Jim Henson's Muppet Babies
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| German title | Jim Henson's Muppet Babies |
| Original title | Muppet babies |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Year (s) | 1984-1991 |
| length | 25 minutes |
| Episodes | 107 in 7 seasons |
| genre | Comedy |
| idea | Jim Henson , Jeffrey Scott |
| First broadcast | September 15, 1984 on CBS |
| German-language first broadcast |
September 20, 1987 on ZDF |
Jim Henson's Muppet Babies was an American animated series that revolved around toddler versions of the Muppets from the Muppet Show . The series ran in the original from 1984 to 1991 on the American television channel CBS . In contrast to the Muppet Show, which should definitely appeal to an adult audience, the Muppet Babies were clearly designed for children. Since 2018 there has been a computer-animated series of the same name that can be viewed as a reboot .
history
In the Muppet Babies, toddler versions of the Muppets live together in a child's room and are looked after by a “nanny”. The outside world only comes into the room in the form of rarely appearing adults. Otherwise, the Muppet Babies are dependent on their imagination, in which they experience numerous adventures together. In doing so, they use their imagination to solve problems individually differently and thus to achieve success with many different creative ideas.
Characters
The Muppet Babies mostly consist of Kermit, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fozzie, Rowlf, Scooter and the animal. Honeydew bunsen burners and his later assistant Beaker were also featured in some of the stories. As a further girl, Scooter was given a twin sister named Skeeter aside. Outside of this series, however, it was rarely used. It only reappeared for a short time in the comic series "The Muppet Show", which was produced in 2013.
synchronization
layout
From the perspective of the drawings, the series consistently took the position of the Muppet Babies. This means that, for example, chairs and tables were larger than life and far away and that Nanny's only legs and knees could be seen. A recurring element in the series was the integration of excerpts from current films such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones , in which the babies put themselves in their shoes.
prehistory
The idea of creating the toddler versions of the Muppets and their world was originally planned only once for the film The Muppets Conquer Manhattan . There it all played within a dream sequence. The idea was very well received. Among other things, "The Muppets Conquer Manhattan" was the first Muppets film that made a comparatively large amount of money through merchandise because numerous providers wanted licenses for products with the Muppet Babies.
Finally, Marvel Productions and CBS asked Jim Henson for a license to an animated series. It was supposed to run on Saturday morning - the typical time for children's entertainment on American television back then. Henson, who had long resisted ending up in the Saturday morning slot, was finally convinced, especially since the series was produced by Marvel and Henson and his staff only had marginal contact with it.
Henson worked with Michael Frith on an entire concept for the series. Basically, the program should be about developing creativity and pursuing your own ideas.
The designs for the drawn Muppet Babies came from Marvel Productions, which a few years later also produced the cartoon series The Fraggles , which continued the doll series of the same name. This was supervised by Michael Frith, the artistic director of the Muppet Show.
production
While overall creative control of the show was with Jim Hensons Productions, day-to-day business was largely in the hands of Marvel Production. CBS initially paid the comparatively high sum of US $ 250,000 per episode and made the Muppet Babies the central broadcast of its Saturday morning program.
The series went on the air in September 1984 and became an instant hit. It immediately achieved the highest airtime market share and for years competed with Pee-wee's Playhouse , another CBS series, for the title of the animated series with the most viewers. For the first four years of its existence, it won the Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Animated Series.
Awards
The Muppet Babies won a total of five Daytime Emmy Awards from 1985 to 1989 , four of them for best cartoon series and one for sound processing.
successor
The Muppet Babies inspired numerous imitation series in which popular cartoon characters were shown as children. After the Muppet Babies came the Flintstone Kids and the scented Scooby-Doo, as well as a number of other children's versions of lesser-known cartoons. None of them, however, could achieve the commercial success of the Muppet Babies. In addition, none of the series received as good reviews from the critics as the Muppet Babies.
Remarks
- ↑ a b c Victoria Grace Weisel, Leslee Asch et al .: Muppets, Monster & Magic. The world of Jim Henson (OT: The Art of the Muppets). Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main and New York 1987, ISBN 3-88799-021-8 , p. 34
- ↑ a b c d e f g Jim Henson: The Biography. Random House LLC, 2013 ISBN 0345526139
- ↑ IGN UK Edition: Muppet Babies ( Memento of the original from September 22, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Charles Solomon: Animation Industry Finding Cost Of Laughter Is In Serious Trouble , Orlando Sentinel May 11, 1988
- ^ Imdb: Muppet Babies: Awards
Web links
- Jim Henson's Muppet Babies in the Internet Movie Database (English)