Eras in Muppet History: The Fairy Tale Era (1969-1974)

Eras in Muppet History: The Fairy Tale Era (1969-1974)

The Original Cast of Sesame Street

So, what was up next for Jim Henson and his booming career? Where were the Muppets going to pop up next? Jim Henson’s Muppets’ next big milestone was something that Henson never planned on doing, children’s television. Henson was recruited by Joan Ganz Cooney to use his Muppets for an educational children’s show with the Children’s Television Workshop. The result of this collaboration became Sesame Street, debuting in November of 1969. A whole new gang of characters hit the screen with Ernie and Bert, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, and one of the most famous birds in the world, Big Bird. Sesame Street is such a success story that 45 years later, the show is still creating new episodes and their characters have become superstars. Multiple generations have grown up being educated and entertained by Sesame Street. I could easily launch into an entire blog post about this show, and maybe I will some time, but for now I’ll go back to the story of how Kermit and the rest of the non-Sesame Street Muppets have progressed.

 

Princess Melora and Robin in The Frog Prince (1971)

Jim Henson and his team didn’t abandon their classic characters after the success of  Sesame Street. They decided to use the Muppets to tell their own version of classic fairy tales with a series of TV Specials called Tales From MuppetLand. The first of these specials was Hey Cinderella (1969), the classic tale we all know, as only the Muppets could tell. Instead of mice who get turned into horses, Cinderella gets escorted to the ball by Kermit and his large monster-friend, Splurge. She falls in love with the prince and lives happily ever after. Yes, it’s predictable, but it’s done with these characters and their charm, so I don’t mind being along for the ride. The next installment of Tales From MuppetLand was The Frog Prince (1971), which featured a Prince who has been turned into a small frog by the evil witch Taminella, who was previously featured in The Tales of Tinkerdee (1962). The frog prince, meets a real frog named Kermit, who helps him on his mission to break the spell. Like many fairy tales, there is a Princess, and the princess has also been cursed by Taminella to not be able to speak clearly. The princess and the frog bond over their need to break their spells. Once again, the ending is predictable, but very entertaining.

               

The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972)

The next installment of  Tales From MuppetLand is a stand-alone special, The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1972) consisting of all original characters, with the exception of some narration from none other than Kermit the Frog. In this tale, we follow four animals, Leroy the Donkey, TR Rooster, Rover Joe, and Catgut as they escape from their evil owners and form a traveling Louisiana jazz band. This little known special also displays remarkable and impressive puppetry techniques from Jim Henson’s team. One final instalment of Tales From Muppetland will be produced, Emmet Otter's Jugband Christmas (1977), but I'll get to that in the next chapter.

The Frackles (the puppet at the top
woul later be turned into Gonzo)

There was one special produced outside of the Tales From MuppetLand series, called The Great Santa Claus Switch (1970). The story is very similar to The Grinch who stole Christmas. Art Carney played Cosmo Scam, an evil magician who lives in the caves beneath the North Pole. He come up with a plan to replace Santa Claus and fly around the world, stealing from people using his disguise. Cosmo Scam's henchman include bird-like monsters called "Frackles" as well as a large blue full-bodied monster named Thog. Thog and the Frackles would later be used frequently on The Muppet Show (1976).

 

King Goshposh

These specials have significance from a character point of few as well. First, if you haven’t noticed, all of these specials include Kermit the Frog in a narrator or advisor role. Kermit was quickly becoming established as the stable face of the Muppets. He was the only character remaining from Sam and Friends (1955), and as we all know, Kermit’s lead role with the Muppets has yet to meet its end. These tales also mark the return of King Goshposh from The Tales of Tinkerdee, who played the role of the king in both Hey Cinderella and The Frog Prince. King Goshposh is in my opinion, a very underrated character. He’s so dumb, and pompous, and fun to watch. It’s a shame that aside from a few brief appearances in The Muppet Show (1976), the character remains in this Era.

 

Sweetums and Robin

Finally, The Frog Prince is the first appearance of two popular characters. The frog prince was played by Robin the Frog, who would later be established as Kermit’s cute little nephew. In the story, Robin has to escape from a dungeon being guarded by Taminella’s henchman Sweetums, the big hairy monster that would go on to be the most famous full bodied character on The Muppet Show. Ironically, despite their conflict, Sweetums and Robin have since become a best friend duo.





Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson performing
Janice and Floyd Pepper

Another major contribution to Muppets that happened in this era was the addition of key Muppet performers. Jerry Nelson had performed with the Muppets earlier, but quickly became a core performer, performing such characters as Count von Count in Sesame Street, Robin in The Frog Prince and Emmet Otter in Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas. Nelson had an amazing vocal range which has been utilized in hundreds upon hundreds of characters, including Floyd Pepper, Snuffleupagus, and Gobo Fraggle. Any Muppet production created from the early 1970s to the early 2000s most likely had the vocal talents of Jerry Nelson. Nelson was often paired up with Richard Hunt, who first worked with the Muppets on The Great Santa Claus Switch. Nelson and Hunt would perform such Muppet duos as Floyd and Janice, Pa and Junior Gorg, Biff and Sully, Sweetums and Robin, as well as each performing half of the Two Headed Monster on Sesame Street.

Dave Goelz and Gonzo

One more significant addition to the performing team was Dave Goelz, who first joined as a puppet builder. Goelz built the first versions of several Muppet Show characters, as well as becoming one of the main performers. To this day, Goelz remains a muppeteer, primarily as The Great Gonzo, among others. As the Muppets enter the next era, Nelson, Hunt, and Goelz, join Jim Henson and Frank Oz as the core group of Muppet performers. This is the group that would bring the Muppets to prime time television.

 

The final production that I would place in this era is The Muppet Valentine Show (1974). It was the first of two pilots for a new television show. While this special did not get picked up, it’s successor, The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975), did. The show centers around a character named Wally, who is trying to define the meaning of love. Wally is in a house full of Muppets, who try to help him in his search. Many prominent characters from both The Beginning Era and The Fairy Tale Era can be spotted, including Kermit the Frog, Rufus the Dog from Hey Cinderella, Thog from The Great Santa Claus Switch, Rowlf the Dog, and even Bert and Ernie make a cameo. It was like the Muppets’ version of an all-star get together. Instead of all these characters telling one long story, instead it is full of songs and sketches as the Muppets try to define love. It could be argued that this special belongs in the following era, but I think of it as transitional. It bridged the gap between this era and the next by mixing original characters with established fan favorites in the variety show format that would later lead to tremendous success on The Muppet Show.


Continue on to the Prime-Time Era (1975-1981)