Animal ( Muppet ) - Wikipedia Animal ( Muppet ) See also : Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem § Animal This article is about the Muppet. For other uses, see Animal ( disambiguation ). Animal The Muppets character First appearance The Muppet Show : Sex and Violence ( 1975 ) Created by Michael K. Frith ( designer ) Dave Goelz ( builder ) Voiced by Dave Coulier ( Muppet Babies ) Performed by Frank Oz ( 1975 -- 2000 ) Eric Jacobson ( 2002 -- present ) Information Species Muppet Gender Male Occupation Drummer Nationality American Animal is the fictional wild and frenzied drummer of Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, the fictional band from The Muppet Show. He is one of The Muppets originally created by Michael K. Frith. Contents 1 Performers 2 Characteristics 3 Appearances in other media 4 References 5 External links Performers Animal was performed by Frank Oz from his first appearance in the pilot for The Muppet Show until his 2000 appearance in the video game Muppet RaceMania, and has been performed regularly by Eric Jacobson since his 2002 appearance in It 's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie. On The Muppet Show, his drumming is performed by Ronnie Verrell. Animal has had roles in all Muppet movies, and was the only member of The Electric Mayhem to be included regularly on the Muppet Babies cartoons. He was voiced by Howie Mandel in the first two seasons of Muppet Babies, followed by Dave Coulier in subsequent seasons. Animal was performed by Rob Mills in the series finale of The Jim Henson Hour, and was occasionally performed by Kevin Clash on Muppets Tonight in the absence of Frank Oz. John Kennedy also briefly performed Animal in a 2002 commercial for MasterCard, as well as the 2003 video game Muppets Party Cruise. Drew Massey performed Animal in Statler and Waldorf : From the Balcony. In Jim Henson 's Little Muppet Monsters, Animal was voiced by Hal Rayle ( who also voiced Gonzo and Miss Piggy ). Characteristics Frank Oz has stated that Animal 's character can be summed up in five words : sex, sleep, food, drums, and pain. However, Animal has retorted : `` Drums are food ! '' Animal 's vocabulary is generally limited to guttural shouts and monosyllabic grunts, often repeating a few simple phrases, as well as his trademark gravelly laugh. During performances, Animal is usually chained to the drum set by a collar around his neck, as his musical outbursts are extremely violent. In some episodes, he has been summoned to chase off performers who are ' being annoying '. From The Muppet Movie when the Electric Mayhem is introducing themselves : Animal : ( flails and babbles wildly, pants, and yells as Fozzie clutches an also frightened Kermit in fear ) Floyd : Oh yeah, that 's Animal. Show ' em whatcha do, Animal ! Animal : I want to eat drums ! ( loudly chews on a cymbal ) Dr. Teeth : No, no, beat drums, beat drums. Animal : ( open eyes wide ) Beat drums ! Beat drums ! ( hits the third tom drum three times with his head, grunting before each hit ) Floyd : Down, Animal ! Animal : Down ! Floyd : Back ! Animal : Back ! Floyd : Sit ! Animal : Sit ! ( laughs shortly as he gets back up to look at Scooter who is introducing himself ) Alone among characters on the show, Floyd has trained his fellow musician to obey a few simple off - drum commands correctly, suggesting dog training. Animal 's bushy eyebrows and hair, outrageous behavior, and wild drumming style can be associated with classical hard - partying rock drummers, such as The Who 's Keith Moon, Led Zeppelin 's John Bonham and Cream 's Ginger Baker, with whom Animal shares his pink hair, skirt chasing, and violent outbursts. The original Animal sketches point to one Grammy Award - winning drummer named Steve Mitchell, a