Were Cantus & the Minstrels based on anyone

[Cantus Rock]

Portions of Cantus's dialogue are adapted versions of a speech given by Jerry Nelson (playing the character of "The Monk") in Jim Henson's masterpiece "The Cube."

 

[Dash X]

Portions of Cantus's dialogue are adapted versions of a speech given by Jerry Nelson (playing the character of "The Monk") in Jim Henson's masterpiece "The Cube."

wow, i didn't know that

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Well - Balsam the Minstrel, as far as I know might've been named after Phil Balsam.I'm not sure, but I think he wrote some of the songs or music for Fraggle Rock. I know he had something to do with it.

Musician/songwriter Phil Balsam and his neighbor, poet/lyricist Dennis Lee were the principal songwriting duo behind a good 90% of the songs on FR. Incidentally, you might remember the poem "Alligator Pie" which is also by Lee, from one of his volumes of children's poetry. Dennis Lee was already a respected poet of the mature variety but also dabbled in children's verse. Phil Balsam was a neighbor and they used to get together and collaborate from
time to time before landing the FR gig. Lee is also Toronto's Poet Laureate (don't ask me what the title actually means, all I know is it's official and important).

On the subject of Murray's name, I always figured that it was a planned oddity, like the 'Santa Claus Switch' elves, Zippity, Skippity, Hoppity, Bing, Bong and Fred, or the Three Musketeers in the "Muppets Go to the Movies" sketch, who were named Ethos, Porthos, and Gummo (played by Gonzo, Scooter, and Link, respectively). There are probably more examples of this kind of one-off humor, it seems like it used to be fairly common in the Muppet universe.

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole