Muppet Babies



Muppet Babies is an animated series which ran on CBS for seven years. The concept of presenting familiar Muppet characters as babies was introduced in a sequence of The Muppets Take Manhattan. The film featured puppet versions of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie Bear, Scooter, and Rowlf as babies (the puppet versions later returned for a home movie sequence in A Muppet Family Christmas). The series added baby versions of Animal, Bunsen Honeydew, and Beaker, plus new characters such as Baby Skeeter, Scooter's sister, and Nanny.

The show's humor relied heavily on incorporating footage from live action film and television productions, most often Star Wars, but clips from Henson's own The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, and Labyrinth also surfaced.

The series prompted a short-lived spinoff, Little Muppet Monsters, and the Baby characters also appeared in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue.

Opening and Closing
The theme song featured the Muppet Babies singing about the show. Originally, the opening featured a middle verse where each baby introduced him/herself. This part of the opening was later cut during one of the final seasons, and it is cut from most episodes in syndication.

During the first season, the closing theme was an instrumental version of the theme song. Starting in the second season, the music was changed to an instrumental version of the Little Muppet Monsters theme song. This version of the closing replaced the original closing when aired on Nickelodeon. The closing also showed various stills of the cast (and the second season closing also included various background artwork from the series).

Reruns
After the series ended its run on CBS, reruns of the first 96 episodes aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 until 1999. These same episodes were also rerun on the Odyssey Network in 1999. Although most episodes from the last season were not shown in syndication, a number of them were released on video.The show can be seen in the UK on Playhouse Disney.

Video and DVD Releases
A few episodes were released on videos that were sold at McDonald's restaurants during the 1980s.

In 1993 and 1994, Jim Henson Video released a few videos of the show.

In 2003, a few stuffed Muppet Babies toys were sold with DVDs which contained one episode each.

Cast

 * Greg Berg as Baby Fozzie and Baby Scooter
 * Dave Coulier as Baby Animal (1986-1991), Baby Bunsen (1986-1991), Baby Bean Bunny, Young Janice, Uncle Statler and Uncle Waldorf
 * Katie Leigh as Baby Rowlf
 * Howie Mandel as Baby Skeeter (1984-1986) Baby Animal (1984-1986), Baby Bunsen (1984-1986)
 * Laurie O'Brien as Baby Piggy
 * Russi Taylor as Baby Gonzo and Baby Robin
 * Frank Welker as Baby Kermit, Baby Skeeter (1986 -1991), Baby Beaker
 * Barbara Billingsley as Nanny



Credits

 * Executive Producers: Jim Henson, Margaret Loesch, Lee Gunther, Michael K. Frith, Joe Taritero
 * Created for Television by: Jim Henson
 * Developed for Television by: Jeffrey Scott
 * Executive in Charge of Series/Story Editor/Voice Director: Hank Saroyan
 * Creative Consultant: Michael K. Frith
 * Writers: Jeffrey Scott, Hank Saroyan, Larry Swerdlove, Sindy McKay, Scott Shaw
 * Story Consultant: Jack Mendlesohn
 * Art Director: Takashi
 * Supervising Directors: Terrence Lennon, Ray Lee
 * Original Score: Rob Walsh