Who's that Green Guy on the Screen? Quiz

Answer: Kermit the Frog

Kermit the Frog has had more TV an movie credits than most members of the Screen Actors Guild. Created by the late puppeteer and producer Jim Henson in 1955, Kermit originally appeared in commercials before making it big in the classic, long-running children's TV show "Sesame Street".

He's hosted or appeared in several TV shows, including the "The Muppet Show" (1976-1981), a British-produced variety show. His first feature film was "The Muppet Movie" (1980), during which he sang one of his signature songs "The Rainbow Connection", the other being "It's Not Easy Bein' Green", which has been covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra and other songsters.

When Jim Henson died in 1991, the voice was taken over by different puppeteers, including Steve Whitmire.

Answer: The Wicked Witch of the West

When MGM's "The Wizard of Oz" debuted in 1939, it was noted for its use of Technicolor, particularly the greens of Emerald City and the skin of the Wicked Witch of the West, played to the hilt by Margaret Hamilton. In the original book, "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (1900) by L. Frank Baum, there was also the Soldier with the Green Whiskers, a tall figure who escorted Dorothy and her three friends through the Emerald City. Gregory Maguire wrote a revisionist exploration of the characters of Oz in "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" (1996), centering on Elphaba, the misunderstood green-skinned girl who grows up to be the bitter sorceress.

The novel was adapted into the Broadway musical "Wicked" (2003), a show with productions which toured the world through the 2010s.

Answer: Yoda

Since his introduction to the Star Wars franchise in the 1980 feature "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back", this little old green, pointy-eared creature has become an international icon, spouting wisdom in inverted word order to the delight of fans. Puppeteer Frank Oz, the original voice of Cookie Monster, Oscar the Grouch, and many other Muppets, was the original voice of Yoda, who was originally intended to be one-off character appearing only in "The Empire Strikes Back".

In the video games, cartoons, and even radio plays since 1980, Yoda has been voiced by many other actors, however, and George Lucas did not originally even want Oz to voice him at first, but had planned to overdub the voice in the films. Lucas also had trouble deciding on a name for the diminutive Jedi Knight, whom he originally planned to call...Buffy!

Answer: Shrek

Mike Myers is the voice of the gigantic but lovable green ogre, beginning with his first movie, appropriately called "Shrek" (2001), in which he finds out that the princess he is protecting is herself an ogre. But before he was an animated movie star, he was a character created by American author William Steig in the book (also appropriately named) "Shrek!" (1990). Steig derived the name "Shrek" from the German 'Schreck', meaning 'fright' or 'terror'.

In 2010, Shrek received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Answer: The Hulk

The astonishingly powerful green creature, the result of gamma-ray experimentation, first appeared in Marvel's "The Incredible Hulk #1" (May 1962), as the mutation into which Dr. Bruce Banner transforms when he is enraged, in severe pain, or in great distress.

In "The Incredible Hulk" TV series (1978-81), the Creature, as he was often called, was played by the deaf body-building champion Lou Ferrigno. (His alter ego's first name was changed to David, played by Bill Bixby.) In the TV show, the Hulk lacked the ability to speak broken English which he had in the comics, a move which Marvel's head Stan Lee supported to prevent the monster from sounding too corny.

There were other animated series in the 1960s, '80s, and '90s, and several video game releases since 1994. Later film adaptations like made use of CGI, beginning with Ang Lee's "Hulk" (2003). "The Incredible Hulk" (2008) rebooted the character for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Mark Ruffalo played The Hulk, with the ability to speak, in the culmination of the Marvel cinematic franchise, "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

Answer: Gamora

Gamora Zen Whoberi Ben Titan first appeared in "Strange Tales #180" (June 1975), published by Marvel Comics. As created by writer-artist Jim Starlin, Gamora is the adopted daughter of Thanos, one of the most powerful villains in the Marvel universe, and a member of organization Infinity Watch.

She is also the last of her species. On television, Gamora first appeared in "Silver Surfer" (1998). In the movies, Zoe Saldana has portrayed Gamora in several films, including "Guardians of the Galaxy" (2014) and "Avengers: Endgame" (2019).

Answer: Slimer

In "Ghostbusters" (1983), scientist-entrepeneurs Peter Venkman, Raymond Stantz, and Egon Spengler go after Slimer, or "the spud" as Stantz calls him. The ghost slimes Venkman and terrorizes a ballroom, but eventually the the Ghostbusters trap the little rapscallion, and teach him never to slime a guy sporting a positron collider.

But the gooey green ghost reappears in "Ghostbusters II" (1989) and the remake "Ghostbusters" (2016), not to mention in a few animated TV series, including "Slimer!", and a couple of video games.

Answer: Star Trek

In an unaired pilot called 'The Cage', Christopher Pike (matinee heartthrob Jeffrey Hunter), the captain of the USS Enterprise before James T. Kirk inherited the job, finds himself a prisoner of beings who can create perfect illusions with their minds.

His fellow prisoner, Vina (Susan Oliver) at one point is turned into an "Orion slave girl", as the captors hope their specimens will breed. During the screen tests for the Orion character, which necessitated covering Majel Barret (who would later play Nurse Chapel) in green body makeup, the film lab kept returning the prints with the green tones apparently washed out. So the producers kept adding heavier and brighter makeup, to no avail. Finally, the lab contacted the producers and informed them they need to adjust their lighting as it takes them forever to correct the green tones in the negatives they send!

Answer: Green Arrow

Green Arrow first appeared in "More Fun Comics #73" (November 1941), published by DC Comics. Creator Mort Weisinger and designer George Papp intended him to be another Batman, a masked avenger with the secret identity Oliver Green, but in the comics he has evolved into what writer Ben Percy calls a "social justice warrior", without so much darkness.

His look has also varied, from a Robin Hood costume (à la Errol Flynn) to a sleek green or black hooded rigout. On television, Green Arrow has appeared on "Smallville" (2001-2011) and on his own series on The CW network, "Arrow", since 2012.

Answer: Maleficent

When animators conceived of Maleficent for Walt Disney's 1959 animated feature "Sleeping Beauty", they based it primarily on the evil fairy godmother in the story "Sleeping Beauty" by Charles Perrault and secondarily on the villain in "Little Briar Rose", a retelling by the Brothers Grimm. Rejecting standard depictions of witches and hags, however, they opted for green-skinned, vampiric, sinister glamour. Eleanor Audrey, who earlier voiced Lady Tremaine (the wicked stepmother) in "Cinderella" (1950), was the original voice of Maleficent.

In later live-action depictions, such as the US television series "Once Upon A Time" (2011) and the film "Maleficent" (2014), the evil sorceress has normal flesh-tones. She has become one of the most popular and recognized Disney villainesses.