Whoa...I've let 2 years slide between posts. This has got to change. My goal is to eventually morph this into a real, more professional blog. But for now, I've got another fun topic for you...
The return of one of my childhood favorites- Muppet Babies! There was a time when Muppets were a separate entity from Disney, but since Disney now owns them and Muppet Babies is on Disney Junior, they are fair game. This works out perfectly because Jim Henson is just as much of a hero of mine as Walt Disney. I'm a huge Muppet fan!
Recently, a whole slew of comebacks from my youth have popped up- everything from Duck Tales to Full House has been rebooted, and frankly, I'm getting a huge kick out of it! Having been born in 1981, I am firmly in what's known among the Muppet fandom as the Muppet Baby Generation. It's true- the babies were my introduction to the Muppets, my gateway drug if you will. In fact, I have memories of the first time I saw the adult Muppets in I believe it was 1986's Muppet Family Christmas. I remember thinking they had made adult characters based on the babies and was quite confused about the absence of Skeeter. It wasn't until later that I realized the babies were actually based on the adults and that Skeeter was created for the show as another female character to balance out Piggy.
Anyway, over 30 years after the premiere of the original cartoon, we now have a brand new version airing on Disney Junior. I'm absolutely thrilled that young children will be introduced to these classic characters much the way Mickey Mouse Clubhouse gave them Mickey and the gang. The show definitely has the spirit of the original, and the characters have all their signature traits- Fozzie desperately wants to be funny, Piggy is bossy with a sweet side, Kermit is the leader, Animal likes to go crazy, and Gonzo is weird. I did notice that they down play Piggy's long time crush on Kermit and completely left out Gonzo's pursuit of Piggy for better or for worse. Also gone is the gag of Fozzie getting repeatedly hit with tomatoes for telling bad jokes.
Missing from the original set are Rowlf, Scooter, and Skeeter who has been replaced by a new character- a purple penguin named Summer. Summer is girlie and feisty and is a fun addition to the gang. That being said, I still really miss Skeeter. She was the sporty tomboy character and a more interesting contrast to Piggy. However, I have hope- Skeeter clearly does exist in this universe as there's a portrait of her and her brother on a seesaw on the wall in the background. Even more fun are the baby versions of characters never previously seen in baby form like the Electric Mayhem, Sweetums, and even Mahna Mahna and the Snowths! I hope this is foreshadowing future guest appearances- we've already met Baby Rizzo and Baby Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker.
The new voices work just fine, but as a fan of the original, it's a bit jarring at first to not hear, for example, Russi Taylor as Baby Gonzo. Yes, he shared a voice with Minnie Mouse! Kermit was famed character voice artist Frank Welker who probably voiced a character in nearly every cartoon you remember from that era- from Fred of Scooby-Doo fame to Abu from Aladdin and many more. But, the new voices still capture the nuances of the characters in a way we recognize.
One of the biggest differences between the old and new generations of Muppet Babies is the length of the stories. The new show now features two 11 minute shorts rather than one full length narrative. While that might be better suited for their preschool audience, as an adult fan, I think they got to play around a lot more in the old stories. I have many memories of favorite episodes- the one when the nursery is being painted and all their toys are put away so they made up there own versions of classic books, the one where Scooter gets sick and they travel inside his body to make him better, the one in which they go on a search for Animal who goes missing, the one where they make their own version of Star Wars (my introduction to that series actually!), the one in which they create their own cartoons, and probably my favorite- the one in which they act out Snow White and Skeeter and Piggy fight over who gets the title role.
The new stories are short and sweet- Gonzo befriends a potato, Piggy makes too many rules until no one wants to play with her, Summer wants to be bigger but Bunsen accidentally makes her tiny, the babies go searching in a dark closet for Nanny's sweater (or Miss. Nanny as she's called here) and it's revealed that Kermit is scared of the dark, and a pirate adventure in which Kermit has to figure out that it's okay for a leader to ask for help. I do love that they've kept the theme of using imagine, and just as in the original, they show both what is actually going on and what they are imagining. In this version, though, the setting seems to be more of a preschool than a place where they all live together. They also come across as just a bit older, more preschooler than baby or toddler. In the original they slept in cribs and wore more babyish clothing.
So far, I don't think the humor in the new show is quite as clever as the original. A lot of this may be due to the onslaught of pop culture references and old film footage they used to use. They've touched on it in the new show- a time travel adventure briefly has a great bit in which the babies come across the opening number of the Muppet Show and wonder who those guys are- but it's not quite up to speed overall. It may be harder to get the rights these days though. I particularly remember an episode that hilariously riffed on a whole slew of sci-fi properties including Star Wars, Star Trek, Bill and Ted, and the Jetsons with the babies each taking on multiple roles. It included such gags as Rowlf-as-Astro wondering why he has to put R sounds in front of every word and a futuristic car that won't stop singing a parody of the Jetson's theme song. We are still early on in the new series, though, so I expect the laughs will get better. They've definitely made me smile.
The animation in the new show is fantastic. You can see all the fuzzy texture of each character much like their fleece and foam counterparts. I've read they actually developed a program that allows them to flop around like puppets. Everyone looks great, and the backyard play area where they hang out looks like such fun. Heck, *I* want to play there! I appreciate how they often use different style animation for the backgrounds of the fantasy sequences, a callback to the original show, and I'm pleased they continued the Henson tradition of including some fun songs.
All in all, I am excited to see the Muppet Babies back on TV. It may not be exactly the show I grew up on, but it's heart and spirit are in the right place. I have been having a lot of fun watching it- I'm not just a Muppet fan, I'm a fan of children's programing in general. There are several shows on Disney Junior that I follow even without my 3 year old. I'm tickled to be able share the Muppets with her. Thanks to YouTube, she has had the chance to check out the original too and seems to like both. Now, someone needs to work on getting the old one released on dvd!
