Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, commonly known by the shortened title Muppet Babies, is an American fantasy comedy animated television series produced by Marvel Productions for Jim Henson Productions. The show portrays toddler versions of the Muppets living together in a nursery under the care of a woman known as Nanny, involving the concepts of the power of imagination and creative problem-solving. The show's main target group is for children aged 2–5. The idea of presenting the Muppets as children appeared in a dream sequence in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), released two months before Muppet Babies debuted. The idea was a success, and it transformed into a spin-off.
The show aired from September 15, 1984, to November 2, 1991, as part of the Saturday-morning cartoons lineup on CBS. The show received universal acclaim for its animation, visuals, writing, humor, educational values, and appeal to younger and older audiences. It spawned a successful merchandise and won seven Daytime Emmy Awards (including four consecutive awards for Outstanding Animated Program), as well as a Humanitas Prize. Due to its popularity, the show remained on television in the United States for a decade.
The rights are now held by The Walt Disney Company following the company's acquisition of The Muppets franchise in 2004. A reboot of the series premiered on Disney Jr. on March 23, 2018.
Premise
left|thumb|249x249px|Promotional artwork for the series, featuring (clockwise from bottom-left) [[Animal (Muppet)|Baby Animal, Baby Skeeter, Baby Scooter, Baby Fozzie, Baby Piggy, Baby Kermit, Baby Gonzo, and Baby Rowlf]]
The series stars Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, Scooter, Skeeter, Rowlf the Dog, and Gonzo as toddlers. Supporting characters include Bunsen Honeydew, Beaker, and Camilla in the form of Gonzo's stuffed chick. In the final two seasons, Bean Bunny and Statler and Waldorf made regular appearances. Several Muppets made guest appearances, including Janice as an older preteen and Kermit's nephew Robin as a tadpole.
The Muppet Babies live in a large nursery watched over by Nanny, who is seen from the neck down. The babies' imaginary games transition from the nursery into scenes that become "real" to the babies, such as outer space and the past. The fantasies have the babies interact with live-action backgrounds, old films and photos, engravings, and hand-drawn backgrounds. The babies used their imaginations to have their own adventures based on everyday things and toys around them. They also use their imaginations to solve a problem.
In post-credits scenes, the babies are doing something related to the episode's plot. Their activities (mostly Gonzo's) are interrupted by Animal who crashes the scene in a comedic way and calls "Go bye-bye!"
Cast
- Frank Welker as Baby Kermit, Adult Kermit (looped dialogue, episode 45), Baby Beaker, Baby Skeeter (Seasons 3–8), Camilla, Irma/Charlie (episode 12), The Chief Inspector of Scotland Yard (episode 31), Polly the Parrot (episode 38), Bosko the Snowman (episode 100)
- Laurie O'Brien as Baby Piggy, Captain Black Wig (episode 36)
- Greg Berg as Baby Fozzie, Adult Fozzie (looped dialogue, episode 45), Baby Scooter
- Russi Taylor as Baby Gonzo, Baby Robin, Aunt Fanny, and Camilla (occasionally)
- Katie Leigh as Baby Rowlf, Mrs. Mitchell
- Howie Mandel (Seasons 1–2) as Baby Skeeter, Baby Animal, Baby Bunsen
- Dave Coulier (Seasons 3–8) as Baby Animal, Baby Bunsen, Baby Bean Bunny, Baby Janice, Uncle Statler and Waldorf, Camilla (occasionally), Himself (episode 91)
- Barbara Billingsley as Nanny
Additional
- Peter Cullen as Smoggy the Bear (episode 33), Football-Playing Bear (episode 33), Sor-Elbow (episode 33)
- Pat Fraley as Announcer
- Tress MacNeille as Skater Ka
Episodes
Production
Origin
The idea for the show was created by Jim Henson and his staff, originating in Jim Henson's art department. During the creation of Sue Venning's Muppet Show Bill, Henson suggested to include the Muppets as "tiny little selves and afterwards, as babies." The book was not changed, but the idea was described as "charming". Afterwards, the staff, including Michael K. Frith, created character designs of the Muppets as toddlers. After Frith showed a sketch of Baby Piggy to Henson, Henson decided to turn it into a line of merchandise.
