Muppet Babies - 20+ years later

[zns]

Longtime members of this forum know how i generally feel about Muppet Babies - they're a bit of a sore spot with me as i feel the show was one of the worst things that happened to the brand: That as the kids who grew up with The Muppet Show were growing up, along came a show with the Muppet characters very geared towards kiddies while the projects for older Muppet fans were scarce and how a whole generation grew up more familiar with the Babies than the real deal. The Babies are a bit of a sore spot for me purely in terms of what they represent in regards to the history of The Muppets and how they're so associated with their decline in popularity.

However how i feel about the effect the Babies had on the brand is different than how i may feel about the show by itself on its own merits.

I've been working heavily lately on sorting through my video collection - getting caught up on inventory, dubbing all the tons of videotapes do dvds and checking the quality of those already on dvd and i've been rewatching a few episodes of Muppet Babies for the first in a long time.

Now that it's over two decades later and we're at the beginning of The Year of the Muppets, i can watch the show without bitterness or fears of what it's doing to the rest of the brand since it's now well in the past. And i've gotta say, i'm actually enjoying it. Sure there are stronger episodes and seasons than others but watching Muppet Babies episodes today is actually a fun pleasure rather than the chore i feared it may seem like. Despite it all, when it comes right down to it and everything else is set aside, i really love this show.

When it originally aired, i was too hung up on (a) the brand that was never supposed to be kiddie entertainment was now exactly that (b) i was getting older and things like Muppet Babies and SST were becoming more things that i may watch by accident more than appointed viewing or something to set the vcr for (c) not only having the Muppets as babies but also neither moved or voiced by the classic performers. Back then, even if it was a good episode that made me laugh, it was still a bittersweet somewhat painful experience. But now i can watch MB episodes without any of those things lurking in the background and just enjoy the show for what it was. I'll never love it more than the "real" Muppets but i can nonetheless still declare myself a fan.

Watching MB now is a very different experience than it was watching it in the 80s so if there are other Muppet fans who haven't watched the show in ages, you may want to give it a new chance.

...besides how can anyone not love Baby Animal?

If only someone would put the shows on DVD. Let's hope that Disney will pull out the big guns with the movie soon. (along with the season 4 release of the Muppet Show).

 

[dwmckim]

I have no doubt that MB will see a dvd release someday - but more in the long term. With the movie/relaunch taking place at the end of the year, i really don't see an official MB release until 2013 at the earliest. MB is a bit of an explosive, needs to be handled with care and only used when the time is right. Disney's worked too hard on getting the Muppets back to being a hot property. If they play the Muppet Babies card anywhere close to the movie's release that will just bring up all the mass confusion about the "real" Muppets' audience and the whole Muppets=babies Pandora's box that set the Muppets back in the 80s.

 

[Drtooth]

Even if it does... there are so many insane rights to get cleared when it comes to video footage. I'm sure Lucas would lone out the Star Wars footage, but remember, and I've said this a while now, When Muppet Babies came out, it was during a pretty big partnership between Henson and Columbia at the time... hence the Ghostbusters scene used even in the theme song at one point.

There are a LOT of episodes that don't have that sort of footage, sure. But most of them aren't all that memorable. We could see best ofs, but not complete seasons. We'd either have episodes or scenes missing... and there's no guarantee we'd even get the uncut original Saturday Morning broadcast versions of episodes either...

All and all if season 4 ever the heck came out (even that's doubtful now), I'd love to see ONE episode as a bonus. I'd rather see various shorts from Little Muppet Monsters, though... especially ones from unfinished episodes.

 

[dwmckim]

As i type, i've got "What's New at the Zoo?" dubbing from vhs to dvd in the background and i am laughing out loud at several parts. (And almost always at every Baby Animal scene - "WATER ballet!" "Deer Friend!")

 

[dwmckim]

...and now just finished transferring the Muppet Museum of Art episode which is another classic (and i've noticed tends to be the one most often cited when people recall their memories of watching the show: "the one with Piggy and the roller skate") "What would Nanny like? I've got it! An Italian cookbook! That way when Fozzie tells a bad joke, Nanny can scrape the tomato off his face and make us a pizza! Uh...ravioli?"

And of course an excellent Baby Animal episode. This has got probably one of my favorite scenes in the entire series...Animal distracting Nanny/Skeeter with the paddleball (followed immediately by the door slam in his face right after! The timing, sound effect and Animal's yelp are priceless. Rewound this several times and laughed to the point of tears.) plus Piggy/Animal's whole "Me Renoir-har-har-har!" scene. Love the expressions on both characters' faces along with the voice actors' performances! Cracks me up every time. Another classic "acting" moment is Gonzo/Kermit's Butch/Sundance nose bump over the map.

The incorporation of some of the Kermitage pieces...Kermit's oil painting...Fozzie's "My painting is ruined!"...cleaning up Animal's painting fantasy...Animal's totally random direct smile to the camera during Piggy's confession. Love it all to pieces! This is a terrific episode to show someone who's not so fond of the Babies!

 

[GonzoLeaper]

Haha- "the one with Piggy and the roller skate" is an awesome episode!

 

[Drtooth]

...and now just finished transferring the Muppet Museum of Art episode which is another classic (and i've noticed tends to be the one most often cited when people recall their memories of watching the show: "the one with Piggy and the roller skate") "What would Nanny like? I've got it! An Italian cookbook! That way when Fozzie tells a bad joke, Nanny can scrape the tomato off his face and make us a pizza! Uh...ravioli?"

I still completely lose it over the scene where everyone's Pablo Pa-Rowlfo and Pablo Pa-Kermit... and they turn Scooter into Pablo Pa-Scooter by bending his glasses...

I can't say what episode is my favorite... but the Sunday Funnies episode, Gonzo's Video Show, the great Muppet Cartoon Show, and that one where everyone explores their inner weirdness are my tops... unless I remember others.

 

[minor muppetz]

I reckon that if the series ever does get released, the hardest episode to release would be This Little Piggy Went to Hollywood. That used a lot of TV and film footage, and a lot of the footage seemed important to the plot. Editing all those scenes out would shorten it significantly.

Though Muppet Babies: The Next Generation was released on VHS back in the early 1990s, and included footage from the Star Wars movies (and I think Star Trek clips). Was the video release of that episode edited?

 

[Great Gommzo]

MB was ok as a kids show but absolutely nowhere near as good as TMS.