friend of Jim Henson 's. Animal is a savant, versatile session drummer, to back Muppet tunes, capable even of finishing a slow song, if the singer is nice lady. He can match both Buddy Rich and Harry Belafonte in drum - offs on The Muppet Show, and on Questlove on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon in 2011. He shows a talent for jazz in a television advert for the Renault Clio car with French footballer Thierry Henry. Animal has also run afoul of Muppet Show guests. In 1981, the aforementioned scene with Buddy Rich ends with the seasoned pro learning Animal 's gonzo style, and performing it with twice the speed and proficiency. Animal throws a drum onto the irascible entertainer 's head. When he repeatedly interrupted Rita Moreno 's rendition of Fever with loud drumming outbursts, she became annoyed and slammed his head between a pair of cymbals ( to which Animal responded by saying `` Uh, that 's my kinda woman ! '', before passing out ). In another episode, Animal became hostile toward Dudley Moore when Moore tried to replace the band with a programmable, music - playing robot. On another occasion, however, Animal is starstruck by James Coburn after the movie tough - guy demonstrates his own violent streak : Coburn : There 's a right way and a wrong way to handle aggression... Animal : Aggression... Coburn : You do n't want to bust a chair up like that -- ( takes the chair Animal is mauling ) you bust it up like this ! ( smashes chair to bits on the staircase banister ( forcing Animal to duck ) and coolly walks back up to his dressing room ) Animal : ( eyes wide ) My kinda guy ! ( races after him ) Jimmy ! Jimmy ! A common gag involves someone imparting a figure of speech to Animal : Animal turns to the audience, his eyes go wide and he goes berserk, taking the figure of speech literally. For example, Jim Nabors once spoke the traditional theatrical good luck wish, `` Break a leg '', whereupon Animal indulged him by trying to break Nabors 's leg. Another gag would occasionally occur when the band plays a slow song : Animal will get about halfway through and then after announcing `` Too slow ! '' launch into a faster paced version of the song. The band would usually comment that Animal lasted much longer than they thought he would. Animal is a literal skirt - chaser. In The Muppets Take Manhattan, he chases a female student out of the auditorium, chanting `` Woo - maaaan ! '' after her. He also chases cars. While many Animal gags involve a role reversal, or a moment of intellectualism, others are still more innuendo. Such as in this piece of dialog from The Great Muppet Caper, where it is revealed that Animal has a passion for the impressionist paintings of Pierre - Auguste Renoir : Kermit the Frog : What 's wrong with the drummer ? He looks a little crazed. Zoot : Oh, he 's just upset about missing the Rembrandt exhibit at The National Gallery. Animal : ( Correcting him in a wild, angry tone ) Renoir ! ! Animal favors the painter with the best French ballerinas. In the movie Muppets from Space, Animal meets his match in the form of a security guard played by Kathy Griffin -- after chasing her down a hallway with his `` Woo - man '' call, he later comes running back around the corner, yelling `` HELP HELP ! '' with Griffin calling after him about how they 'll settle down, buy a house, and have children. Ty Pennington commented about the possibility of Animal suffering from ADHD when the character appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover : Home Edition. Appearances in other media Animal was the official mascot of the U.S. Ski Team during the 1998 Winter Olympics. He was also featured in one of eleven commemorative stamps issued by the U.S. Postal Service. In 2010, Animal was featured