Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, commonly known by the shortened title
Muppet Babies, is an American animated television series that aired
from September 15, 1984, to November 2, 1991, on CBS. The show
portrays childhood versions of the Muppets living together in a
nursery under the care of a human woman identified only as Nanny (the
whereabouts of their parents are never addressed), who appears in
almost every episode, but her face is never visible; only the babies'
view of her pink skirt, purple sweater, and distinctive green and
white striped socks is shown. The idea of presenting the Muppets as
children first appeared in a dream sequence in The Muppets Take
Manhattan (1984), released two months before Muppet Babies debuted, in
which Miss Piggy imagined what it would be like if she and Kermit the
Frog had grown up together.Muppet Babies was produced by Jim Henson
Productions and Marvel Productions. The rights are now held by The
Walt Disney Company which separately acquired both the Muppets
characters and Marvel. Although the episodes were 30 minutes
(including commercials), it was typically shown in 60- and even
90-minute blocks during the peak of its popularity. Outside the United
States, the show was distributed by Walt Disney Television. A reboot
of the series premiered on Disney Junior on March 23, 2018.The Muppet
Babies live in a large nursery watched over by Nanny, who is seen only
from the shoulders down. The babies' imaginary games transition from
the nursery into scenes that become "real" to the babies, such as
finding themselves aboard a pirate ship or in the land of Oz. Often
these fantasies are filled with stock footage scenes or live-action
clips from popular movies such as Star Wars, Ghostbusters and Indiana
Jones. Each episode contains a related musical number. When the
pretend game becomes too perilous, or when an interruption occurs
(often in the form of Nanny checking in or the imaginary game straying
too far from its original premise), the scene dissolves and they find
themselves in the nursery once more.The central idea of each episode
is the power of imagination. Sometimes, the babies use their
imagination to solve a problem (when Nanny's newspaper is accidentally
ruined, the babies write their own newspaper to replace it), but
occasionally their imaginations run away with them (overhearing
Nanny's phone call to the garbage collector to help her decide which
armchair to donate to charity leads the babies to fear that one of
them [which was thought to be Fozzie] is going to be thrown away).
Other frequent themes involve the babies coming up with new ways to
play with old toys, imagining what life will be like when they are
adults, or facing common childhood firsts such as a visit to the
dentist or a new addition to the family. Nanny is the voice of reason,
congratulating them on their creativity or soothing their fears.
Muppet Babies, is an American animated television series that aired
from September 15, 1984, to November 2, 1991, on CBS. The show
portrays childhood versions of the Muppets living together in a
nursery under the care of a human woman identified only as Nanny (the
whereabouts of their parents are never addressed), who appears in
almost every episode, but her face is never visible; only the babies'
view of her pink skirt, purple sweater, and distinctive green and
white striped socks is shown. The idea of presenting the Muppets as
children first appeared in a dream sequence in The Muppets Take
Manhattan (1984), released two months before Muppet Babies debuted, in
which Miss Piggy imagined what it would be like if she and Kermit the
Frog had grown up together.Muppet Babies was produced by Jim Henson
Productions and Marvel Productions. The rights are now held by The
Walt Disney Company which separately acquired both the Muppets
characters and Marvel. Although the episodes were 30 minutes
(including commercials), it was typically shown in 60- and even
90-minute blocks during the peak of its popularity. Outside the United
States, the show was distributed by Walt Disney Television. A reboot
of the series premiered on Disney Junior on March 23, 2018.The Muppet
Babies live in a large nursery watched over by Nanny, who is seen only
from the shoulders down. The babies' imaginary games transition from
the nursery into scenes that become "real" to the babies, such as
finding themselves aboard a pirate ship or in the land of Oz. Often
these fantasies are filled with stock footage scenes or live-action
clips from popular movies such as Star Wars, Ghostbusters and Indiana
Jones. Each episode contains a related musical number. When the
pretend game becomes too perilous, or when an interruption occurs
(often in the form of Nanny checking in or the imaginary game straying
too far from its original premise), the scene dissolves and they find
themselves in the nursery once more.The central idea of each episode
is the power of imagination. Sometimes, the babies use their
imagination to solve a problem (when Nanny's newspaper is accidentally
ruined, the babies write their own newspaper to replace it), but
occasionally their imaginations run away with them (overhearing
Nanny's phone call to the garbage collector to help her decide which
armchair to donate to charity leads the babies to fear that one of
them [which was thought to be Fozzie] is going to be thrown away).
Other frequent themes involve the babies coming up with new ways to
play with old toys, imagining what life will be like when they are
adults, or facing common childhood firsts such as a visit to the
dentist or a new addition to the family. Nanny is the voice of reason,
congratulating them on their creativity or soothing their fears.
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