exclusive and the latter's video was made mainly for a sing-along songs VHS).
  • Ladies and gentlemen, we give you Habanera, Muppet Show style. we dare you to try and get it out of your head.
  • Not an official Muppet video, but still a popular video: here.
  • And then we have Beaker's "Dust in the Wind" cover - unfortunately, the You Tube commentors don't agree on it being good... until Beaker catches fire.
  • Similarly, there's Beaker's "Ode to Joy" cover... where one of the 6 on-screen catches fire from playing the violin too quickly, among other hazards.

These aren't really cameos.

Just wondering: If there's a character in the story who isn't actually a muppet, but is repeatedly referred to as one by the rest of the cast (and apparently looks like one), would it still be this trope?