Muppet Babies (1984 - 1991)

It’s time once again for me to talk about the Saturday morning cartoons of my youth. 

Ahh… youth. 

Let’s Kablama Slam! 

 

The Premise: It’s right there in the title. The MUPPETS are BABIES. Kermit the Frog and friends hang out in a nursery under the care of their nanny,…Nanny. They play, sing songs and solve problems using the incredible power of their combined imagination. 

 

     There have been countless spinoffs, over the years, where characters from a franchise are reimagined as younger versions: The Flintstone Kids, Yo Yogi!, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo, Baby Looney Tunes, Disney Babies, Baby Yoda… okay that last one’s a little on the fence, but still! The idea’s been done! Muppet Babies, however, did it first! 

     The whole concept spawned from a random scene in the 1984 film, The Muppets Take Manhattan, or rather that random scene spawned from the concept. The actual plot of the film involves the Muppets trying to make it on Broadway, but then there’s this moment where Miss Piggy inexplicably daydreams about the gang knowing one another since birth! It’s jarring and completely out of character, almost as if its only purpose was to plug a cartoon series that would air two months later. I may sound as if I’m saying all of this with a tone of cynicism, but whatever! It worked! The moment is BY FAR my favorite of the film and, what’s more… I loved this show! 

     Where other preschool cartoons focus on more basic things like shapes and numbers, Muppet Babies was all about using your imagination. One minute the gang are in their nursery, and the next they’re serving cheeseburgers in Jabba the Hutt’s palace! While the situation would constantly bounce back and forth from the babies’ reality to their stock-footage filled daydreams, at no point do any of the characters question what the others are doing. They take the ball and run with it like a preschool improv group made up of bears, pigs, and whatevers. It’s hard to think of another show that more accurately visualizes “playing pretend,” as well as promoting creativity to the level that Muppet Babies does. When you consider that the show is the product of one of the most creative people who’ve ever walked the planet, however, well… there’s no other way the show could have gone!

Kablama Slam! Fun Fact: Most of the main cast appear in puppet form in The Muppets Take Manhattan with the exception of Animal and Skeeter. The puppet version of Baby Animal later appeared during a scene in A Muppet Family Christmas, while Skeeter, in one of the largest failures of the human race, has yet to appear in puppet form ever!

Happy Birthday, Jim Henson!

     Today is Jim Henson's birthday! I was going to commemorate the occasion by honoring the man with some standard Kermit fan art. You know? Run of the mill stuff. However, I instead chose to go against the grain a little by drawing some more Sesame Street...

....aaaaand without any characters that Jim Henson ever performed.

...

Yeah I really didn't think this through.

Blathering Blatherskite!

     I was feeling a little nostalgic for the DuckTales NES game, so I thought I'd revamp an old Gizmoduck drawing with his original moon look. I loved every level of that game, but I think I'm pretty well in the majority when I say that the Moon level was my favorite.

Smurf Along With Me!

     There's a new Smurf series right around the corner. Thinking about this made me realize that, in my first Kablama Slam installment, I didn't do the little blue guys enough justice. Here now are few more of what I'm calling "Silly Tokens," featuring more of the blue crew!

There's more to smurf! Stay tuned!

C is for Cookie

     I don't know if anyone out there is getting a kick out of these Sesame Street characters of mine, but I'm certainly getting a kick out of drawing them. Here's the third installment featuring MY personal favorite: Cookie Monster!

     Some of these guys, like Cookie for example, are so simple in their design and yet still so difficult for me to convey the personality that I'm wanting to convey. After a couple of takes, though, I came up with something I'm happy with. Cool story, huh?

Who Wants a Friend Like This?!

 

     I try really hard to keep things positive and upbeat on this blog which takes quite a bit of effort at times as I'm in my 40's now and it's becoming easier and easier to sound like an old piece of crap. This whole business with Disney World's new Genie Plus, however, has me too upset. It upsets me that Fastpasses are no longer free when they have been for years. It upsets me that the same company who makes such inclusive statements as "We're all in this together" or "There's room for everyone under the rainbow" would simultaneously continue to transform their park into one that only caters to the privileged upper class.

