Le Muppet Show title card
Le (The) Muppet Show titles
Left to right: Pierre Tornade, Roger Carel, Micheline Dax, Francis Lax and Gérard Hernandez.
Le Muppet Show is the French dub of The Muppet Show. The dub debuted in 1977 on Antenne 2. The show also aired in Canada on TQS. A small troupe of veteran French voice actors performed nearly all of the roles, with the prolific Roger Carel (the French equivalent of Mel Blanc) as Kermit. Unlike the German or Italian dubs, the Swedish Chef remained untranslated, speaking his native mock-Swedish.
During the show's original airings, the opening sequence used a Le Muppet Show sign, and occasional new footage of Kermit, filmed to better match the French dialogue. In subsequent airings and on DVD, the episodes used the original opening sequences with the English title cards. Also, like Italy, the original airings presented the series in film prints, as opposed to the 60-frame-rate videotape editions.
The success of the dub inspired the 1982 French puppet series Le Bébête Show, which combined the Muppet characters with the political satire of Spitting Image, resulting in "Kermitterand," a combination of Kermit and French President Francois Mitterand, and equally political versions of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle and Statler and Waldorf.
In 2005, a pilot, also titled Le Muppet Show, aired, for a series combining new live Muppet footage with French guest stars. The series was later retitled Muppets TV.
For Disney+, a new dub was commissioned for select episodes around 2021-2022, while retaining the original dubbed theme song audio.
Voices[]
- Roger Carel as Kermit the Frog, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew (Dr. Walbec Bunsen), The Swedish Chef (outside of tracks with Henson's voice undubbed), The Announcer, Nigel and others
- Micheline Dax as Miss Piggy, Janice, Wanda, Hilda, Mildred Huxtetter, Annie Sue, Zelda Rose, Gladys and others
- Francis Lax as Scooter, Fozzie Bear, Sam the Eagle, Dr. Teeth, and the Newsman
- Gérard Hernandez as Gonzo, Waldorf, Rowlf, Dr. Julius Strangepork (Enrico Chonnaille), Floyd Pepper (sometimes renamed Jean-Sébastien), Marvin Suggs (Etobrésil Joseph), Wayne, Zoot (Jean Roger), Animal (sometimes renamed Jean-Laurent or Jean-Marie), Uncle Deadly (Tonton Drucala)
- Pierre Tornade as Link Hogthrob (Jean Bondyork), Statler, George the Janitor, various monsters
- Pierre Tisserand as Robin the Frog and Floyd Pepper (singing, sometimes)
- Dubbing Studio: Studio SOFI
- Dub Director: André Clergeat
- Writers: Pierre Tisserand (songs), Michel Salva (dialogue)
Disney+ dub[]
- Edgar Givry as Kermit the Frog, Robin
- Éric Métayer as Miss Piggy
- Jean-Claude Donda as Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, The Swedish Chef
- Michel Elias as Waldorf, Rowlf, Animal, Sweetums, Floyd Pepper
- Patrick Préjean as Statler, The Newsman, Ernie
- Marc Saez as Scooter
- Michel Dodane as Sam the Eagle, Crazy Harry
- Xavier Fagnon as Uncle Deadly, Link Hogthrob
- Camille Donda as Janice, Hilda, Mildred Huxtetter
- Michel Vigné as Zoot, George the Janitor
- Emmanuel Curtil as Marvin Suggs
- Dubbing Studio: Dubbing Brothers
- Dub Directors: Jean-Claude Donda, Edgar Givry, Dorothée Pousséo
- Writers: Michel Salva, Elisabeth Gruninger
DVD Releases[]
LCJ Editions released two boxed sets of the series between 2002 and 2003. Each set included 26 episodes on 5 discs, with the first four discs containing five episodes and the fifth one including six. The first set included a majority of episodes from the first two seasons (with two episodes from the third season), while the second set included a mix of episodes from the last three seasons. The episodes on these sets also ended with the Zoot ending shot from the Sax and Violence number, but for some reason, had their UK Spots omitted (despite having been dubbed during the original run). Bonus features included profiles of the French voice actors and character biographies.
On September 2003, Sony Music Video released a two-disc "Best-Of" compilation DVD with ten selected episodes from the previously-released sets (with one of them being included as a bonus feature).
Eventually, the show's first season was released to DVD in France on August 2009 (despite the 2005 UK release previously including the French dubs as a secondary audio option), with the second season being released the following November of the same year. However, Episode 214 was left in English on the second season DVD set.
The last three seasons have yet to see any DVD release in their entirety. The back cover for the UK release of the season three set erroneously states that French and Italian language tracks are included.