During production of The Muppets Take Manhattan, Miss Piggy's original fantasy sequence was written on the screenplay. Despite Oz's dislike of the idea, he thought that the idea was brilliant. It is considered to be one of the most difficult scenes to shoot during production of the film, as the puppeteers had to perform the baby versions of the characters by using their "stubby little limbs." The film was released on July 13, 1984. The idea was a success, and it received very favorable reviews from fans.
Development and writing
After filming of The Muppets Take Manhattan was completed, Henson felt that the brief scene featuring the Muppet Babies could be developed into a children's television series. Meanwhile, network executives and several others suggested Henson Associates to transform the Muppet Babies into a Saturday-morning cartoon. Although budgeting and scheduling conflicts prevented the idea from becoming a live-action series, CBS's former vice president of children's programming Judy Price looked at the "cute qualities" of the Muppet Babies in The Muppets Take Manhattan and thought the series would be successful in animation. After the concept of the series was created on March 10, 1984, Price granted permission to Henson and his staff for its proposal on April 13. However, he liked the idea a lot that he decided to create the show for something better. As the series needed another female character to contrast with Baby Piggy's "bombastic personality" and provide more feminine empowerment, Scooter's twin sister Skeeter was exclusively created for the show. All of the writing scripts for the show were done in Marvel Productions, After Scott left the series by the third season, Saroyan, Sindy McKay, Larry Swerdlove, Mark Stratton, Lois Becker, and J. R. Young wrote the remaining episodes of the series. Richardson and Saroyan continued to work together until contractual issues led to Richardson's departure after the sixth season.
Casting and recording
Looking for new actors to "capture [the] spirit" of the Muppet Babies by bringing "zest and personality to the role at the same time", several actors auditioned for the series. While studying with Daws Butler, Greg Berg based his voice impressions of Baby Fozzie on Frank Oz's rendition of Fozzie and Baby Scooter on Robin, particularly his song "Halfway Down the Stairs". Laurie O'Brien nearly did not audition for the series. O'Brien's agent Herb Tannen called her during an afternoon to ask her to voice "Miss Piggy as a child." O'Brien responded that she had a "little girl's voice in [her] bag of tricks and figured [she] could probably add Miss Piggy's idiosyncrasies to [the] voice." Tannen answered that she could do the voice and the other three Muppets, scheduling the appointment at 10:45 a.m. for the next day. As O'Brien was busy rehearsing a drama she wrote, she did not want to go to the audition. Tannen convinced her to come to the audition by stating to her that it is a "game changer." Not owning a videocassette recorder at the time, O'Brien rented The Muppet Movie and brought it to her friend's house and played it on the recorder. O'Brien took the recorder and recorded a few sections of Miss Piggy's lines that represented her tone and attitude, practicing the lines several times with her "million dollar little girl's voice". On the day of her audition, O'Brien brought the recorder to the audition, listening to it when she lost Miss Piggy's rhythms and tone.
Russi Taylor, who was a "crazy" fan of The Muppet Show and Gonzo, wanted to be Baby Gonzo and auditioned for him. Howie Mandel voiced Baby Animal, Baby Bunsen, and Baby Skeeter. After the second season, Mandel left the show, and his roles were given to Frank Welker as Baby Skeeter and Dave Coulier as Baby Animal and Baby Bunsen. Finalizing the cast for Nanny, Saroyan brought in Barbara Billingsley, who was immediately loved by the cast. The first time the cast met her, they were worried and thought they had to behave, but Billingsley had fun as much as the cast did.
Recording sessions were held in various recording studios in Los Angeles. In February 1985, the Japanese yen started to rise against the US dollar, and as a result, Toei Animation raised the cost to $50,000. The choices were finalized by Henson and CBS.
