Episode 118: The Minstrels

The Minstrels, wandering musicians led by the enigmatic and wise Cantus the Minstrel, arrive at the Fraggles' cave, announcing that a medley will be sung the next day. Red is chosen as Medley Leader, but the medley won't begin until Red finds the song inside her -- and she doesn't know where to look!
Meanwhile, Doc and Sprocket work on a new type of doorbell.
==Fraggle Facts==
* This episode reveals another clue about the size of Fraggle Rock. The Minstrels -- who Gobo and his friends have never seen before -- arrive in the cave and explain that they travel around, "finding Fraggles in distant caves," and leading medleys. For Cantus and the Minstrels to have enough places to go for them not to have been here within recent memory, the Rock must be huge.
==Notes==
* This episode is the first appearance of Cantus and the Minstrels, who reappear whenever music and wisdom are needed. He is also one of the two recurring characters performed by Jim Henson, the other one being Convincing John.
* This marks the first time when Doc reads one of Uncle Traveling Matt's postcards when Ned Shimmelfinney got that postcard in his mail by mistake.
* This is the first time a puppet version of Junior Gorg pops up on the rooftop of the castle, while the others being "A Friend in Need", and "Boober Gorg".
* If a Fraggle "borrows" Cantus' magic pipe in order to learn their inner song, the pipe will take a mind of its own and drag that Fraggle around until Cantus tells the magic pipe to stop. Also, it will leave an odd-shaped mark on the Fraggle's hand that is similar to the one on Cantus' hand....at least until the Fraggle learns their inner song. In other words, Cantus claims that this is the magic pipe's way of saying "MNH-MNH."
* An early draft of this episode was called "The Musicians."Dennis Lee Papers, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.
==International versions==
* UK version: Sprocket thinks he has musical talent, but the Captain begs to differ. Uncle Traveling Matt is horrified at the sight of a Scotsman playing a bagpipe, thinking the bagpipe is a monster which the Silly Creature is strangling.
*German version: The scenes with Doc and Sprocket are nearly identical to the Canadian version. Uncle Matt's postcard is different: Matt tries to bond with a herd of cows and speak their language.
==Supporting cast==
* Cantus the Minstrel (Jim Henson)
* Murray the Minstrel (Steve Whitmire)
* Brio the Minstrel (Terry Angus)
* Brool the Minstrel (Tim Gosley)
* Balsam the Minstrel (Lee Armstrong)
==Songs==
*"Let Me Be Your Song"
*"Our Melody"
==Video releases==
*The Minstrels (VHS) (HBO Video, 1986)
*The Fraggles Search and Find (Jim Henson Video, 1993) -- original closing credits replaced
*Fraggle Rock: Complete First Season (HIT!, 2005)
*Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection (HIT!, 2008)
==International episode titles==
* Denmark: "Troubadourerne" (The Troubadours)
* Finland: "Minstrelit"
* France: "Les Ménestrels" (The Minstrels)
* Germany: "Fahrende Musikanten" (Traveling Musicians)
* Japan: "歌をさがそう" (Let's Find a Song)
* Netherlands: "De minestrelen"
* Norway: "Trubadurene" (The Troubadours)
* Poland: "Składanka" (Medley)
* Spain: "Los trovadores"
* Sweden: "Spelmännen" (The Musicians)
==Sources==
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