The Muppet Musicians of Bremen Heroes!
The Muppet Musicians of Bremen Baddies.
A quartet of Travelin' Musicians.
The Muppet Musicians of Bremen is an hour-long Muppet TV special that first aired on April 26, 1972.[1] It ran syndicated as part of the "Tales from Muppetland" series, following the 1969 special Hey Cinderella! and 1971's The Frog Prince. Bremen is a modern telling of the German fairy tale "The Bremen Town Musicians," popularly recorded by the Brothers Grimm.
In this musical special, Kermit the Frog narrates the story of the Muppet Musicians of Bremen. In a departure from the source material (the folk tale "The Musicians of Bremen"), the action takes place not in Germany but in the Louisiana countryside.
Leroy (a donkey), T.R. (a rooster), Rover Joe (a hound dog) and Catgut (a cat) escape the clutches of their cruel human owners and set out in search of a better life. They find musical instruments -- which they learn to play remarkably quickly -- then form a band and go on the road, playing their own distinctive brand of Louisiana Bayou jazz.
While their owners -- a gang of robbers named Mordecai Sledge, Farmer Lardpork, Mean Floyd and Caleb Siles -- are hiding out in a cabin in the Bayou to divide their loot, the fugitive animals mistake the cabin for lodgings where they can play their music in exchange for room and board. The superstitious gang members are spooked out of their lair by the sound of mysterious music on a night with a full moon.
Two of the most prominent Muppet character types, the rats and the chickens, were first created for this special.
Songs[]
Credits[]
- Producer/Director: Jim Henson
- Book and Lyrics by: Jerry Juhl
- Music by: Jack Elliott
- Muppets by: Donalad Sahlin (sic), Bonnie Lewis, Caroly Wilcox, Kermit Love
- Executive Producer: John T. Ross
- Associate Producer: Marilyn Stonehouse
- Associate Producer for the Muppets: Diana Birkenfield
- Settings Designed by: William Beeton
- Set Decoration: Stephen Finnie
- Special Effects: George Clark
- A R.L.P. Canada/Henson Associates Production
Cast[]
- Muppet Performers: Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Jim Henson, Richard Hunt, John Lovelady, Danny Seagren, Franz Fazakas
- Voices:
- Jerry Nelson as T.R. and Caleb Siles
- Nick Nichols as Leroy and Lardpork
- Francois Klanfer as Rover Joe and Mordecai Sledge
- Phyllis Marshall as Catgut
- Jim Henson as Kermit the Frog and Mean Floyd (uncredited)
- Jerry Juhl as Chickens (uncredited)
Notes[]
- The special has had limited distribution beyond its original airing, with only a few home video releases in the early 1980s. However, Leroy, T.R., Rover Joe, and Catgut have been depicted together in a few illustrated cameos in books, including Muppet King Arthur #1 (2010), and The Muppet Christmas Carol: The Illustrated Holiday Classic (2019).
Edits[]
- In the Nickelodeon airings, the beginning of Catgut's story is cut. After Catgut says "that's right" to Leroy's reaction to learning she made friends with rats, the scene cuts straight to the rats planning to sneak past Catgut.
- In certain releases, the onscreen text is replaced with a different font. The ending is also edited, removing a shot of the four playing from outside the window as the credits begin.
