Million Muppet March Gears Up To Save PBS and "Sesame Street"

"Sesame Street" fans are still riled up following Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's promise to cut federal funding to PBS. Now, they are taking their frustrations and gearing up for a "Million Muppet March," E! News reported.

During last week's debate in Denver, Romney told moderator Jim Lehrer, "I'm sorry Jim. I'm gonna stop the subsidy to PBS. I like PBS, I love Big Bird, I actually like you too, but I am not going to keep spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for."

But cutting the publicly funded network would hardly make a difference in the attempt to fix the economy. According to Mother Jones, the Center for Public Broadcasting, which funds PBS, only makes up .00014 percent of the federal budget.

"Sesame Street" fans, however, are not leaving anything to chance. According to E! News, the "Million Muppet March" is scheduled to happen at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on November 3. The march hopes to save Bird Bird and the rest of the Sesame Street Muppets from getting the federal funding cut. 

March organizers Michael Bellavia, 43, a Los Angeles animation executive, and Chris Mecham, 46, a university student in Idaho, began planning the march within half an hour of the debate ending, Reuters reported.

The two, which came up with the idea separately, told Reuters they were both fans of the show and know the importance of public broadcasting.

"I figured, why just make it a virtual show of support? Why not take this opportunity because it seemed like there was already a growing interest in it and actually make it an active, participatory event," Bellavia said. "I literally just said, 'It's happening.'"

Mecham, who created a Million Muppet March Facebook page before the debate ended, added, ""Romney was using Muppets as a rhetorical device to talk about getting rid of public broadcasting, which is really so much bigger than Sesame Street."

While the duo may not reach their million Muppet goal, Bellavia hopes the event will be a "lovefest" with skits and musical performances.