The Cutest Muppets, Ranked
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- 1Richard HuntBeaker is a Muppet character from The Muppet Show. He is the shy, long-suffering assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and is likewise named after a piece of laboratory equipment. During the first season of The Muppet Show, Dr. Honeydew presented the Muppet Labs segments by himself; Beaker was added as his lab assistant from the second season on. Beaker has bulging eyes, a shock of red hair, and a drawbridge mouth. He was originally puppeteered and voiced by Richard Hunt until Hunt's death in 1992, when the role was taken over primarily by Steve Whitmire. Beaker is a magnet for disaster; he routinely suffers mishaps such as being blown up, electrocuted, eaten by large monsters, or afflicted with bizarre side effects from Dr. Honeydew's experiments. Beaker communicates in a nervous, high-pitched squeak that sounds like "Mee-mee-mee mee". In books and merchandise, the sound is spelled "Meep". In The Muppet Movie he appeared to say something other than "mee" or "meep". His tone or expression helps to communicate his meaning. "Meep" and "mee" are pronounced to rhyme with "beep" and "bee", respectively.
- 2
Slimey the Worm
Slimey the Worm is a light and dark orange striped worm that is the pet of Oscar the Grouch on Jim Henson's Muppet show Sesame Street. Introduced in Season 13, he is played by Martin P. Robinson and is the smallest of all characters on Sesame Street, being only 7 cm. His small size does not affect his attitude of being one not to wince at the sight of extreme activities. As Lou Berger, head writer for Sesame Street, put it, "Slimey shows viewers that even the smallest creature can be the most heroic, and that's an important thing for kids to see." Slimey has done many extreme things, including winning a gold medal in the Worm Olympics, parachuted from a plane, been shot out of a cannon whilst kissing girlfriend Glo and become the first worm in space. At first Slimey and his family did not talk, communicating by squeaking and wriggling, Slimey would be held up to Oscar's ear to talk to him. He and his family now, however, have digitally enhanced squeaky voices. Slimey's voice is currently provided by Dick Maitland. His birthday is on September 19th. - 3Jim HensonRowlf the Dog is a Muppet character, a scruffy brown dog of indeterminate breed with a rounded black nose and long floppy ears. He was created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Rowlf is the Muppet Theatre's resident pianist, as well as one of the show's supporting cast members. Calm and wisecracking, his humor is characterized as deadpan and as such, is one of few Muppets who is rarely flustered by the show's prevalent mayhem. He is very easy going and a fan of classical music and musicals. Though Kermit the Frog is often credited as the icon of Henson's Muppets, Rowlf was actually the first true Muppet "star" as a recurring character on The Jimmy Dean Show, first appearing in a show telecast on September 19, 1963.
- 4Jim HensonKermit the Frog is a fictional character from the tv series Robot Chicken.More Kermit the Frog
- #23 of 278 onThe Greatest Cartoon Characters In TV History
- #64 of 389 onThe Funniest TV Characters Of All Time
- #28 of 843 onThe Greatest TV Characters Of All Time
- 5
Robin the Frog
Jerry NelsonRobin the Frog is a Muppet and Kermit the Frog's young nephew. He has appeared in most Muppet productions since The Muppet Show. He loves to spend time with his Uncle Kermit, his best friend Sweetums, and his boys' club, the Frog Scouts. Robin first appeared in The Frog Prince as Sir Robin the Brave. One of his most famous moments was singing "Halfway Down the Stairs", a song based on a poem by Winnie the Pooh creator A. A. Milne. He also has an important role in Episode 212 of The Muppet Show, when he was feeling sad for being so small, until the guest star Bernadette Peters and all Robin's Muppet friends sing the song "Just One Person" to cheer him up. In the animated Muppet Babies series, Robin appeared as a tadpole in a fish bowl, as all the characters were younger versions of their live-action selves. Robin's roles in the Muppet movies varied from cameos to large roles, though he significantly hasn't appeared in a large amount of Muppet movies. In The Muppet Movie, he had a small role at the beginning of the movie at the film screening where he asks Kermit if the movie is about how the Muppets got started. - 6Dave Coulier, Frank OzAnimal is the wild and frenzied drummer of Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem, the fictional band from The Muppet Show. He is one of the Muppets originally created by Michael K. Frith.More Animal
