World War I on The Muppet Show
Alphabet Bates, dressed as the stereotypical WWI flying ace
Animal re-enacts the German perspective of WWI on Muppets.com.
World War I (1914-1918) was the first World War, or as it was referred to at the time, "the Great War" (followed by World War II). The global conflict arose from complex causes including diplomatic entanglements, complicated treaties, and the ongoing empire building of several nations in the early 20th century, though the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand of Austria is often pinpointed as an inciting event.
The war was the first to involve use of aircraft on a wide scale, with fighter biplanes becoming an iconic image of the era, and the attire (aviator goggles, scarf to prevent dust, leather jacket) became a signifier for dashing pilots thereafter, especially in cartoons (and the Muppets). Later popular media accounts implied much of the action was actually fought by a beagle on top of his doghouse. World War I was also when the iconic "Uncle Sam Wants YOU!" recruiting posters first emerged, in 1917.
References[]
- Statler in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence complains that the younger generation don't know where they're going. Waldorf replies that neither did the Kaiser (Wilhelm II).
- Statler brings up the Kaiser again in The Muppet Show episode 103, saying the last time he and Waldorf agreed was in the summer of 1912 (two years before the recognized start of the war). They concurred that "Kaiser Bill" looked funny in a hat.
- "Why Can't We Be Friends?" opens The Muppet Show episode 401. Along with other combatants from different times and nations, it depicts soldiers with American accents in Allied WWI uniforms, as well as a gas mask and trenches, introduced for military use in the first World War, and barbed wire as defensive fortification and for trapping purposes (begun in earlier wars but it came to signify the Western front). German soldiers in spiked Prussian helmets, also associated with WWI, join in the song as well. Statler and Waldorf, wearing German helmets of their own, bring the number to an end by shooting the singers with a machine gun (another weapon closely associated with the Western Front).
- Sesame Street scripts, for characters who are pilots or even just planning a plane trip, frequently specify a WWI flying ace outfit. Alphabet Bates is a typical example when he actually appears on-screen. His French accent reflects the Allied status of France and that country's role in WWI's aerial conflicts, while his driver Dominique drives a motorcycle which was used as transport when pilots had to make emergency landings.
- John Crichton refers to Grayza as "Mata Hari" in the Farscape episode "Resurrection." Mata Hari was an alleged Dutch spy for Germany during WWI, and it was claimed she had mythical powers of seduction, just as Grayza has literal powers of seduction.
- Barón Púrpura on Plaza Sésamo is a parody of Germany's Red Baron (Manfred von Richthofen), considered the deadliest flying ace of World War I.
- Animal performed his version of the 1929 WWI novel All Quiet on the Western Front in an installment of "Animal Theatre" on Muppets.com.
- The first issue of The Muppet Show Comic Book: The Treasure of Peg-Leg Wilson featured Wayne and Wanda performing "When the Lusitania Went Down," bemoaning the fate of the civilian ocean liner destroyed by a German submarine, which cost 128 American lives and was used as a rallying cry leading to the United States of America directly entering the war.