Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Jim Henson's Muppet Babies
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article has multiple issues:
Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. |
| Jim Henson's Muppet Babies | |
|---|---|
 Jim Henson's Muppet Babies title screen |
|
| Format | Animated series |
| Created by | Jim Henson |
| Developed by | Jeffrey Scott |
| Starring | Greg Berg Dave Coulier (1986-1990) Katie Leigh Howie Mandel (1984-1986) Laurie O'Brien Russi Taylor Frank Welker Barbara Billingsley |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 107 (List of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS Television Network |
| Original run | September 15, 1984 – December 29, 1990 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
Jim Henson's Muppet Babies is an American animated television series that aired from 1984 to 1990 on CBS in first-run episodes, and then until 1992 in reruns. It was loosely based on a sequence in the Muppet film The Muppets Take Manhattan, where Miss Piggy imagined what it would be like if she and Kermit the Frog grew up together. The show portrayed childhood versions of the Muppets living together in a large nursery in the care of a human woman called Nanny (the whereabouts of their parents are never addressed). Nanny appears in almost every episode, but viewers never see her face, only the babies' view of her pink skirt as well as her distinctive green and white striped socks. This motif of never seeing the face or upper body of Nanny is parodied in the Cartoon Network animated television series Cow and Chicken, in which the parents of the main characters are only seen from the waist down (because they have no actual upper half).
Muppet Babies was produced by The Jim Henson Company (under the names of Henson Associates and Jim Henson Productions) and Marvel Productions and then after Henson's childrens sold the Muppets the rights to the show were given to Buena Vista Television and Claster Television help support syndicated re-runs. Although the episodes were 30 minutes (including commercials), it was typically shown in 60 and even 90 minute blocks during its peak popularity. The show outside the United States was distributed by Walt Disney Television Animation.
Contents |
 |
The tone or style of this section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(November 2007) |
The series starred the following characters from The Muppet Show and subsequent Muppet films: Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Scooter, Rowlf the Dog, Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker. Camilla also appeared in the form of Gonzo's stuffed chick. Kermit's nephew, Robin, appeared in several episodes as a tadpole in a fish bowl, and Janice appeared as Young Janice (though she was a bit older than the others and could read) in one episode.
A notable character introduced on Muppet Babies was Skeeter, Scooter's twin sister, who only appeared in this series, and was never a real-life Muppet. This was done because the producers wanted another female character added to the cast (though they could have used Janice as a regular), 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, and Richard Hunt performing as Janice).
Bean Bunny, a Muppet who joined the regular Muppet cast in the 1989 TV series The Jim Henson Hour (and before that, the 1986 special The Tale of the Bunny Picnic) was added as a baby character in the final season of Muppet Babies. Statler and Waldorf also made occasional appearances (as adults).
The Gonzo character strikes an ambiguous if not enigmatic chord with many viewers, amongst whom questions of his nature are a topic of considerable debate. Although he has usually been classified as a "whatever", characters in this series referred to Gonzo as being a "weirdo", as if it were a sort of creature as much as it referred to his behavior. (The movie Muppets from Space delves more deeply into the matter). In one episode, he temporarily believes he is an anteater. Muppet scholarship is generally silent on this issue.
Faces were never shown for adult fictional characters, except for those of actors in live-action film clips and Uncle Statler and Uncle Waldorf, both original Muppets. One exception to this was where the Muppets have to overcome their fear of going into the basement in a search for Baby Animal, in which they believe it is the Temple of Doom. As with most of their imagining situations based on movies, live action clips from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are interspersed with animation. An animated Mola Ram shows his face when he tells the Muppet Babies he has them trapped in a dead end. A second instance is actually when Nanny's sister comes to visit and the audience sees her face at the end.
Baby Animal was the only character who had a different appearance. The original Animal had thick black eyelashes all around above his eyes Animal's face always changed colors in the first two seasons first it was red then pink. During that time he was voiced by Howie Mandel. The new Animal's eyelashes became thinner and instead were on one upper side above each eye and was voiced by Dave Coulier. This Animal had a pink face all the time.
