Animal Animal is the wild drummer on " The Muppet Show " , performing with Dr . Teeth and the Electric Mayhem . Animal is a crazed percussionist with three styles of music - - loud , louder , and deafening . He speaks in a guttural shout , often repeating a few simple phrases , such as " BEAT DRUMS ! BEAT DRUMS ! " or " WO - MAN ! " In relatively calmer moods , he is capable of more coherent conversation , but these instances are infrequent . Animal first appeared in the 1975 pilot , " " , chained up in a basement cell when he wasn ' t onstage performing with the Electric Mayhem . He later became a main character on " The Muppet Show " , and his unrestrained style has made him popular with young people for decades . Frank Oz says that he had his character down to five words : Sex , sleep , food , drums and pain . Occasionally , two of those essentials , food and drums , are interchangeable . In " The Muppet Movie " , Dr . Teeth had to remind Animal to beat , and not eat , his drums . In " The Muppet Show " , when asked by Kermit if he preferred drumming to food , Animal replied that drums " are " food . Animal ' s wild attitude can be compared to Cookie Monster . In " A Muppet Family Christmas " , after observing Cookie Monster eating all of Janice ' s cookies in his signature manner , Animal comments , " That my kind of fella ! " Animal ' s family life is generally non - existent , and outside of the band , the " Muppet Show " troupe , and women in general , he has no other relationships . A significant exception is depicted in the book " The Case of the Missing Mother " , which reveals the existence of Animal ' s mother , LaVerne . LaVerne is also a drummer , and it ' s implied that percussion skills are a family trait . It is a popular legend that Animal was inspired by Keith Moon , the wild drummer of the Who . Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac is also sometimes cited as the inspiration for Animal . However , there is no evidence in the original sketches for the character that suggest that he was based on anybody in particular . Three of the other members of the Electric Mayhem were created by Muppet designer Michael K . Frith , and the sketches reproduced in the 1981 book " Of Muppets and Men " show that they were based on famous musicians . Dr . Teeth is a cross between Dr . John and Elton John ; Sgt . Floyd Pepper is based on the Beatles ' " Sgt . Pepper " album , and the original concept for Janice was a skinny , long - haired male character based on Mick Jagger . Animal , on the other hand , was designed by Jim Henson , and the rough sketch ( also seen in " Of Muppets and Men " ) doesn ' t appear to be related to any real musician . However , it ' s not surprising that Animal is often compared with famous drummers - - as Buddy Rich said in , " All drummers are animals . " Animal himself considers Rich one of his musical influences , along with Gene Krupa , Keith Moon of The Who , and Ginger Baker of Cream and Blind Faith . The actual drumming for Animal was performed by Ronnie Verrell , a veteran drummer and member of Jack Parnell ' s house band for " The Muppet Show " . Notable performances . Animal has performed a number of solos on " The Muppet Show " , including " Sweet Tooth Jam " , " Wild Thing " , and " Foggy Day . " When drumming legend Buddy Rich appeared on " The Muppet Show " , one sequence featured a " drum battle " between Rich and Animal in homage to the legendary face - off album between Rich and his contemporary Gene Krupa . Although Animal battled Buddy Rich , in an earlier episode , , it was mentioned in an interview with Animal that Buddy Rich was one of Animal ' s idols . Also during this interview , Animal revealed that he had been playing the drums for five years , which ( assuming a literal timeline ) would mean that he ' s been playing the drums since 1971 . One of Animal ' s most memorable performances with a guest star was in , in which he wildly played the drums in Rita Moreno ' s number " Fever " . He started getting so out of hand , Rita was forced to give him a lengthy verbal reprimand in Spanish , ending with " Cool it ! " Other guest stars who have had scenes with Animal include Lou Rawls , Leo Sayer , James Coburn , Harry Belafonte , and Kaye Ballard . Animal has also had roles in all of the . In " The Muppet Movie " , he ate Dr . Bunsen Honeydew ' s Insta - Grow Pills , causing him to grow ten times his size and scare away Doc Hopper . He also appeared in " The Great Muppet Caper " , " The Muppets Take Manhattan " , " The Muppet Christmas Carol " , " Muppet Treasure Island " , " Muppets from Space " , " It ' s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie " and " The Muppets ' Wizard of Oz " . In " The Muppets " , Animal is found in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management , being sponsored by Jack Black . Animal has learned to stay calm ( occasionally mumbling " IN CONTROL " ) , but goes wild when he hears the word " drums . " Animal rejoins the Muppets but Jack Black encourages him to stay away from drums . It ' s only after a moment of psychomachia when Animal decides to play the drums again , during the Muppets ' performance of " Rainbow Connection . " In " Muppets Most Wanted " , Animal was the first to notice that Kermit had been replaced by Constantine . Animal is probably the most popular member of the Electric Mayhem . He has certainly been included in more merchandise than the rest of the band . He was also the only member of the band to be included regularly on " Muppet Babies " . Animal was the mascot of the U . S . snowboarding team for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano , Japan . Animal made a television appearance in Nagano with CBS reporter Kennedy , during which she stapled his feet to a snowboard . In " Muppets TV " , an original French - only show , Animal talks in full - formed sentences . Casting history . Main Performers : Alternate Performers : Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _