Mr. Bimbo



Mr. Bimbo is a man who lives in the finger of Squire Trelawney in Muppet Treasure Island. He is very smart, and has been to the moon (twice). Mr. Bimbo lives in the index finger of the Squire's left hand. Mr. Bimbo is said to be the one responsible for the hiring of the pirate crew of the Hispaniola after taking the advice of the ship's cook, Long John Silver. According to Squire Trelawney during the "Sailing for Adventure" musical number, Mr. Bimbo has a great singing voice (although he is never heard singing by the audience). In the final battle of the film, it is Mr. Bimbo who defends Trelawney by facing off against Angel Marie with his amazing swordplay abilities.

Mr. Bimbo only ever communicates privately to the Squire, no one else (including the audience) ever hears his voice nor can they see him (as he lived inside the bear's finger). This causes many to doubt his existence all together, believing Mr. Bimbo to be nothing more than a concoction of the crazy half-witted bear's imagination. Rizzo said upon hearing the Squire first mention of Mr. Bimbo, "I smell a bozo." It is never clear in the film if Mr. Bimbo is real or just in the mind of a crazy bear.

Behind the Scenes
The idea for the character came from Kirk Thatcher in a writing session for the film. He thought it would be funny to have Fozzie play the character of Squire Trelawney as a somewhat crazy dimwit who thinks there is a man living in his finger.

The finger that houses Mr. Bimbo (the index finger of Trelawney's left hand) was controlled by Frank Oz, the lead puppeteer of Squire Trelawney. Frank's right hand manipulated the Squire's head and his left hand controlled the Squire's left hand (including the Mr. Bimbo finger). The Squire's right hand was performed by a second assisting puppeteer.

Treasure Island writer Jerry Juhl said in a 1998 interview that "I thought it was lucky when Kirk Thatcher came up with the idea of Mr. Bimbo for Fozzie, having this running gag with a character living in Fozzie's finger...it was, Fozzie playing a loon. When Frank Oz came in for the first read-through, he was coming off of other projects, so it was almost a cold reading for him. He just had a chance to briefly skim it over before we started. And, at first he was just incredulous: 'Uh..uh..Fozzie really has this character in his finger?' and we said, 'Yeeeah.' It took him a long time to warm up to it but in the end he loved it." Juhl continued to say, "It takes a while to sink in! But [Frank] ended up suggesting more places on set to add bits with Mr. Bimbo."

Brian Henson talked about Frank's feeling towards the character in the commentary found on the 2003 DVD's audio commentary that "Frank [Oz] said this joke would never work - its so stupid that there's a Mr. Bimbo in his finger. He use to say 'I don't even get it, it's such a stupid joke'. And then he sort of reluctantly shot these scenes with Fozzie and at the end he said 'one of my favorite jokes is Mr Bimbo in the finger'".

Quotes
Squire Trelawney: Oh, Mr Bimbo lives in my finger. He's very smart. He's been to the moon....Oh, thank you. Twice.

Squire Trelawney: All right, Mr Bimbo. I didn't know you had such a good singing voice.

Captain Smollett: Who hired this crew? This is undoubtedly the seediest bunch of cutthroats, villains and scoundrels I have ever seen! So who hired 'em?


 * Everyone points to Squire Trelawney. Squire Trelawney points to his finger.

Captain Smollett: Your finger hired the crew?

Squire Trelawney: No, that's silly. The man who lives in my finger hired the crew - Mr Bimbo.

Captain Smollett: What?

Squire Trelawney: Yeah, he relied heavily on the advice of our excellent cook, Long John Silver.

Captain Smollett: A cook? And a guy who lives in a bear's finger?

Squire Trelawney: Exactly!

Dr Livesey: Oh, Master Hawkins, you've come to rescue us. Squire Trelawney: I should've let him live in my finger.

Squire Trelawney: Ah! Step aside, Mr Bimbo. I shall be taking the helm.

Squire Trelawney: Mr Bimbo, that was some amazing swordplay.

Jim Hawkins: Kill Captain Smollett, and you'll have to kill me. Gonzo: Kill Jim, and you'll have to kill me.

Squire Trelawney: Kill Gonzo, and you'll have to kill me. Rizzo the Rat: Kill Squire Trelawney and Mr Bimbo and you'll have to negotiate strenuously.