Mother Goose is the fictitious figure most often attributed as the author of various children's nursery rhymes. French author Charles Perrault published a collection of fairy tales titled Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oye (Tales of My Mother Goose) in 1697. In the late 1700s, the firm of English publisher John Newbery released Mother Goose's Melody, or Sonnets of the Cradle, which perpetuated the character's association with nursery rhymes. The term "Mother Goose rhymes" is often used generically for popular nursery rhymes and songs, whether they originated in any of these collections or not.
Mother Goose has appeared as a character in several Muppet/Henson productions. On Sesame Street, the character has often been played by a human guest star and occasionally depicted as a Muppet.
The series Mother Goose Stories featured its own Muppet Mother Goose (telling not the original rhymes but versions from the L. Frank Baum book Mother Goose in Prose).
Portrayals[]
Sesame Street[]
Muppet portrayals
Humans
| Picture | Description |
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Judith Ivey plays the character in Episode 3057, where she has a dog named Rhymeraner. |
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Shirley Jones played the character as the schoolteacher Mrs. Goose in Episodes 4093 and 4110. |
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Samantha Bee in Episode 4280 |
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Tina Fey in Episode 4523 |
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Kate McKinnon in Episode 4803 |
The Muppets[]
| Picture | Description |
|---|---|
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The Winter 1984 issue of Muppet Magazine featured poultry as the "Mondo Muppet" theme. A one page story "Muppet Mother Goose," illustrating versions of the rhymes with The Muppet Show cast, features a photo puppet depiction of Mother Goose herself at the top. |
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The uncropped photo of the Muppet Mother Goose would occasionally appear elsewhere, including the 1995 book Kermit's 501 Fun Facts. |
Muppet Babies[]
| Picture | Description |
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Mother Goose (again, an actual goose) appeared in issue 8 of the Muppet Babies comic book in "The Story Land Caper," as one of several birds caught to sit on eggs until they hatch. The issue's cover depicts the more traditional nursery rhyme book version of the character, as a human flying on her goose. |
Media[]
Books[]
- The Sesame Street Mother Goose (1976)
- The Sesame Street Players Present Mother Goose (1982) - reprinted from The Sesame Street 1981 Mother Goose Calendar
- Big Bird's Mother Goose (1984) - reuses photos from the 1983 View-Master set Sesame Street Nursery Rhymes
- Muppet Babies' Mother Goose (1985)
- Sing Me a Story!: Mother Goose Songs for Children (1989)
- Sesame Street's Mother Goose Rhymes (1993)
- Mother Grouch Nursery Rhymes (1995)
- The Mother Goose Mix-Up (1995)
Other[]
- The Sesame Street Mother Goose Stand-Up Play Set (1978)
- Mother Goose Audio Card Game (1990)
- Mother Goose Stories (1990 series)
- William Wegman's Mother Goose (1997 video) - based on Sesame Street segments which began in Season 27
- "Mother Goose Jamboree" (1997 song on Sesame Street)
References[]
Nanny as Mother Goose on Muppet Babies
Mother Goose statue in That Makes Me Angry
- Jack Be Nimble threatens a lawsuit against Mother Goose for his candle-jumping injuries in a Sesame Street News Flash sketch.
- Big Bird checks out a copy of Mother Goose from the library in Sesame Street Episode 1117: "My mother used to read me that."
- Bob helps Maurice Monster read "Little Jack Horner" from his Mother Goose book in Sesame Street Episode 1262.
- Oscar dresses as "Mother Grouch" and reads Grouch spins on nursery rhymes to Buffy and Cody in Sesame Street Episode 1542. His "Mother Grouch" book has appeared in other episodes as a reused prop.
- Mother Goose is a member of the club POPCORNS ("People Other People Consider to be Other than Real Normal Specimens") in the Jim Henson's Muppets Annual 1982 story "Kermit's Christmas Diary." Kermit himself is a member, along with Santa Claus. When he takes Robin to meet Santa, the jolly one is "seated with Mother Goose and the Bogey Man. They were singing disco songs."
- Statler reads Robin the Frog a Mother Goose book in the September 19, 1984 edition of The Muppets comic strip.
- Elmo rhymes the word "vamoose" with "Mother Goose" in Sesame Street Episode 2388.
- The sixth season Muppet Babies episode "Goosetown Babies" centers on an old Mother Goose pop-up book, now falling apart, Baby Gonzo and Baby Animal use it to visit the land where the characters live, Goosetown, and meet Mother Goose herself (played by Nanny, who rides astride her goose).
- A statue of Mother Goose is in the park in the Sesame Street book That Makes Me Angry!
- Mother Chicken is a rival nursery rhyme author in Sesame Street Episode 3147.
- Ruthie says she once had to think like a furry creature in Sesame Street Episode 3759, when helping Mother Goose find the mice Hickory, Dickory, and Dock.
- In Sesame Street Episode 4098, Little Miss Muffet and Little Jack Horner threaten to tell on Goldilocks to Mother Goose when she steals their nursery rhymes. Later, they mistake Big Bird and Baby Bear for Mother Goose when they seek her help.
External links[]
- Poetry Foundation - profile of Mother Goose