MuppetZine : Meet Scott Shaw Early in 1984 , I learned that Marvel Productions was planning to start production on a new animated series for CBS ' upcoming Saturday morning lineup , Jim Henson ' s Muppet Babies . The Muppets I already knew and loved , but Muppet Babies ? Images of bizarre frog - pig hybrids pranced through my fevered brain . . . It turned out that the Muppet Babies were ( thankfully ) not the offspring of the established Muppet gang , but the gang themselves as toddlers . Their live - action versions ( Babies Kermit , Piggy , Gonzo , Rowlf , Fozzie , Animal and Scooter ) were to be introduced in a flashback sequence of the feature film , The Muppets Take Manhattan , and this new show would be the first time for Muppets to be presented in animation . Scooter ' s sister , Skeeter , was introduced in the series to add another female character . ( As for the adult Skeeter , Henson Associates art director Michael Frith once explained that she ' s now a famous explorer , never seen again after an expedition to the jungles of the Amazon ! ) The baby versions of Bunsen and Beaker , Bean Bunny and Janice were also created specifically for the cartoon show . I interviewed with the show ' s producer , Bob Richardson , who hired me to draw storyboards : my official title was " story director . " ( Storyboards are detailed multi - panel drawings , often hundreds of pages in length , that illustrate and describe an details of the show ' s action , dialog and technical info that is essential for all animation production to follow ) . I started working in May 1984 on the Muppet Babies pilot episode titled " , " written by Jeff Scott , grandson of Stooge Moe Howard ! Due to my experience writing and drawing DC Comic ' s Captain Carrot and His Amazing Zoo Crew , I was assigned a sequence detailing Baby Gonzo ' s fantasy of " Super Gonzo " fighting a King Kong - sized version of Baby Animal . Since the series was still in the process of development simultaneously with production , we soon were faced with the unforeseen prospect of designing literally hundreds of costumes , props and auxiliary characters for each episode , often in radically different styles to reflect the art direction of each fantasy sequence . I was soon assigned the task of supervising the creation of these " model sheets " in addition to my storyboarding duties , and continued to juggle these chores for the first two seasons of the show . By the second season , I was also " writing " and storyboarding song sequences ; this involved dreaming up and timing gags and visuals to match each show ' s music interlude . Since Jim Henson ' s Muppet Babies received excellent ratings throughout its first season , CBS decided to renew and expand the series with a second half - hour of new material , " Little Muppet Monsters . " They renamed the entire hour - long package Muppets , Babies and Monsters . The concept of this second half - hour was neither simple nor particularly well - developed : a trio of new ( live - action ) Muppet Monster Kids , working from the basement of the adult Muppets ' home , create their own television station which broadcasts only to the TV sets in the house upstairs . Their " shows " were such regular segments as " Pigs In Space , " " Kermit and Fozzie , Private Eyes , " Animal ’ s Exercises " and " Fozzie ' s Comedy Class , " among others . Although eighteen episodes were produced , only two of them ever aired : Henson Associates and CBS agreed that the concept had never been properly thought out and just wasn ' t up to Henson ' s high standards . To Jim ' s credit it was his idea to pull the show from the Saturday morning lineup . ( I ' ve always felt that the juxtapositioning of live - action and animated Muppets invited an unfavorable comparison , to which the cartoon versions inevitably suffered ; the puppetry was just too good . The combination of Muppet Babies , adults and kid monsters was very disorienting . Also , due to a lack of development time , the concept — and therefore , its writing and designs - never quite jelled . ) The now - vacant second half - hour was filled with repeats of the first season ' s Muppet Babies episodes , and the ratings stayed strong . Once again , the series was renewed . For the third season , a theme of " Muppets at the Movies " ( to be hosted by Statler and Waldorf ) was considered but ultimately dropped , although the use of live - action was noticeably increased , and the writing reflected a more intricate interaction with old film footage . One episode was originally built around an old " Flash Gordon " serial ; when the studio learned the rights were prohibitively expensive , it fell to myself to re - write and re - storyboard the entire revamped episode around footage from " The Phantom Empire " starring Gene Autry . But for myself , the high point of working with such live - action footage was coordinating a spectacular pie - fight between the live - action Three Stooges and animated Baby Fozzie ! In addition to storyboarding , the story directors often had the unprecedented freedom to alter , delete or add new dialogue to a show as appropriate to gags or acting . ( For example , at the end of " , " I contributed the bit with Gonzo ' s nuclear reactor built from paper plates ! ) Eventually , at producer Bob Richardson ' s invitation , I began to submit story premises for the show ' s third and fourth seasons . To my surprise , quite a few of my ideas were used in part or whole . By the fourth season ' s end , after receiving four Emmy certificates for story direction ( the show itself won for " Best Animated Series " all four years ) , I was disappointed to find myself re - assigned to work on another Marvel series , Jem . This was a wretched animated soap opera based on a line of grotesque " fashion dolls . " Neither my talents nor tastes were suited to such material ( and I admit , I was more than a bit spoiled by working on such a " class " project as Muppet Babies for four years ! ) I reluctantly quit Marvel Productions and signed back on at my old alma mater , Hanna - Barbera Productions , employed as a designer , writer and , ultimately , producer ( of The Completely Mental Misadventures of Ed Grimley , starring Martin Short and many SCTV alumni ) . Eventually , I moved on to other studios and projects , including Camp Candy ( featuring John Candy ) and Garfield and Friends . I did miss the Muppet Babies though , especially my absolute favorite , Baby Gonzo , and occasionally did freelance storyboarding and character designing ( including the newly - introduced Baby Janice ) , right up through the show ' s final season . Along the way , I even did a few product designs directly for Henson Associates , including a Muppet wall clock , party plates and favors , McDonald ' s Happy Meal packaging and the cover art for the first Muppet Babies record album [ " Rocket to the Stars " ] . Working with the Henson organization was a real pleasure , and Jim Henson was actively involved in the show ' s direction . Once , as a " thank you " to the Muppet Babies crew , he arranged a private party at the Beverly Hills retro - diner Ed Debevic ' s . In addition to dinner and Muppet goodies , we were treated to Jim and Frank Oz performing in person a live skit with Kermit and Piggy ! As if that wasn ' t enough of a thrill , also in attendance was the show ' s voiceover cast , including the voice of Nanny , Barbara Billingsley ! What a kick it was to come face - to - face with a living icon like June Cleaver ! I ' m currently Senior Art Director at the ad agency Ogilvy & Mather , supervising the creation and production of the Post Pebbles Cereal commercials ( featuring the Flintstones ) . But I still enjoy watching Jim Henson ' s Muppet Babies on Nickelodeon ; my favorite episode being " . " I have very fond memories of the Babies and the incredibly talented crew I was privileged to work with . Long live the Muppet Babies !