While not direct canon, *[The Happytime Murders][1]* directed and produced by [Brian Henson][2] and The Jim Henson Company, has the "puppets" as a separate race that evolved alongside humanity, and are minorities. Of course, since Disney owns the trademark on "Muppets", they can't actually be Muppets, but they're pretty obviously meant to be Muppets, and were written by the Henson family.


  [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Happytime_Murders
  [2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Henson