The songwriting team was committed to many challenges, including the limited vocal range of a voice actor singing in a character's voice and character pairings that would not harmonize well together. Getting a lot of help from Richardson and Saroyan, O'Day and Liebhart would receive the script and the direction of the style, finding a "common ground" for melodies and knowing which characters to blend with. They invented mysterious voices Pee Wee and Wee Wee to enforce a melody underneath the Muppet Babies.
Some of the voice actors had no singing experience and training prior to the production of the series, including Taylor, who was not trained as a singer, and Mandel, who needed a professional singer to help keep him on key. Recording sessions of music started out with the cast singing in the same room. Proving to be unsuccessful, the cast started to record the songs individually. Liebhart was the vocal coach of the cast; Liebhart and Saroyan provided background vocals of the songs. Due to Berg unable to sing high notes as Baby Fozzie, Saroyan had to fill in several times. The seventh season episode "Sing a Song of Superheroes" had nine minutes of songs that required extra recording studio work. Themes of the songs include individuality, friendship, and art. "Amadogus" (a parody of "Rock Me Amadeus" by Falco), a song featured in the third season episode "Fozzie's Family Tree", was released as a single in 1987 to promote the album Music is Everywhere. The song was chosen as a Featured Pick by Cashbox, stating that the "playful tune could garner notoriety as a novelty hit." Bill Wedo of The Morning Call called the song "particularly funny", but stated that "kids will enjoy it [while] adults will find it a riot."
Themes
The show focuses on the central ideas of the power of imagination and creative problem-solving to promote an educational concept of creativity. The techniques of imaginations contributed to the show, such as live-action footage and photographic backgrounds, was stated to interconnect ideas, stories, and characters in a dramatic play. D.W. Winnicott, a psychoanalytic theorist, described the show as "the intermediate area... allowed to the infant between primary creativity and objective perception based on reality-testing." Author Marsha Kindle described the show's techniques as the "kind of transgressive identification across other borders" and a "specialty."
Other frequent themes involve books and reading, facing fears, In the book Playing with Power in Movies, Television, and Video Games, the sixth-season episode "The Green Ranger" was analyzed for its transmedia intertextuality, commodified masquerade, obsolescence, and death to address readers who are concerned about children's interactions on Saturday-morning shows. The seventh-season episode "Sing a Song of Superheroes" included popular opera arias to interest younger viewers in opera. During the 1984–1985 television season, the show competed with NBC's The Smurfs. The first-season episode "Gonzo's Video Show" was shown as a primetime special on December 18, 1984.
Due to success of the first season, CBS ordered an additional program to be paired with the second season of the series. For a brief run in the second season, the program became Muppets, Babies, and Monsters, and a second half-hour was dedicated to a new show called Little Muppet Monsters. This show featured live-action puppets and cartoons starring the adult Muppet characters. The program premiered on September 14, 1985. At the time, the program faced competition with ABC's Ewoks & Star Wars Droids Adventure Hour. After three episodes, CBS canceled Little Muppet Monsters. At the time of cancellation, over nine episodes were in various stages of production. CBS filled the spot vacated by the program with new episodes of Muppet Babies for an hour. When they ran out, CBS substituted episodes from the previous season.
In the 1987–1988 television season, Muppet Babies was expanded to three episodes after CBS pulled Garbage Pail Kids before it aired due to controversy. On July 11, 1988, Broadcasting Magazine announced that the series would be syndicated on Claster Television for the 1989–1990 television season. The show officially debuted on the network on September 18, 1989. The show continued in re-runs on the network until 1992. On October 5, 1992, the show started airing in re-runs on Nickelodeon. The show continued in re-runs on the network until December 31, 1998. On April 1, 1999, it was announced the series would air as part of Odyssey Network's rebrand. The show reran on Odyssey Network from April 4, 1999, to March 2000. In Canada, it aired on YTV, and later Treehouse TV.
