Is Big Bird under attack? (Creative Commons/Flickr)

The event, first imagined by Michael Bellavia, an L.A. animation executive and Chris Mecham, an Idaho University student, was created in response to the comments made by Governor Mitt Romney in the first presidential debate about defunding Big Bird and public broadcasting, the New Yorker reported.

Republican Newt Gingrich was not impressed by the march.

"Anytime you mention PBS, they trot out Big Bird, which is an absurdity," Gingrich said on Fox News. "The actor who plays Big Bird makes $317,000 a year for being inside a bird suit. The Sesame Street Company makes $800 million a year gross revenue of which 6 percent comes from the government…The idea that you have to take a government and borrow money from the Chinese to give to Big Bird is an absurdity.”

Bellavia told Politico that the march was not intended to be political.

“We wanted to show that this is something that has a broad base of support,” Bellavia said.

“This has been a difficult political season and I, for one, am just ready for a break and I want to have some fun for a minute,” Mecham echoed.

The march also invites others to participate online by changing their Facebook picture to one featuring a puppet or a favorite personality from Public TV or radio.

Read more about the Million Puppet march on its official website here.

Read more Neon Tommy coverage of public broadcasting here.

Reach Executive Producer Jackie Mansky here.