Muppet Babies (2018)

**Muppet Babies** is an American children's computer-animated musical fantasy preschool television series produced by **The Muppets Studio** and **Odd Bot Animation.** The series premiered on **Disney Junior** on March 23, 2018 and ended on February 18, 2022, with its last episode "**The Muppet Babies Show**". The show is aimed at an audience of children from ages 3-8. It is a reboot of the 1984 animated series of the same name.

The series retains several of the younger incarnations of the classic Muppet characters seen in the previous series, including **Kermit the Frog**, **Miss** **Piggy**, **Fozzie Bear**, **The Great Gonzo**, and **Animal**. The series also views the second appearance of Nanny (now known as "**Miss Nanny**", short for "**Nancette**"), and the first appearance of a new Muppet Babies character named **Summer Penguin**.

The series finale aired on February 18, 2022 along with the series finale of **Fancy Nancy**.

## Premise

The series is centered around the imaginations and adventures of the Muppet characters as young toddlers; Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal and a new member named Summer, a penguin.

## Characters

**Main**

* **Kermit -** A level-headed and friendly frog who enjoys acting out adventure and making music with his banjo. However, he can get flustered rather easily, usually by the antics of those around him. Kermit is also the official leader of the Muppet Babies, as he is typically the one who helps devise their plans.
* **Piggy -** A temperamental and self-centered pig who considers herself a star and harbors a crush on Kermit. She mostly speaks in a high-pitched voice but would at times greatly deepen when she gets passionate or angry. She is best friends with Skeeter and Summer.
* **Fozzie -** A cheerful and goofy bear who aspires to be a comedian, but also shows skills as a ventriloquist, magician, and a musician like his two best friends, Kermit and Rowlf. While adorable and good-hearted, Fozzie also has a mischievous streak, as he is fond of playing practical jokes on the other Muppets. He can also get frightened rather easily, not sharing Gonzo's love of the paranormal and grotesque.
* **Gonzo -** An eccentric and unpredictable toucan-like creature called a "**whatever**" who has a love for anything that can be considered strange, specifically horror movies, works of Gothic fiction, paranormal phenomena, and conspiracy theories, having ideas such as about hippopotamuses having their own language.
* **Animal -** A frenzied monster who likes playing the drums.
* **Summer -** A good-hearted and sweet-natured penguin from the South Pole who loves to make art. She is best friends with Piggy.
* **Mrs. Nanny -** The caretaker of the Muppet Babies and proprietor of her daycare who is only seen from the neck down. The pattern on her stockings changes to reflect relevant elements in the episode plot. She won a gold medal in a gymnastics discipline at the **Sport-A-Thon**. In episode 69a ("**A Mitzvah for Mrs. Nanny**"), it is revealed that Mrs. Nanny is Jewish, and is actually the daughter of the Nanny from the original series.

**Other Muppets**

* **Camilla -** A white chick and Gonzo's best friend who is involved with the Muppet Babies' activities.
* **Mr. Statler And Mr. Waldorf -** The neighbors of Miss Nanny who often comment about the Muppet Babies' activities from the balcony of their home.
* **Rizzo -** A self-centered and sarcastic rat who lives in the mouse hole in the Muppet Babies' playroom.
* **Bunsen Honeydew -** A young aspiring scientist.
* **Beaker -** Bunsen’s assistant.
* **Dr. Teeth -** The band leader of the Electric Mayhem. He appeared in a live-action transmission in "**Muppet Rock**" where he saw Animal perform backstage and is interested in having him join the Electric Mayhem. Animal turns him down for now as he needs to continue practicing.
* **Rowlf -** A fun-loving and friendly dog who loves to sing and make music, typically with his piano. He is best friends with Kermit and Fozzie, often acting as the middleman between the two.
* **Sweetums -** An ogre who lives next door to the babies' daycare.
* **Chef -** A mock Swedish-speaking cooking prodigy.
* **Robin -** A small polliwog who is Kermit's nephew. He has a tail due to being in his tadpole state.
* **Scooter -** A young boy who wears a green and yellow track jacket.
* **Skeeter -** Scooter's athletic twin sister who wears a sports-inspired purple jacket, a baseball-shaped watch, and pig tails.
* **Sam -** An eagle. In the series, Sam is shown to fly.
* **Jill Frog -** Kermit's older sister who occasionally visits the other Muppet Babies.
* **Pepe -** A prawn that appeared in Scooter's video game.
* **The Newsman -** A news anchor.

**Other Characters**

* **Priscilla -** One of Camilla's fellow chicks who is yellow.
* **Beep -** One of Camilla's fellow chicks who is brown and makes the sound of a car horn instead of clucking.
* **Carlos -** A blue frog that appears in "**Frogs of a Feather**". In "**Frog Scouts**", Carlos becomes part of the Frog Scouts alongside Kermit and Robin.
* **Mr. Manny -** The husband of Mrs. Nanny. Like Mrs. Nanny, his head is never shown. Mr. Manny is known for his catchphrase where he states that a certain thing "is groovy" which is always accompanied by Mr. Manny doing horizontal gestures with his hands, bending his knees, and doing a motion that has him wiggle his hips. He is also shown to be a volunteer at the local library and the scout troop leader of the Frog Scouts.
* **Orville H. Octopus -** An animated purple octopus that appeared in the Muppet Babies' fantasies.
* **Rozzie -** A young koala who is Fozzie's adopted younger sister.

## Production

Unlike the previous series, the update is produced using computer-generated animation and features two 11-minute stories per episode. The series is aimed at children between the ages of four and seven.

**Tom Warburton**, best known for creating Cartoon Network's **Codename: Kids Next Door**, is the executive producer and **Eric Shaw**, former writer on Nickelodeon's **SpongeBob SquarePants**, is the story editor and co-producer. The show is a co-production between **Disney Junior**, **Odd Bot** **Animation**, **Snowball Studios** and The **Muppets Studio**.