Home media
Although not every Muppet Babies episode was released on VHS, a number of them were released between 1988 and 1999 in the United States. Kraft Foods offered two Muppet Babies tapes sponsored by Kraft Marshmallows in 1989. Buena Vista Home Video released Explore with Us, Let's Build, and Time to Play on January 29, 1993, pricing at $12.99 per tape. The home video series, Yes, I Can, was released with Yes, I Can Learn and Yes, I Can Help on June 16, 1995 and Yes, I Can Be a Friend on August 11, 1995 as part of Jim Henson's Preschool Collection, pricing at $12.99 per tape. The series focused on Robin the Frog, who asks his uncle Kermit for assistance in different chores he was struggling with. Each tape included two Muppet Babies episodes. In 1999, Interactive Learning Group released three Muppet Babies tapes for the Video Buddy interactive video play system, pricing at $15.95 per tape.
In 2003, four episodes were made available, in uncut form, as bonus DVDs with 10-inch Muppet Babies plush toys distributed by Toy Play: "The Daily Muppet", "Eight Take Away One Equals Panic", "Piggy's Hyper-Activity Book", and "Gonzo's Video Show". There have been no plans announced of other DVD releases of Muppet Babies. In 2023, animator Guy Gilchrist confirmed that Muppet Babies would least likely be available for streaming due to copyright and trademark difficulties.
Reception
Critical response
Throughout the show's run, it received universal acclaim from critics. After its debut, David Bianculli of Knight-Ridder Newspapers commented that it is one of the two Saturday-morning cartoons that "sound promising [compared to the other two programs]" and praised the show as a "wonderful addition to the Saturday-morning roster." Mike Hughes of Garnett News Service ranked the show as one of the two best Saturday-morning shows of 1984, describing the Muppet Babies as "cute" and the script as "fresh and funny". He praised the script as "much better than [other Saturday-morning shows]." In his "On TV" review on The Reporter Dispatch issue from October 21, 1984, he also commented that the writing "ranks up" with The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends and Danger Mouse. Steve McKerrow of The Evening Sun stated that the show is a "standout" to "cheaply-executed" Saturday-morning cartoons and described it as a "cartoon outgrowth [...] that makes [the audience] wish all children's programs could be this good." He also stated that it is the "kind of show that puts the bulk of the Saturday line-up to shame". He praised the show as "clever" and "honestly funny", commenting that the show takes a "floor-level, child's-eye view of the world". He also praised the Muppet Babies as "well and colorfully animated". Later, on his article from September 28, 1985, he commented that the program Muppets, Babies & Monsters is a "welcome addition to the [Saturday-morning] lineup."
Television critic Rick Forchuk reviewed that the show is "vastly better than [any primetime shows] in [the 1984–1985 television season]." He described the show as "different" and a "throwback to a different time". He also praised the animation as "superb, three dimensional, and vivid" and the plot and stories as "unpredictable" and "exciting as anything". He concluded that it is a "great show for adults [and] kids." Walt Belcher of The Tampa Tribune commented that the show is "[one of the] few bright spots [of Saturday-mornings]" and described it as "pleasant". In her initial review, Ellen Klein of Kids 'N' TV criticized its visuals as "not startling", but commented that the show has "enough originality to make it stand out to other Saturday-morning cartoons". In her revised review from 1985, she gave it a perfect 4 out of 4 stars, welcoming Muppets, Babies & Monsters as an exception to the Saturday-morning trend "full of robots, monsters, wrestlers, ghosts, and super-powered Galactic Guardians [that appealed] to older children." She described the series as "fun", "inventive", and "exciting without being threatening or scary." She concluded that the series is "one of the best [on Saturday-mornings]." Howard Rosenberg of The Los Angeles Times stated that Muppets, Babies & Monsters was the "best Saturday-morning kid [program]", describing it as "wonderful". Ron Weiskind of Pittsburgh Post-Gazette called the show the "most imaginative cartoon on the tube these days." Bill Wedo of The Morning Call commented that the songs "manage [Henson's magic to entertain children and adults]."