in a viral video alongside power - pop band OK Go, where he challenged the band 's drummer, Dan Konopka, to a staring contest. Animal ultimately wins and forces Dan to be his roadie for a year. Animal and his fellow Muppets made a guest appearance on the Halloween 2011 episode of WWE Raw, where he was a guest timekeeper. Animal is present in the 2011 film The Muppets, having gone into anger - management therapy since the Muppets broke up. He also made a special appearance on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon as a guest drummer with the Roots house band. References Jump up ^ Shemin, Craig ( 2014 ). Disney 's The Muppets Character Encyclopedia. New York : DK Publishing. p. 18. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4654 - 1748 - 0. Jump up ^ Setoodeh, Ramin ( March 11, 2014 ). `` How Kermit and the Muppets Got Their Mojo Back ''. Variety. Retrieved March 12, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Drummerworld -- Animal -- Ronnie Verrell ''. September 18, 2014. Jump up ^ Larena ( September 25, 2009 ). `` In Honor of Jim Henson 's Birthday, Five Mindblowing Muppet Revelations ''. CNN. Retrieved October 23, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Keith Moon Longtime drummer for the Who ''. February 7, 2006. Retrieved October 23, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Myers ' to play ' Who 's Keith Moon ''. BBC News. September 30, 2005. Retrieved October 23, 2014. Jump up ^ Best of the Muppet Show volume 4, Time - Life Home Video, 2001 Jump up ^ Carter, Melanie ( October 25, 2003 ). `` Thierry And ' Animal ' Explain The Meaning Of Va Va Voom ''. carpages.co.uk. Retrieved October 23, 2014. Jump up ^ `` Buddy Rich vs. Animal on the Muppet Show / Boing Boing ''. Boingboing.net. Retrieved February 2, 2016. Jump up ^ `` New Muppet Stuff Extreme Makeover : Home Edition ''. toughpigs.com. March 6, 2005. Jump up ^ `` U.S. Snowboarders Have An ' Animal ' Attraction ''. The Washington Post. June 11, 1997. Jump up ^ `` Jim Henson, Muppets, Get Stamps of Approval ''. USPS. September 28, 2005. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2014. External links Comedy portal Fictional characters portal Muppets portal Television portal Animal on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki Official website Animal on Drummerworld The Muppets The Muppets Studio Characters Kermit the Frog Miss Piggy Fozzie Bear Gonzo Rowlf the Dog Scooter Pepe the King Prawn Rizzo the Rat Animal Walter Sam Eagle Dr. Bunsen Honeydew Beaker Swedish Chef Statler and Waldorf Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem Muppet performers Pam Arciero Bill Barretta Fran Brill Julianne Buescher Tyler Bunch Kevin Carlson Leslie Carrara - Rudolph Kevin Clash Stephanie D'Abruzzo Alice Dinnean - Vernon Dave Goelz Louise Gold Brian Henson Jane Henson Jim Henson John Henson Richard Hunt Eric Jacobson Jerry Juhl John Kennedy Tim Lagasse Peter Linz Noel MacNeal Drew Massey Joey Mazzarino Brian Muehl Kathryn Mullen James Murray Jerry Nelson Frank Oz Eren Ozker Bob Payne Karen Prell Mike Quinn David Rudman Martin P. Robinson Michelan Sisti Caroll Spinney John Tartaglia Allan Trautman Matt Vogel Steve Whitmire Victor Yerrid Television Series Sam and Friends ( 1955 -- 1961 ) The Muppet Show ( 1976 -- 1981 ) Muppet Babies ( 1984 -- 1991 ) Little Muppet Monsters ( 1985 ) The Jim Henson Hour ( 1989 ) Muppets Tonight ( 1996 -- 1998 ) The Muppets ( 2015 -- 2016 ) Muppet Babies ( TBA 2018 ) Segments The Jimmy Dean Show ( `` Rowlf the Dog '', 1963 -- 65 ) The Mike Douglas Show ( 1966 -- 79 ) The Ed Sullivan Show ( including The Great Santa Claus Switch, 1966 -- 71 ) Saturday Night Live ( The Land of Gorch, 1975 -- 76 ) Specials Hey, Cinderella ! ( 1969 ) The Muppets on Puppets ( 1970 ) The Frog