Age ain't nothin' but a number...
Oh, ye ancient thread. But this one is interesting.
Fan's know that there's a Muppet Bible/Rule Book out there for writers to use as guidelines for the beloved characters. Nobody really knows what's in it, but I have a few thoughts about it and believe that a big part of the rules is that old Cantus saying that there are no rules. You will seldom get a straight answer from a Muppet so it's fruitless to ask.
What's Muppet cannon? Well, roughly...
The Muppets are an acting troupe that all met up in one way or another to eventually put on television shows and star in films. Anything more than that is up to the individual fan.
The age dilemma with the Muppet Babies is that it contradicts anything that came before. The Muppet Babies incarnation having the main cast no more than one year apart just doesn't quite sync. It's a little compartmentalized tucked away space that doesn't really have to make sense. It's a world of imagination only so making it fit into anything concrete goes against the nature of the program.
Using the Muppet Show and Movie as a guide, the ages do have some sort of range. You've got
Robin who is
almost 5,
Scooter who is likely a
teenager or college age,
Fozzie, Gonzo and Beaker whose naivety and passion for what they do is indicative of young adulthood somewhere in the
early 20's,
Kermit is centered yet youthful and seems like he's in the
first half of his 30's.
Miss Piggy is perpetually 39 going on 29, of course.
Animal, Janice, Floyd and most of the rest fall into this middle ground category.
Rowlf seems like an older mellow dog in his
40's as do
Zoot,
Dr. Teeth and
Bunsen. They've seen some life, but not as much as the late
70's Statler & Waldorf. Those are my assessments. Of course the Muppets don't really age, but it is relative to the dynamic between the characters. Gonzo seems to be closer to Kermit in age now and Fozzie's a little more self-aware so there's definitely a sliding scale. However, Scooter will never be older than Kermit and Robin will always be a child.
As for Scooter's introduction. Well, he's a schemer. He has his own things going. He makes connections and weaves through crowds to facilitate the Muppet Show and his own agenda. And, he's beloved by all.