The show was also well received by fans and audiences. In a Critics-at-Large review from May 5, 1985, Maria E. Allman from Hamburg, New York, called the show a "clever offering" and praised Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, and Baby Gonzo for providing "humor and antics". She concluded that it is a "treat" and a "relief" for "parents and grandparents who have grown tired of the unappetizing fare and superhero junk[...]" In 1986, a survey in Woodrow Wilson School and Nellie F. Bennett School stated that their children's top-ranked show was Muppets, Babies & Monsters.
Ratings
Muppet Babies proved highly popular with audiences. In the 1984–1985 television season, the show was ranked as the most popular Saturday-morning cartoon on CBS and in the top five of 42 network shows. It was also ranked fifth on the most popular Saturday-morning show of the season. After the program was replaced by two episodes of Muppet Babies, the ratings increased from the previous season. The series remained as CBS's number-one Saturday-morning show. As of 1986, it was the second most popular children's programming among the top 30, attracting more than four million audiences on each week.
Despite the success, ratings decreased by the end of the series. In the 1990–1991 television season, the show only garnered a 2.4 Nielsen household rating with a 14% share. Despite the decrease in ratings, the show garnered a 4.6 Nielsen rating with a 55% share in the 2-11 age group and a 4.9 Nielsen rating with a 63% share in the 6-11 age group.
Accolades
Between 1985 and 1991, Muppet Babies gained twelve awards from 27 nominations, including four consecutive Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Program. On August 1, 1985, the show became the first recipient to receive an award for Outstanding Animated Program at the Daytime Emmy Awards. It continued to win the category until 1989, holding a record for the most wins in the category (tied with Arthur). In 1985, Jeffrey Scott received a Humanitas Prize for the first-season episode "Eight Take Away One Equals Panic", which earned him a $10,000 prize.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
! colspan="6" style="background: LightSteelBlue;" | List of awards and nominations
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1985
| rowspan="2" |12th Daytime Emmy Awards
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Animated Program
|
| rowspan="2" |
|-
| Outstanding Achievement in Music Direction and Composition
| Rob Walsh
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Editing
| Robert T. Gillis<br>Alison Cobb<br>Michael Tomack<br>Michael L. DePatie<br>Ron Fedele<br>Richard Bruce Elliott<br>Richard C. Allen
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Mixing
| Bill Thiederman<br>Bob Minkler<br>Lee Minkler
|
|-
| 8th Youth in Film Awards
| colspan="2" | Exceptional Family Animation Series or Specials
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1987
| rowspan="3" |14th Daytime Emmy Awards
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Animated Program
|
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Mixing
| Bill Oliver<br>Paul Aronoff
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Editing
| Ron Fedele<br>Michael Tomack<br>Jim Blodgett<br>Steven C. Brown<br>David Hankins<br>Warren Taylor<br>Alison Cobb<br>Richard C. Allen
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1988
| CINE Competition
| Animation
| Jim Henson
|
|
|-
| rowspan="3" |15th Daytime Emmy Awards
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Animated Program
|
| rowspan="3" |
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Mixing
| Jeffrey J. Haboush<br>Greg P. Russell
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Editing
| Richard C. Allen<br>Ron Fedele<br>Rusty Tinsley<br>Billy B. Bell<br>Scott A. Tinsley
|
|-
| 13th Humanitas Awards
| Children's Animation Category
| Star Kaplan<br>Maia Mattise <small>(For "My Muppet Valentine")</small>
|
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1989
| rowspan="4" |16th Daytime Emmy Awards
| colspan="2" | Outstanding Animated Program
|
| rowspan="4" |
|-
| Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series
| Barbara Billingsley
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Editing
| Al Breitenbach<br>Ron Fedele<br>Richard C. Allen<br>Steven D. Williams<br>Kenneth R. Burton
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Mixing
| Jeffrey J. Haboush<br>Greg P. Russell
|
|-
|22nd NAACP Image Awards
| colspan="2" |Outstanding Comedy Series
|
|
|-
| rowspan="5" | 1990
| rowspan="4" |17th Daytime Emmy Awards
| Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series
| Barbara Billingsley
|
| rowspan="4" |
|-
| Outstanding Achievement in Film Editing
| Al Breitenbach
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Mixing
| Andy D'Addario<br>Jeffrey J. Haboush
|
|-
| Outstanding Film Sound Editing
| Al Breitenbach<br>Ron Fedele<br>Steven D. Williams<br>Kenneth R. Burton<br>Jackson Schwartz<br>Dean G. Manly
|
|-
|23rd NAACP Image Awards
| colspan="2" |Outstanding Comedy Series
|
|
|-
| 1991
| 16th Humanitas Awards
| Children's Animation Category
| Jeffrey Scott <small>(For "Romancing the Weirdo")</small>
|
|
Impact and legacy
Muppet Babies was known to start a trend of relaunching popular cartoon characters as younger versions of themselves. This trend can be seen in numerous TV series such as A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, The Flintstone Kids, Tom & Jerry Kids, Jungle Cubs (based on characters from Disney's The Jungle Book) and Baby Looney Tunes.