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.
Approximately 100 of the songs were co-written by Alan O'Day and Janis Liebhart. O'Day is a songwriter who was known for writing #1 hits in the 1970s including "Angie Baby" (sung by Helen Reddy) and "Undercover Angel".
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, Ghostbusters, Back to the Future, The Three Stooges and Beetlejuice.
A running gag in the show involved one of the Babies, usually Gonzo, opening the closet door in search of something or looking down a dark tunnel or something similar only to meet film footage depicting something scary and unexpected behind the door or tunnel, such as a huge monster roaring or a train barreling towards him. Gonzo's nose would also make a honking sound when someone, usually Miss Piggy, squeezed it (Gonzo usually has an amorous reaction to the painful squeeze, such as "Woo hoo! She touched my nose! I think she's in love!") 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. Once in awhile he will get other foods thrown at him if he tells a joke about the food. An example would be telling jokes about eggs and instead of getting hit by tomatoes he would get hit by eggs. 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, "Go bye-bye!" 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), and the movie from which this series was based The Muppets Take Manhattan was all about the group staying together as adults while trying to sell a Broadway musical. Live-action, adult versions of Kermit the Frog, Dr. Teeth and Oscar the Grouch (although, except for Kermit, there were never baby versions of the Sesame Street [or even Fraggle Rock] muppets on the show itself) appeared in live-action film clips.
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. A live-action version of the characters also appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas as a home movie. The segment was cut out of the home video releases of the special, however, due to music rights (because they sang the song "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town").
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, The New Archies, and numerous others.
After Muppet Babies stopped airing on CBS, it aired in re-runs on Nickelodeon and Hallmark Channel a/k/a Oddyssey Network in the United States(With only 96 episodes in regular rotation). In the United Kingdom, it aired in re-runs on Playhouse Disney UK Disney Channel UK and Disney Cinemagic(with all 107 episodes in regular rotation) .
Whenever an episode ended (or when a 60 or 90 minute block of Muppet Babies has concluded), Baby Animal would always say, "Gooooooo bye-bye! Ya-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba!!," usually after a small bit of physical humor at Gonzo's expense. If there is still another episode coming up in the block, Baby Gonzo would always say "Don't go away, we'll be right back."
|
|
Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones. |
- For a brief run in the second season, the program became Muppets, Babies & Monsters, too!, and a second half-hour was dedicated to a new show called Little Muppet Monsters, segments featuring live action puppets and cartoons featuring the adult Muppet characters. This format only lasted two weeks before Jim Henson pulled the plug, despite 18 episodes having been made. The show then reverted to an hour of Muppet Babies; however, a portion of the Little Muppet Monsters theme could still be heard in the show's end credits for the remainder of its run. The show later expanded to 90 minutes after The Garbage Pail Kids was cancelled before it aired.
- Sometimes Baby Gonzo has envisioned himself as the superhero "Super Gonzo", in which he was "Cluck Kent" when his superhero duties were not required. In one episode explaining the Muppet Babies heritage, Baby Gonzo claims he was from the planet "Crouton", a planet of weirdos like him but doomed to being transformed into a normal planet. Gonzo's parents sent him to Earth to escape this fate, where he is adopted by two chickens "Ma & Pa Cluck". Gonzo clearly imagines himself just like Superman, who is a licensed character of DC Comics.
- One of the series' writers, Jeffrey Scott, spoke of how he incorporated a Scientology teaching into a Muppet Babies episode:[1]
- "Hubbard discovered that the number one barrier to study was the MISUNDERSTOOD WORD. He found that the moment a student went past a word he/she didn't understand the rest of the material became more or less 'blank'. [...] So in a 'Muppet Goose' episode I wrote Piggy was reading Little Miss Muffet, and when she read 'sat on a tuffet,' her imagination went blank until she cleared up her misunderstood word."
