PERFORMER | Frank Oz |
DEBUT | 1969 |
DESIGN | Jim Henson designer |
Caroly Wilcox builder |
The Snowths are furry pink creatures with horns and round, yellow lips who sing the "do doo do doo doo" backup vocals in versions of "Mah Na Mah Na" that have appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Muppet Show. Both Snowths were performed simultaneously by Frank Oz, who performed one puppet on each arm; as a result, the Snowths' arms could not be controlled by arm rods and swung freely from side to side.
Unlike their singing partner Mahna Mahna, the Snowths made relatively few appearances on The Muppet Show outside of their performance of "Mahna Mahna" on episode 101. In the closing of the very last episode, one of them appears near Roger Moore among the "sick, weird, disgusting animals [he] can trust".
On Muppets Tonight, the Snowths appeared without Mahna Mahna in a sketch on episode 107 that parodied the classic sketch. They also made two appearances with Kermit the Frog on Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, performing "Got My Mind Set on You" in 2001, and "Mahna Mahna" in 2002.
The former appearance was the first instance of the Snowths having movable hand-rod arms, which were utilized in the 2001 show The Muppet Show Live, where one of them puts their hands over their mouth when Mahna Mahna goes crazy. They also appeared in the 2005 "Bandanana" commercial for the Australian charity CanTeen, in which they, along with Mahna Mahna, wore green bandanas. In 2008, the Snowths appeared on Studio DC Hosted by Dylan and Cole Sprouse, performing backup for Miley Cyrus on the song "G.N.O. (Girls' Night Out)".
In Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles, Alison Inches explains that the characters in Jim Henson's original sketch were called Snouths, based on a combination of the words snout and mouth. However, by the time the characters appeared on The Muppet Show, the spelling had changed to Snowths. The characters are referred to as such in The Muppet Show Book, on the back of The Muppet Show album, and on all future album releases.
One of the Snowths is featured in The Muppets Character Encyclopedia entry for Koozebanians suggesting their species may hail from the Planet Koozebane.
In The Muppets, the narrator for the home video version's descriptive English track describes them as "two pink Muppets vaguely like cows."
Filmography[]
- The Ed Sullivan Show ("Mah Na Mah Na")
- This Is Tom Jones
- The Dick Cavett Show
- The Muppet Show
- Episode 101: Juliet Prowse ("Mahna Mahna")
- Episode 317: Spike Milligan (one Snowth)
- Episode 515: Carol Burnett
- Episode 524: Roger Moore (one Snowth)
- The Muppet Movie ("The Rainbow Connection" Finale)
- The Muppets Take Manhattan (Wedding Finale)
- Muppets Tonight
- Episode 107: Sandra Bullock ("The Psychiatrist's Office", one performed by Jerry Nelson)
- The Muppet Show Live (performed by Dave Goelz and John Kennedy)
- The 2001 Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon ("Got My Mind Set on You" with Kermit, performed by John Kennedy and Julianne Buescher)[1]
- The 2002 Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon ("Mahna Mahna" with Kermit; both Snowths are performed by Julianne Buescher)
- CanTeen "Bandanana" commercial (Kevin Clash)
- Muppets Ahoy! (performed by Victor Yerrid and Brett O'Quinn)
- Studio DC Hosted by Dylan and Cole Sprouse ("G.N.O. (Girls' Night Out)" with Miley Cyrus)
- Muppet viral videos
- "The Muppet Show Theme" music video
- The Muppets
- Orange commercial
- Good Morning America
- November 17, 2011 (performed by Matt Vogel and Peter Linz)
- November 27, 2012
- Kermit's Party
- Jim Henson's Musical World (Kevin Clash)
- The Bachelorette
- "All I Need is Love" music video (Steve Whitmire and Eric Jacobson)
- Christmas in Rockefeller Center
- Muppets Most Wanted
- The Muppets
- "Because... Love" (Matt Vogel and Peter Linz[2])
- The Muppets Take the Bowl (Matt Vogel and Peter Linz)
- The Muppets Take the O2 (Drew Massey and Peter Linz)
- The Masked Singer
Book appearances[]
- The Muppet Show Book
- The Muppet Show Comic Book
- Issue #1 - "Kermit's Story" (cover only)
- Issue #4 - "Miss Piggy's Story"
- The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson
- Issue #2
- Muppet Robin Hood - Issue #3
- Muppet Snow White
Merchandise[]
- Palisades Toys released a PVC figure of the Snowths in the Mini Muppets collection.
- Plans to release full-size, articulated action figures of the Snowths in Series 12 of Palisades' line were never realized.
- Funko released a Snowth vinyl figure in 2012. Two metallic painted Snowths were included in a 3-pack box set (with a metallic paint Mahna Mahna figure) sold exclusively at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con.
- A Snowth 3" figure was included in the third series of Muppet Vinylmation figures.