Prince ( 1971 ) The Muppet Musicians of Bremen ( 1972 ) The Muppets Valentine Show ( 1974 ) The Muppet Show : Sex and Violence ( 1975 ) John Denver and the Muppets : A Christmas Together ( 1979 ) The Muppets Go Hollywood ( 1979 ) The Muppets Go to the Movies ( 1981 ) The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show ( 1982 ) Rocky Mountain Holiday ( 1983 ) The Muppets : A Celebration of 30 Years ( 1986 ) A Muppet Family Christmas ( 1987 ) Cartoon All - Stars to the Rescue ( 1990 ) The Earth Day Special ( 1990 ) The Muppets at Walt Disney World ( 1990 ) The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson ( 1990 ) Studio DC : Almost Live ( 2008 ) A Muppets Christmas : Letters to Santa ( 2008 ) Lady Gaga and the Muppets Holiday Spectacular ( 2013 ) Films Feature The Muppet Movie ( 1979 ) The Great Muppet Caper ( 1981 ) The Muppets Take Manhattan ( 1984 ) The Muppet Christmas Carol ( 1992 ) Muppet Treasure Island ( 1996 ) Muppets from Space ( 1999 ) The Muppets ( 2011 ) Muppets Most Wanted ( 2014 ) TV It 's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie ( 2002 ) The Muppets ' Wizard of Oz ( 2005 ) Direct - to - video Muppet Classic Theater ( 1994 ) Kermit 's Swamp Years ( 2002 ) Music Albums The Muppet Show ( 1977 ) The Muppet Show 2 ( 1978 ) The Muppet Movie : Original Soundtrack Recording ( 1979 ) John Denver and the Muppets : A Christmas Together ( 1979 ) The Great Muppet Caper : The Original Soundtrack ( 1981 ) The Muppets Take Manhattan : The Original Soundtrack ( 1984 ) The Muppet Christmas Carol : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ( 1992 ) Ol ' Brown Ears is Back ( 1993 ) Muppet Beach Party ( 1993 ) Muppet Hits ( 1993 ) Muppet Hits Take 2 ( 1994 ) Kermit Unpigged ( 1994 ) The Muppet Treasure Island : Original Motion Picture Soundtrack ( 1996 ) The Muppet Show : Music, Mayhem, and More ( 2002 ) Best of the Muppets featuring The Muppets ' Wizard of Oz ( 2005 ) The Muppets : A Green and Red Christmas ( 2006 ) A Muppets Christmas : Letters to Santa ( 2008 ) Muppets : The Green Album ( 2011 ) The Muppets ( 2011 ) Muppets Most Wanted ( 2014 ) Songs `` The Muppet Show Theme '' `` Rainbow Connection '' `` Bein ' Green '' `` Mahna Mahna '' `` When the River Meets the Sea '' `` Never Before, Never Again '' `` I Hope That Somethin ' Better Comes Along '' `` I 'm Going to Go Back There Someday '' `` Bohemian Rhapsody '' `` Man or Muppet '' Web series Statler and Waldorf : From the Balcony ( 2005 -- 06 ) The Muppets Kitchen with Cat Cora ( 2010 ) Video games Muppet Adventure : Chaos at the Carnival ( 1989 ) Muppets Inside ( 1996 ) Muppet RaceMania ( 2000 ) Muppet Monster Adventure ( 2000 ) Spy Muppets : License to Croak ( 2003 ) Muppets Party Cruise ( 2003 ) Disney Universe ( 2011 ) The Muppets Movie Adventures ( 2014 ) Other media Muppet * Vision 3D ( 1991 -- present ) Muppet Mobile Lab ( 2007 -- present ) The Muppets Present... Great Moments in American History ( 2016 -- present ) Comics series Before You Leap Puppet Heap The Jim Henson Company Creature Shop Fraggle Rock characters Sesame Workshop Sesame Street Muppets Muppets portal MusicBrainz : 8146fbc7 - 5a7d - 4077 - 9376 - ec50de53d943 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Animal_(Muppet)&oldid=785860671 '' Categories : The Muppets characters Fictional characters introduced in 1975 Fictional rock musicians Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from June 2016 Use American English from June 2016 All Wikipedia articles written in American English Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Italiano עברית Nederlands Português Edit links This page was last edited on 15 June 2017, at 20 : 46. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who is animal from the muppets based on
Answer: Steve Mitchell