506 Muppet Baby Boom stork theory
An old folk tale concerning the question of "where babies come from" involves a newborn child being delivered to parents in a sack by way of a stork. Some versions of the story claim that the birds retrieve the babies from caves which they then transport all over the world, sometimes delivered by dropping the parcel attached to a small parachute. The story has appeared in many cultures through illustrations, literature, and fairy tales, and in the modern era, commonly by way of animation. Some of the more notable examples include the delivery of baby Dumbo in the Disney film of the same name, various Looney Tunes, and the 2016 Warner Bros. animated feature Storks.
References[]
- The Sesame Street 1976 Calendar features a stork carrying baby John James Audubon to mark his birthday on April 26. Illustrator Michael J. Smollin depicted the infant Audubon holding a small bird, referencing his later work studying avian behavior.
- In Sesame Street Episode 0937, Big Bird watches an egg, much to his astonishment. He comments, "I never did believe that story about the stork." In a later episode (Episode 1184), he jokingly answers Gordon's query about where babies come from by saying the stork.
- Robin the Frog asks where he came from in the April 3, 1984 edition of The Muppets comic strip. In response, Miss Piggy says the stork brought him, but Kermit insists that he's a big frog now and tells Robin that it was actually a trout.
- Preparing for the arrival of a baby in the Muppet Babies episode "Muppet Baby Boom", one of several theories about the origin of babies is offered by Baby Fozzie. He explains that they come from the "Stork Exchange" where storks fly from all over the world to trade in old towels for babies which are then dropped from space to their new mommies. The Stork Exchange operates much like an airport where storks are provided with their cargo and receive maintenance after long flights. When tasked with taking some destination cards to the control tower by an exhausted stork, Fozzie and Baby Rowlf get the cards mixed up, resulting in a number of animals all over the world receiving babies of the wrong species.
- Margaret the Stork sets the record straight in episode 212 of The Animal Show when Armstrong the Chicken Hawk asks if it's true that storks bring babies. Margaret debunks the myth by explaining the story came out of the luck associated with storks building their nests on the roofs of houses, the inhabitants of which would be blessed to have a baby.
- In one of "Big Bird's Video Postcards," he visits a farmers market in New York City. One of his guesses as to where the produce stand's tomatoes come from is "the stork brings them."