Muppet Babies enact the rhyme
Fozzie Bear as the rhyme's pieman.
Simple Simon is a nursery rhyme which was first published in 1794, but the character itself may date back to the late 1600s. The first two stanzas of the rhyme are the most well known, telling the tale of Simple Simon asking the Pieman at the fair for a sample of his wares.
The rhyme continues to be reprinted and referenced in the last century, with references being made in Disney animated shorts, Three Stooges shorts, the television series The Simpsons, and the feature film Die Hard.
References[]
- Kermit sings a new version of the song in the book-and-tape set Sing Me a Story!.
- Sesame Street featured an animated segment by Jeff Hale about Simple Simon coming across strange-looking animals. (First: Episode 0540)
- Muppet Babies' Classic Nursery Rhymes features the rhyme with Baby Fozzie as Simple Simon, Baby Rowlf as the pieman, and Baby Piggy as a candy vendor.
- The Muppet Babies take on the rhyme again in the Big Book of Nursery Rhymes & Fairy Tales.
- The Sesame Street Treasury Volume 12 features a re-telling of the story with Grover and Cookie Monster.
- In episode 511 of The Muppet Show, Fozzie takes on the role of a pieman during Paul Simon's "Scarborough Fair" number, and greets the guest star with the first few lines of "Simple Simon" (before being pied by the less simple Mr. Simon).