The Wonderful Night of Hercules Brown is a 1968 special produced by the United States Information Agency for broadcast to other countries. While made in English, a Spanish dub was also produced.[1]
The production spotlighted an assortment of TV puppet performers, including the Muppets, Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, and the Ritts Puppets (Paul and Mary Ritts, with the troupe they'd been using since the 1950s), as well as Cleveland, Ohio children's TV host Linn Sheldon (as his established character Barnaby the leprechaun). In addition to her segment with Lamb Chop, Shari Lewis plays the boy's mother.[1]
The title character, Hercules Brown, is a boy (played by Solomon Levin)[2] who is guided into his dreams by Barnaby and encounters the various puppets. His first dream is of Kermit the Frog (performing "The Glow-Worm"; Barnaby refers to him as an "old bully frog"). After a segment with the Ritts animal puppets, Barnaby talks about doing the impossible, which leads into "Happy Girl Meets a Monster" performed by Beautiful Day Monster and Suzy (Barnaby calls after her, "So long, Sue! Come back in another dream!").
Immediately after, Barnaby and Hercules walk to a wall and meet Rowlf ("So either I'm a handsome dog or a very ugly person.") Rowlf explains how all dogs can talk and reports an intellectual discussion he had with fellow canine Skipper. He says humans don't hear dogs talk because most of what they have to say is dull, about eating, sleeping, and chasing cats.
Sources[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Back to Work with Puppets - The Wonderful Night of Hercules Brown." National Archives: The Unwritten Record blog. January 12, 2022.
- ↑ National Archives Catalog entry