     But what really upsets me... WHAT REALLY UPSETS ME... is that this disgusting cash grab is all under the name of one of my favorite characters! I mean, what's next, Disney? An "Elsa Plus" that makes you pay for a once complimentary cup of ice water?!?

Happy 50th, Disney World! Way to be an old piece of crap!

Eek! the Cat (1992 - 1997)

     The Kablama Slam continues! Last time, I talked about a certain cartoon cat that we all know and love. I thought I’d keep the theme going with another feline who might not have had the same impact as his orange tabby predecessor, but certainly left his mark on my childhood Saturday mornings.

      

The Premise: Eek is a kind and optimistic cat who never fails to put others’ needs before his own, despite the fact that doing so consistently causes disaster. He’s the pet of two bratty children and the constant victim of Sharky the Sharkdog, the neighbor’s… dog? Fish mutant? Seriously, what is that thing?! 

     Eek! the Cat, or Eek!Stravaganza as it was later retitled, was the product of Nelvana Animation, the Canadian company responsible for The Care Bear Movie!... as well as... well... many other properties that were NOT The Care Bear Movie. Overall, Eek! felt like a cruder version of Garfield. Not that that's a bad thing. Especially at the time, "cruder" cartoons pushed the envelope of "family friendly" animation in the same way the greats like Tex Avery and Chuck Jones did back in their day.

     This show was a must-watch for my brothers and I every week and, while I might not be able to recall any specific plot line, I could list random elements from it all day!  I remember Sharky, of course. I remember that Eek had a morbidly obese girlfriend who he never realized was fat because he only saw her personality… Sweet? I remember a Star Trek parody where Mr. Spock was a sock puppet named Mr. Sock, and I remember the Squishy Bears: crude knock-offs of... Oh! Look at that! The Care Bears!

     I keep using the word 'crude,' but the show still had a sense of charm. Eek's cracked smile, frazzled whiskers, and overall strung out look are the product of his relentless optimism in the face of constant adversity. It's a trait that I personally strive to emulate and, while I probably wouldn't cite Eek! the Cat as a  personal inspiration, you'd be remiss if you didn't find the little guy's attitude just a little inspirational.

     After a couple of seasons, the show tacked on another cartoon than ran as a separate segment, the same way Garfield and Friends did with U.S. Acres. It was called The Terrible Thunderlizards and told the story of three mercenary dinosaurs named Doc, Kutter, and Squatt attempt to kill two inept cavemen and, in classic cartoon fashion, NEVER succeed. 

Kablama Slam! Fun Fact: Eek! the Cat was originally titled "The Six and a Half Lives of Eek the Cat."

Jellicles Do

     Last August, I posted my first attempt at putting a new spin on the characters from Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cats and, would you look at that? Exactly one year later, here I am rolling out the second batch!

     As I mentioned, the theatrical version of Cats is greatly appreciated in our household. We have it on DVD and my daughter used to watch it literally every single day! She had the entire thing memorized to the point where any version that was performed even the slightest bit different would make her cringe. Lately, however, she's moved on to other interests. She still likes Cats, but it's no longer the obsession it once was. This is a good thing, of course, but I'd be lying if I said there weren't times where I wished I could go back to when that sweet kid was scream singing "Memory" in the back seat and, somehow, freeze that moment forever.

Sunrise, sunset, I guess.

Sorry. That's another musical entirely.

Two! Two Sesame Street Blog Posts!

     Here's the next installment of me satisfying my nostalgic urge to draw some classic Sesame Street. Years ago, Palisades Toys announced a line of Sesame Street action figures in the same vein as their beloved Muppet Show figures. Sadly, the company went bankrupt before the toys were ever produced. While this was good news for my bank account, it left a small void in that little muppety piece of my soul. I've attempted to fill this void by drawing these characters in the same waves as the action figures were released. It has absolutely zero collector's value, but it is much easier on said bank account.