As of 2000, approximately 300,000 animation cels of the show were stored by the Jim Henson Company Archives off-site.
In 2007, a specific case dedicated to the show was added in The Jim Henson Exhibit in Leland, Mississippi.
Other media
Albums
The first album, Rocket to the Stars, was released in July 1985 by Parker Brothers Music on LP and cassette. It featured an outer space adventure with eleven original songs starring the Muppet Babies characters. The songs and dialogue were mixed by Hank Saroyan, Rob Walsh, and Geni Jackson at Wilder Brothers Studio. The album, renamed Rock It to the Stars, was re-released in September 1993 by Jim Henson Records on CD and cassette. The second album, Music is Everywhere, was released on July 20, 1987, by Columbia Records on LP and cassette.
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 reprinted short stories in each issue. The series itself lasted for thirteen issues from 1986 until 1988. The Muppet Babies appeared in some, but not all, of the issues.
Live performances
Muppet Babies had three live performances produced between 1986 and 1990. They are produced by Bob Shipstad and VEE Corporation. Each tour involved 16 cast members, eight crew members, concession staff, and support office staff. All of the voices and music were pre-recorded, and the costumes were designed and produced in Henson Associates to retain authenticity. The same premise followed with Muppet Babies' Magic Box in 1987 which ended in May 1990 after 40 cities. The production values built in Minneapolis, including the sets, properties, costumes, and lightings, cost $1 million. The production stage would be constructed with sets, properties, and lighting for four to seven hours for each destination. Dee Ann Rexroat of The Gazette commented that Muppet Babies' Live! is not "something parents have to suffer through", calling the live show "well produced" and "cute" and the sets and costumes as "quite imaginative". In his review of Muppet Babies' Magic Box, Bill Wedo of The Morning Call reviewed that the show was "true to the original", praising the scene changes as "quick and clever". He also praised the Star Trek skit as the "beauty of the show", stating that "grown-ups can find kid stuff entertaining, too." In her review of Muppet Babies' Where's Animal?, Esther Benenson of Richmond Times-Dispatch commented that parents "[will] have trouble getting excited about the plot" and have a "hard time adjusting to the piercingly high voice of Baby Piggy", describing the plot as "sparse" and praising some of the medleys as "entertaining".
2018 reboot
On October 26, 2016, it was announced that a reboot of the series began production. As opposed to the traditional animation of the original show, the reboot used CGI and is targeted to children ages 4–7 with each episode consisting of two 11-minute stories. Mr. Warburton, creator of Cartoon Network's Codename: Kids Next Door, served as the executive producer while former SpongeBob SquarePants writer Eric Shaw served as the story editor.
Other appearances
In 1987, the live-action version of the lead characters appeared, in the form of an old home movie, during A Muppet Family Christmas. The segment itself was cut from American and Canadian home video releases due to copyright licensing issues with "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town".
In 1990, Baby Kermit, Piggy, and Gonzo made small appearances in the drug prevention television special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.
See also
- List of animated spin-offs from prime time shows
- Sesame Beginnings