What A Cartoon! - Muppet Babies "The Great Muppet Cartoon Show"

Your pick for the Muppet babies ep was so good, probably because its the only one I have any memory of sine it was about how to make cartoons. I loved those types of shows when i was kid and always wanted to be an animator, but I was too slow an artist (and not talented enough to pull it off. So imagine my delight when I ended up live under a group of animators when I lived in Oakland! I got to hang out and watch as they developed their school, and then professional, projects. These folks were lovely people and were also dedicated to "old-school" was of animating, which was awesome to see. One group was more stop-motion focused so there would be armatures and random props in our backyard (best day: a giant wading pool with a pterodactyl hanging over it. I helped them dump all of our green food dye into the pool for a shoot). It was honestly an amazing experience watching movies with them. they all grudgingly worked in 3D/CG/digital animation, but really liked hands-on tools and techniques (cells/drawing/physical armatures) . So they would point out every time a CG bit was used vs a physical effect; it almost ruined watching any new movies for me, but was super instructive. So anyway, that brings me to the part in the episode where they demoed computer animation. I'm sure they would all have started screaming and yelling if I showed them that clip! They *loved* arguing about the differences in animation technology and techniques. Its great that now I can see some of their work! Some of them went on to animate ADHD, the stop-motion sequence in Sorry to Bother You, and due to them getting n incredible internship at Tippett Studios, they ended up animating some dinosaurs in the new JP movies (as they said, "Phil says it pays the bills"), and got to animate the chess sequence in the Solo movie (not the first time they got to use original props, but the first time they didn't have to massacre them - that's a whole other story, and it relates to Tippett's Mad God movie project), and their own side projects which are just awesome. One night I was setting up a telescope to test (my job is astronomy and education) and one of them said, 'your job is so cool, I wish I had your job.' To which I earnestly replied, maybe more earnestly than i have ever felt, "and I wish I had yours." One final note: I met their friends and families and they were all sweet. One of the sweetest guys there had an extremely cool mom, she was super supportive of her son and just chill and very cool. Years later I found out she was _Mimi Pond_. And I am glad I found out years later, or else I would not have been able to have a normal human conversation with her! Anyway, some of the nicest people I have ever met, and it was a highlight of my time in the Bay Area to have been their neighbor and friend. It was awesome getting to see my friends achieve their dream of become professional animators, working on big cool projects. So thank you for tangentially stirring these memories!

David Prosper

The entire episode I couldn't get over how much Gonzo sounds like Bart impersonating Marge

Tom Fraser

I was the other fan, that and Defenders of Dynatron City. Lost to history!

David Prosper

In the early seasons of The Muppet Show, one of Gonzo's running gimmicks WAS his infatuation with Miss Piggy. As his performer, Dave Goelz, became more confident a performer and the writers honed a clearer idea of what Gonzo's character should be this infatuation was quietly scrapped. You can find clips of this on Youtube but it's not very funny and hasn't aged particularly well. Gonzo is very aggressive in his pursuit of Piggy at times shouting "Touch me! Touch me!". Personally I'm glad this trope and others such you'd see in the Piggy/Kermit relationship such as "It's funny because she's not traditionally attractive" and "physical assault is funny when a woman hits a man") are being resigned to history in favour of actual jokes.

Joshua Marchant

Muppet Babies, a show so popular that when it's episode using Attack of the Killer Tomatoes clips was highly rated, they not only made a sequel film but also a two season animated series (also by Marvel Productions). Oddly, I never really watched Muppet Babies, I was too busy being the only fan of the Killer Tomatoes cartoon...

It was just a one-off line by Bob, but when he said "Scooby-Doo, but dumber" in reference to the Clue Club, all I could think was that there WAS literally a "Scooby-Doo but dumber," and his name was...Scooby-Dum. One of the latter Scooby-Doo series had a couple of his cousins, Scooby-Dum, a stupid grey great dane with a dorky red hat, and Scooby-Dee, a girl great dane that the other two were in love with, even though she was their cousin?

Andrew Bouvier

Didn't watch Muppet Babies until it aired on Nickelodeon, but like Bob and Henry it was definitely one of my earliest memories as a TV-obsessed baby. Vaguely remember babble-explaining a Muppet Babies episode to my late-grandma as she was feeding me rice :). You guys mentioned they had some episodes out on VHS, but they also gave out tiny mini-disc-sized DVDs alongside stuffed animals of the characters... but of course, internet has given easier access to the series through alternative means.

Oh my god! I do remember Clue Club and it was awesome! ("Awesome" in comparison with the drek of 70s and 80s cartoons, a *very* low bar to clear obviously) It was a USA Cartoon Express staple too after first run. Unlike Scooby Doo, the Clue Club were much snakier with each other and the mysteries were a little more down to earth. The two talking dogs were a little annoying but could only be understood by each other. Their short lived spin off was crap. The show itself leaned a little more on the forensics side too with the youngest member having decent crime lab in her room. She was also a bit of a cartoon crush for 9 year old me at the time. Speaking of the Muppet Babies theme, is it a little odd that Kermit sings "when your room looks kind of weird and you wish that you weren't there" as if it's admitting that childhood can really suck, even for babies? And I am old enough to remember the pre Muppet Monsters ending theme too.

Stephen C. Nedell

Small correction - you said that all the main Muppet movies are all Disneyy+, but actually only the first two of the "trilogy" are available - Muppets Take Manhattan still isn't there because its rights are owned by Sony (I know this because that is my favorite of the three, hence why I did a weird amount of research into it). In case you guys are interested, this March Vanity Fair article has a good rundown on the weird business of why so much Muppet stuff is currently unavailable through Disney - https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/03/disney-plus-muppet-show

Geoffrey Staysniak

How'd remembered Stick stickly is beyond me 😆 🤣 😂 😹

Fei wong fong

Oh! Another nerdy thing that I remember. The CG that Scooter "created" was Robert Abel And Associates "High Fidelity" - a short CG movie done in the early 1980's. I remember this well because it was on a Discovery Channel special called "Computer Magic" that I have recorded on tape ( that I STILL have!) It's quite charming for its time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFoRJ5w2eEM

RoryDropkick

I like how Henry's years of practice perfecting his Marge Simpson impression has allowed him to seamlessly jump to the next level to do a Muppet Babies voice.

Mike Mariano

When my dad was getting his teaching degree he did a study about violence in children's media. When he recorded instances of violence that happen during an episode Muppet Babies had WAY more than shows like Ninja Turtles, He-Man or GI Joe! Obviously these would all be jokes instead of attacks like they would be in other shows, but I remember my dad telling me it wasn't even close, I think Muppet Babies might have had more than double whatever show was in second place.

Matt Bixler! Hello!