- Also in 1992, after the last aired Muppet Babies episode in 1991, an episode book collection of Muppet Babies was produced from the book company Grolier. It was called The Muppet Babies Press Books. The book talked mostly about character traits and learning for young children. It was produced and ended in 1992.
- In the third season of The Office, Jim Halpert claims that Dwight has Animal tatooed on his stomach.
- In the Season 4 episode The Muppet Broadcasting Company, Rowlf states that he is the oldest baby. This is a nod to the fact that Rowlf is in fact the oldest Muppet having appeared in TV commercials and on The Jimmy Dean Show back in the 1960s.
- In the mid 1980's PVC Muppet Babies Toys were available as prizes in McDonalds' Happy Meals. Each non-articulated character came with a wheeled vehicle (IE: Baby Kermit came with a skateboard, Baby Gonzo had a big-wheel, etc)
- Voted "Top Cartoon of the Childhood Days" by the Irvin Hall newspaper's weekly review of the Pennylvania State University in 2007.
- "Nanny's Day Off" features Darth Vader (without showing his head or face) as a substitute nanny, this was a segment imaginated by Fozzie.
- The episode "Babes in Troyland" features a live action clip of a monster from the X-rated film Flesh Gordon.
- Was parodied in the Wonder Showzen episode 'Justice' as "Wonder Showzen Preemies"
Although the show was (and still is) quite popular[attribution needed], there have been no plans announced of any DVD releases of Muppet Babies. One possible reason is that clips from other TV shows and movies (such as Star Wars) were used extensively in the Babies' imagination sequences and closet opening scenes and thus could pose difficulties in terms of resolving possible copyright issues.[citation needed] Recently, a few episodes were made available as bonus DVDs with Muppet Babies plush toys.
- Greg Berg: Baby Fozzie Bear, Baby Scooter (Muppet)
- Dave Coulier (1986–1990): Baby Animal (Muppet), Baby Bunsen Honeydew, Baby Bean Bunny, Baby Janice (Muppet), Uncle Statler and Waldorf
- Katie Leigh: Baby Rowlf the Dog
- Howie Mandel (1984–1986): Baby Skeeter, Baby Animal (Muppet), Baby Bunsen Honeydew
- Laurie O'Brien: Baby Piggy
- Russi Taylor: Baby Gonzo the Great, Baby Robin the Frog
- Frank Welker: Baby Kermit the Frog, Baby Skeeter (1986–1990), Baby Beaker
- Barbara Billingsley: Nanny
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 (also known as 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 included Madballs, Heathcliff, the Care Bears, and Top Dog.
| Formerly Broadcast Animated Nickelodeon Shows of the 1980s |
|---|
| Channels on the Nickelodeon Network: TV Land | Nick Too | Nicktoons Network | Noggin / The N |
| Premiered between 1983-1989:
Bananaman | DangerMouse | Belle and Sebastian | Star Trek: The Animated Series | The Adventures of The Little Prince | The Smurfs | Mysterious Cities of Gold | Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea | Adventures of the Little Koala | Heathcliff | Jim Henson's Muppet Babies | Inspector Gadget | Maple Town | Count Duckula | The Alvin Show on Nickelodeon | Beetlejuice | Grimm's Fairy Tale Classics | Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon | Noozles | The World of David the Gnome |
Categories: Articles lacking reliable references from November 2007 | Articles with trivia sections from September 2007 | Wikipedia articles needing style editing from November 2007 | Articles with trivia sections from December 2007 | All pages needing cleanup | Wikipedia articles needing factual verification since November 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since April 2007 | Muppet series | Television spin-offs | Animated television series | 1980s American animated television series | 1990s American television series | Child versions of cartoon characters | CBS network shows | Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters | Marvel Comics animation | 1984 television series debuts | 1990 television series endings | Star Comics titles | Television series by The Jim Henson Company