Character changes?

[Baby Gonzo]

Upon revisiting the Muppets in general (The Muppet Show, Muppet Babies, the Muppet movies, ect...) in the past year, I have noticed something I wasn't really aware of as a child. While the spirit and personality of the characters is often there, most of the Muppets went through some sort of change in character in the Muppet Babies. With most cartoons that feature children, characters can be broken down into different types: the leader, the cute one, the smart one, the troublemaker/bully, the active/sporty one, the naive one, and so on. I never realized how some of the characters were changed to fit into that formula.

For example, as opposed to his position as gofer, Baby Scooter is a computer whiz. Understandable, if the logic is to make a child character a gofer would really just make everyone else seem like a bully.

Baby Fozzie was made to be considerably more naive than his adult counterpart.

Baby Bean almost seemed to be older than he really is for some reason. Steve Whitmire's voice was already high pitched, young, and cute when he performed Bean. I don't think Dave Coulier captured that naivety in his portrayal of Bean. I have yet to decide if that's just a character thing or a voice thing.

Baby Gonzo seems like he's more aware of his actions and weirdness than his adult counterpart. And between taking the other babies toys on occasion and getting into reckless situations, he often seemed to fall into the troublemaker category as well. Well, it's not unlike Gonzo to be reckless, but I don't think he was as big of a troublemaker.


(I'm not sure if anything I just posted made since, but it did in my head.)

 

[CensoredAlso]

Baby Fozzie was made to be considerably more naive than his adult counterpart.

Baby Gonzo seems like he's more aware of his actions and weirdness than his adult counterpart.

Very true, whereas adult Fozzie is a bit neurotic and worried about how funny people think he is, Baby Fozzie is more happily oblivious.

And Baby Gonzo's a bit more proud of being an outcast, whereas adult Gonzo is weird but still wants applause.

It makes sense actually, children are often more at ease with themselves and become more self conscious as they get older.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

It makes sense actually, children are often more at ease with themselves and become more self conscious as they get older.

That's a good, interesting point. I wonder if that was intentional on the writers' part?

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

It's possible. Take the characters on 'A Pup Named Scooby Doo' for example (young Velma being more quite and laid back, young Daphne being a spoiled brat, young Freddy being a moron). That's pretty common on TV shows with younger versions of characters. I guess it makes things more humorous.

 

[ngreen522]

wow guys, good insight!

 

[Beauregard]

The issue actually began, when the Baby characters leaked into the real Muppet world...Come MTI, Fozzie IS more naive and brainless rather than funny and worried about stage-fright.

I'm glad that the baby characters resolved the Gonzo/Piggy/Kermit love triangles though.

 

[ngreen522]

hhmm .... is there another example of the baby characters leaking into the adult characters? In MTI, I feel like Fozzie was portraying Squire Trelawney, who happened to be "naive and brainless".

 

[wwfpooh]

hhmm .... is there another example of the baby characters leaking into the adult characters

Well, in the case of Gonzo, though he does want applause, he is--like his baby self--reckless, gets into trouble (not that he causes said trouble, though), and does become proud of being who he is...a one of a kind alien that falls into the category of being a whatever. XD

And I betcha, one of these days, Team Henson might just team Gonzo and Animal up like Muppet Babies did. ^_^

And speaking of the babies, 'tis time for this post to--dare I say it--"Go Bye Bye...Yabababababa!"

 

[RedPiggy]

I'm glad that the baby characters resolved the Gonzo/Piggy/Kermit love triangles though.

Resolved? Admittedly, I never got a chance to see the whole thing, but Skeeter made it a love square or something.

 

[Baby Gonzo]

I don't think adult Gonzo causes trouble as much as mayhem. He is reckless, but not as much of a troublemaker as his baby counterpart. There are, in the very least, two episodes I can count where Gonzo took other character's toys without thinking of the consequences. Adult Gonzo, while reckless, wouldn't take his friend's stuff without asking, I would think.

One could argue "Well, kids always seem to get into everything. So what?" But this behavior wasn't as prominent in the other babies. Without making him unlikable or antagonistic, Gonzo was made somewhat of a bully, for lack of a better word.