**Production lawsuit**

On October 23, 2020, it was reported that original **Muppet Babies** writer **Jeffrey Scott** would sue **The Walt Disney Company** for using ideas that originated in the 1984 series without permission or credit. Scott also stated that he presented ideas and concepts to Disney in 2016 that were used without his permission. On January 27, 2021, Disney filed a motion to dismiss it. Disney argue that Scott had nothing to back up his claims and that he did not claim ownership to the copyright of **Muppet Babies** as an intellectual property when he filed for bankruptcy in 2003. The case was dismissed on March 31, 2021, with Disney winning the lawsuit and Scott losing the copyright suit to the Muppet Babies.

## Broadcast

The series premiered on **Disney Junior** on March 23, 2018 in the United States, the following day in Canada, and in Mexico on June 10.

On September 7, 2018, it was renewed for a second season which premiered 11 months later on August 9, 2019. On July 25, 2019, it was renewed for a third and final season, which premiered on January 4, 2021.

## Home Media

A single DVD set entitled "**Muppet Babies: Time To Play!**" was released on August 14, 2018. The set contains four main episodes and two bonus episodes from season one, 10 shorts from the Muppet Babies: Show And Tell mini-series, and 6 music videos.

This is the only DVD set of the entire series.

**Music Videos**

* **What's So Scary About The Dark?**
* **Never Have To Say Goodbye**
* **Get Back In The Game**
* **Me And My Potato**
* **Super Fabulous**
* **You Can Be A Dancer!**

## Books

Book releases of **Muppet Babies (2018)...**

* **Meet The Muppet Babies!**
* **Kermit The Brave**
* **Super Fabulous**
* **Hatastrophe!**
* **Fly South**
* **Show-And-Tell**
* **Muppet Babies: First Look And Find**

Muppet Babies: Meet The Muppet Babies! Board Book (September 2018)Muppet Babies: Kermit The Brave: Board Book (January 2019)Muppet Babies: Super Fabulous: Board Book (July 2019)Muppet Babies: Hatastrophe! Little Golden Book (July 2019)Muppet Babies: Show-And-Tell: Little Golden Book (September 2018)Muppet Babies: Fly South: Board Book (October 2019)Muppet Babies: First Look And Find: Board Book (January 2020)

## Songs

* **What's So Scary About The Dark?**
* **Never Have To Say Goodbye**
* **Get Back In The Game**
* **Me And My Potato**
* **Super Fabulous**
* **Good Things Come To Those Who Wait**
* **You Can Be A Dancer!**
* **Muppet Pirate Shanty**
* **The Rules Of The Kingdom**
* **I'm On The Case**
* **The Lily Pad Blues**
* **Car Wash**
* **Dirty Zone**
* **Summer's Square Dance**
* **Hopalong Froggy And The Buckin' Bronco**
* **Do You Wanna Rock?**
* **You Can Be A Star**
* **Upside-Downsy Conga**
* **You're Not Alone**
* **Fozzie's Tooth Fairy Song**
* **I've Been There Buddy**
* **How To Grow A Rubber Chicken Tree**
* **Laughter Is The Best-est Medicine**
* **I Don't Know But I've Been Told**
* **Super Spooky Halloween**
* **Try Something New**
* **Improvise**
* **A Very Muppet Babies Christmas**
* **Family**
* **There Are Lots Of Ways To Be Great**
* **Just Like Me**
* **Frogs And Dogs**
* **Too Much Me**
* **Puppy Come Home**
* **To Get You Laughing**
* **Meanzo Fabulous**
* **My Fair Animal**
* **Starship Piggy**
* **My Buddy And Me**
* **Must Be A Monster**
* **Steppity Steppity**
* **Slow Down**
* **Penguin With A Plan**
* **The Muppet Express**
* **Open Your Mind Up**
* **Kick It Up A Notch**
* **Happy Birthday, Miss Nanny**
* **Getting Away From It All**
* **I Gotta Be Me**
* **A Beautiful Friendship**
* **Genie In A Lamp**
* **You'll Get There Soon**
* **Muppet Rocksplosion**
* **We Can Fix It**
* **Two Of A Kind**
* **You'll Get Better**
* **Let's Get On The Bus**
* **Follow Me Little Floofle**
* **(So You Wanna) Be A Frog**
* **Look At Me!**
* **Give Your Sister Your Love**
* **The Boo Boo Patrol**
* **The Gonzonian Anthem**
* **What's In This Picture?**
* **Puppy Dog Blues**
* **Rozzies Everywhere**
* **Banana-Wamma-Jungle-Jamma**
* **Friends By My Side**
* **Go With The Flow**
* **Presto Penguini**
* **Make A Plan**
* **Invisible**
* **If You Stick To It**
* **Anything You Need**
* **Every Life Is Like A Story**
* **That's How You Play The Harmonica**
* **Anything I Imagine It To Be**
* **By The Box**
* **That's How You Get Thunder**
* **Tidy Up**
* **We're Diggin'**
* **Brothers Are The Best**
* **Wonderful Dollhouse**
* **Piggy's Diner**
* **Can't Run From The Grumpies**
* **Building Rizzo's Race Car**
* **Elf-Bot Song**
* **Muppet Little Christmas**
* **It's A Hanukkah Party**
* **It's A Mitzvah**
* **Tie Your Shoes**
* **This Is Villain-tine's Day**
* **The Muppet Babies Show Theme**
* **The Wheels On The Bus**

## Gallery

Muppet Babies (2018) 2nd TV PosterMuppet Babies (2018) LogoMuppet Babies (2018) Opening Title