Interview with Dave Coulier on "Muppet Babies"

[gbrobeck]

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/01/the-throwback-behind-the-scenes-on-muppet-babies/

Interesting interview... and someone claiming to be Hank Saroyan (not going to say one way or the other, but I personally am going to believe it is him) commented saying there's no way that there could be any DVD rights issues...

 

[Cindy]

Neat! Thanks for posting. Maybe this Muppet mania is the push that's needed to get those released to DVD. I know a lot of fans have been waiting for those.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Cool- I would love to see Muppet Babies get released on DVD! It was neat to see an interview with Dave Coulier (who I also love on "Full House" of course- and "America's Funniest People")

 

[muppetsliveon]

That was a great interview. Now if only we could get behind the scenes videos and the show on dvd.

 

[Drtooth]

FYI, re: Dave Coulier's comment about rights clearances on MUppet Babies film clips, Star Wars, Raiders, Cosby, Johnny Carson, etc. ... as not only voice director, but story editor and VP of network series production for Marvel and executive in charge of every episode of Muppet Babies.. i assure you and Dave all that each and every clip and frame of a clip was cleared worldwide, in all media in perpetuity per our contractual obligations with the Henson organization. whoever started these rumors is just plain wrong or has the agenda of keeping the shows off the air. all clips were cleared by my office at Marvel, they could have been shown on Mars on a particle beam device and would have been cleared. anyone with questions about these rights especially at Disney should contact me.

WOW! If this is true (which I guess explains the DVD's in the plush toys that had no problem... one of them was the first Star Wars based episode), the only thing stopping a DVD release is this... it's not really the right time quite yet. Disney just relaunched the Muppets with a fiery passion that only making back the budget at the level of a North American release in a single week and huge praise from critics and fans and not so fans can give. We want people to remember The Muppets as themselves, not quite as the Babies just yet. I want this as much as the next guy, but the strategy has proved cautious but effective. I feel they should soon start a line of Muppet Babies products for babies, leading up to the eventual release of episodes and merchandising. But make no mistake... as much as I want some Baby Gonzo toys, I'd rather wait for regular Gonzo first.

Remember when the Muppets were sort of back in the 2002-2005 era? Muppet Babies was the thing they did last. The bean bags (should have got more!) and plush came out around 2004... it takes time.

Other than that, I love these BTS interviews. Too bad it was so short, but great to see it anyway. Though the introduction is wrong... A) the 29 million was up to Friday... it was over 40 million by Sunday, and slowly climbing (it's been a school week, after all) and B) there WERE Muppet Babies in the movie... or rather in Walter's collection. The only non-animated Muppet productions that referred to the Babies were MTM (where they premiered), MFC, and the small run of videos of Muppet Babies books or episodes hosted by Kermit.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

and B) there WERE Muppet Babies in the movie... or rather in Walter's collection. The only non-animated Muppet productions that referred to the Babies were MTM (where they premiered), MFC, and the small run of videos of Muppet Babies books or episodes hosted by Kermit.

True- that was a neat way to get a fleeting reference in for Muppet Babies. Though there may have been room to have a flashback scene, I don't know that it was necessary for this movie. [wouldn't have minded a few extended scenes here and there though- it got to the point where they were trying so hard to work so many characters in that some only got a very brief appearance that maybe could have had a bit more screen time with a slowed down pace... - oh well, stuff for the DVD release I suppose. I'm happy with the movie as it is.]
And until the whole Muppet Babies series comes to DVD, I guess I'll just have to be happy with the episodes I've got on VHS and whatever I can scrounge up on Youtube...

 

[dwayne1115]

My fear would be that they would try to "Droafy" the Muppet Babies. What I mean by that is turn it into something like Droa The Explorer od something like that.

 

[Drtooth]

That would be my fear too if they were making a new series... but I'm sure they'd try to get Jeffrey Scott back as head writer... maybe Hank Saroyan too. But I don't see them making a new Muppet Babies any time soon. Though it would be a fun addition to Disney junior.

But in reference to those who only knew of the Muppet Babies and not the real Muppets (horror stories have been told), I think we should wait just a little bit. I'd love a Baby Gonzo shirt with the label Weirdo on it, though.

But if they can put the Muppets on kid's plastic ware, I think a line of Muppet Babies based bottles (BPA free of course), bath toys, bibs and nursery accessories would do great.

 

[minor muppetz]

The only non-animated Muppet productions that referred to the Babies were MTM (where they premiered), MFC, and the small run of videos of Muppet Babies books or episodes hosted by Kermit.

I've only seen two of the Muppet Babies Video Storybooks, but those didn't have live-action Muppet Babies. They had adult Kermit (and sometimes Robin) reading the stories, but we only saw the images from the books, no live-action or animation of the babies.

Though if you meant live-action profuductions that referenced the babies (not neccessarily featured them as puppets), they were also mentioned in the 30th anniversary special (and clips were shown). Hmm, seems that series is always ignored in documentaries about Jim Henson (I guess that's okay since all he did was executive produce the series).

 

[Drtooth]

I've only seen two of the Muppet Babies Video Storybooks, but those didn't have live-action Muppet Babies. They had adult Kermit (and sometimes Robin) reading the stories, but we only saw the images from the books, no live-action or animation of the babies.

That's kind of what I was refering to... the only Muppet media where they acknowledge them at all. Of course, i also forgot Little Muppet Monsters.