Muppet Babies

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Template:Infobox television Jim Henson's Muppet Babies is an American animated television series that aired from 1984 to 1991 on CBS. Loosely based on a sequence in the Muppet movie The Muppets Take Manhattan, in which the Muppets imagined what it would be like if they grew up together, the show portrayed childhood versions of Muppets living together in a large nursery in the care of a human woman called Nanny. Nanny appears in every episode, but viewers never see her face, only the babies' view of her striped socks or stockings.

Muppet Babies was produced by The Jim Henson Company and Marvel Productions.

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Overview

The Babies had active imaginations, and often embarked on adventures into imaginary worlds and perilous situations from which they were eventually saved when some external event—often Nanny coming to see what the noise was—brought them back to reality, revealing that, for instance, the giant squid that had them in its tentacles was really just the tail end of a curtain.

As an animated television series, Muppet Babies was unusual in that it frequently incorporated footage from old films, and occasionally spoofed popular fictional characters and Hollywood films, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman, and Beetlejuice.

A running gag in the show involved one of the Babies, usually Gonzo, opening the closet door in search of something only to meet film footage depicting something scary and unexpected behind the door. Another running gag involves aspiring comedian Fozzie trying to tell jokes to an (imaginary) audience, only for them to boo him and throw rotten tomatoes at him. Possibly the most famous running gag from the series was a short clip that ran after the closing credits, in which Baby Animal would appear (usually in an environment related to the theme of the episode) and say something that contradicts what is usually considered Muppet canon, a reference to the "real" Muppets is given in one episode where Kermit wishes his friends would stay together and enter show business—which they did in The Muppet Movie (though the clip accompanying this scene was actually from The Great Muppet Caper). Live-action, adult versions of Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth and Oscar the Grouch appeared in live-action film clips.

A notable Muppet Babies character was Skeeter, Scooter's twin sister, who only appeared in this series, and was never a real-life Muppet. This was done because the produces wanted another female character added to the cast, despite the fact that Skeeter was always voiced by male actors (first by Howie Mandel and then Frank Welker), almost in the same vein as what was done for most female Muppets on the regular live-action Muppet programming (such as Frank Oz performing as Miss Piggy, for instance).

Although he has usually been referred to as a "whatever", in this series characters referred to Gonzo as being a "weirdo," as if it was a sort of creature as much as it referred to his behavior. (The movie Muppets From Space delves more deeply into the matter.)

No adults' faces were ever seen, except for those of actors in the live-action clips and Uncle Statler and Uncle Waldorf, both original Muppets.

Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, and Baby Gonzo also made small appearances in the drug prevention TV special (later released on home video) Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. There was also a short flashback involving the Muppet Babies during A Muppet Family Christmas. The segment was cut out of the video releases of the Christmas special, however, due to music rights (because they sang the song Santa Claus is Comin' To Town during the flashback.)

The most notable feature of this show is that it started a trend for relaunching popular character franchises as younger versions of themselves. This trend can be seen in A Pup Named Scooby Doo, Baby Looney Tunes, Flintstones Kids, and numerous others.

After originally airing on CBS, it was later re-run on Nickelodeon, Odyssey Network and Playhouse Disney.

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Trivia

In the Drawn Together episode, Little Orphan Hero, the Muppet Babies are momentarily shown being violently attacked by a pair of pit bulls which were given to them by Foxxy Love.

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Voice actors

Image:Muppetbabies2.jpg

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Comics

From 1985 until 1989, Marvel Comics produced a monthly comic book of the Muppet Babies with their Star Comics imprint. The series lasted for 26 issues. In 1992, Harvey Comics acquired the rights to produce Muppet Babies comics and produced a further 3 issues (restarting at issue #1).

The Muppet Babies also appeared in Star Comics Digest (AKA Star Comics Magazine). This comic was printed in digest size format, and features a number of short stories in each issue. The series itself lasted for 13 issues from 1986 until 1988. It should be noted that the Muppet Babies appeared in some, but not all the issues. Other short stories contained in Star Comics Digest include Madballs, Heathcliff, the Care Bears, and Top Dog.

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McDonald's Happy Meal Merchandise

The Muppet Babies franchise and McDonalds Restaurants teamed up for a number of cross promotions. Mcdonald's sold small Muppet Babies toys with their Happy Meals (a menu item designed for children). The different toys are outlined below:

1986 Muppet Babies I Happy Meal (Limited Test Market Distribution) Image:1986 Muppet Babies.jpg

  • Gonzo
  • Fozzie
  • Miss Piggy
  • Kermit
  • Animal (part of Canadian set only)

1987 Muppet Babies II Happy Meal

  • Gonzo
  • Fozzie
  • Miss Piggy
  • Kermit
  • Animal
  • Kermit (alernate w/ rollerskates)
  • Miss Piggy (alernate w/ rollerskates)

1988 Storybook Muppet Babies Happy Meal

  • Just Kermit and Me - book
  • The Legend of Gimme Gulch - book
  • Baby Piggy the Living Doll - book

1988 Christmas Plush Image:1991 Muppet Babies.jpg

  • Baby Fozzie in Christmas Hat & Scarf. 10 1/2 inches.
  • Baby Kermt in Christmas plaid vest & Santa hat. 8 inches.
  • Baby Miss Piggy in Christmas Dress

1991 Muppet Babies III Happy Meal

  • Fossie
  • Gonzo
  • Kermit
  • Miss Piggy
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See also

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External links

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