1984 9:00 on CBS: JIM HENSON'S MUPPET BABIES

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

So I've been struggling with this one all day long, trying to figure out exactly how to write up what is quite possibly THE most universally liked and enjoyed cartoon of the entire 1980's, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies. "The Show That Will Never Be On DVD" because of it's liberal use of what was, at the time, "Fair Use" clips of everything fro Star Trek to Charlie Chaplin films, Jim Henson's Muppet Babies was a case of everything going right at the right time for Jim Henson. As a bit of fluff/filler for the third Muppet Movie, "The Muppets Take Manhattan", they put in a cute little number featuring baby versions of The Muppets. They had a lot of fun filming the sequence, and Jim instantly saw the potential in the characters. Without even having an idea beyond "Baby Versions Of The Muppets", they shopped the concept around and CBS snapped it up *quick*.

The cartoon debuted a scant two months after The Muppets Take Manhattan hit theaters, and a multi-level marketing tie-in with McDonalds helped make sure that every kid in America knew about The Muppet Babies, but that's not what made this cartoon so beloved - the cartoon was REALLY GOOD! ANd we really owe it all to that prolific writer of 1980's Saturday Morning Cartoons, Jeffrey Scott - who wrote the entire first THREE SEASONS of the show by himself!

Comments

[the-gneech.livejournal.com]

I always wanted to see adult Skeeter in the regular Muppets!

...still do.

-TG

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

She showed up in the comics fairly recently, in a story called "Family Reunions" :)

[queeberquabbler.livejournal.com]

Muppet Babies and Kidd Video were two shows SO ahead of their times. Neither one could ever be made today for the same reason we'll never see either on DVD: their use of videos, music, and movie clips. Such a shame.

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

It's just so sad because AT THE TIME, they used all those clip under the standard "Fair Use" copyright law - You could use up to 15 seconds of pretty much ANYTHING as long as you said "Copyright Universal Entertainment" or whatever at the end. It was an incredible time for creative-type people :)

[demonicgerbil.livejournal.com]

I loved this cartoon back when I was a kid. *sigh*

[captain-slinky.livejournal.com]

We all did :) Near the end of it's run (around '89 I do believe) I - The Iconically Stereotypical GEEK/NERD of my High School - bonded with the captain of our football team over our mutual appreciation of Muppet Babies :)