



In the evening of November 27,1969, people watching on TV the 14 episode of Sesame Street Fever, the series with the characters created by Jim Henson, see a strange performance. A funny character, called Mahna Mahna, performs Mah Na Mah Na (here the English spelling of the title is without hyphens and accents). It is a huge success, so the performance is immediately repeated. In fact, three days later, the same character appears on the Ed Sullivan Show and again in 1971.

In 1973, the performing character is renamed Bip Bippadotta and it now has longer hair  or whatever it is- and a wilder expression.

In 1976, in the first episode of The Muppets Show the tune is performed by the same character with two friends called the Snowths. The Muppets/Mah-Nà Mah-Nà combination is now indissoluble. At this point, Umilianis theme reaches the peak of its success and it is commonly referred to as The Muppets Song. Many believe that the song has been composed especially for the show and do not know its real story. In the UK, the series is a hit. In 1977, the single peaks at no. 8 in the UK charts and the Muppet Show soundtrack album featuring the Muppets version goes to no.1, ousting the Beatles Live at Hollywood Bowl from first place.



In 1986 and 1989, Jim Hensons characters perform the song in the Sesame Street series. Then, the Muppets Song video goes on the web, where it is seen and downloaded by millions of surfers.