- #13 of 169 onThe Best TV Characters Of The '80s
- #1 of 32 onThe Most Interesting Muppet Show Characters
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- 7Dave GoelzThe Great Gonzo is one of the main characters of The Muppets. Developed and performed by Dave Goelz, the character made his first appearance in a 1970 Christmas special entitled The Great Santa Claus Switch. Known as a "Whatever", he is considered one of The Frackles. Since his character lived in a cigar box, he was called the "Cigar Box Frackle". Originally a minor figure on The Muppet Show, he soon evolved into one of the franchise's principal characters. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, Gonzo plays the author of the book Charles Dickens. Though primarily performed by Dave Goelz, he has also been voiced by Russi Taylor and Laurie O'Brien in Jim Henson's Muppet Babies and by Hal Rayle in Jim Henson's Little Muppet Monsters. Jim Henson performed Gonzo in at least one scene for an unaired version of the first episode of The Muppet Show. Brett O'Quinn performed Gonzo in Muppets Ahoy!, a 2006 Disney cruise show. In the 1999 film Muppets from Space, it is revealed that he is an alien from a distant planet in space and he meets his alien family for the first time. This made Gonzo the first Muppet other than Kermit the Frog to feature as the protagonist in a Muppet film.
- 8Michael Clarke Duncan, Frank Oz, Richard HuntFozzie Bear is a Muppet character known for his lack of innate and effective comedy skills. Fozzie is an orange bear who often wears a brown pork pie hat and a red and white polka dot necktie. The character debuted on The Muppet Show, as the show's stand-up comic, a role where he constantly employed his catchphrase, "Wocka Wocka!" Shortly after telling the joke, he was usually the target of ridicule, particularly from balcony hecklers Statler and Waldorf. Fozzie was performed by Frank Oz until 2001; Eric Jacobson has since become the character's principal performer.More Fozzie Bear
- #134 of 389 onThe Funniest TV Characters Of All Time
- #159 of 843 onThe Greatest TV Characters Of All Time
- #16 of 116 onThe Greatest Talking Animals in TV History
- 9Jerry NelsonCamilla the Chicken is the female chicken that is Gonzo's love interest on The Muppet Show. This chicken with hay fever was performed by veteran Muppet performer, Jerry Nelson, and is seen frequently on The Muppet Show, but also makes appearances on the various full-length Muppet movies such as The Muppets Take Manhattan where she hyperventilates after attacking a villain and needs "mouth-to-beak resuscitation", and The Muppet Movie as Gonzo's plumber girl and is in back of the car the whole movie. She also appeared in TV specials such as A Muppet Family Christmas where she is seduced by the turkey who was invited to the family gathering by the Swedish Chef. On Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, Camilla was Baby Gonzo's stuffed yellow chicken doll. She was voiced by Frank Welker, and subsequently Dave Coulier and Russi Taylor when she came to life in Gonzo's imagination. Camilla appears as Gonzo's business partner in the 2011 film The Muppets, where she and her chicken companions also perform "Forget You" in the big Muppet reunion show. In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Gonzo mentions that he and Camilla are engaged, but this is never elaborated.
- 10Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jim HensonThe Swedish Chef is a Muppet character that appeared on The Muppet Show. He was originally performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz simultaneously, with Henson performing the head and voice and Oz performing the character's live hands. The Swedish Chef is now performed by Bill Barretta.More Swedish Chef
- #152 of 843 onThe Greatest TV Characters Of All Time
- #37 of 169 onThe Best TV Characters Of The '80s
- #3 of 32 onThe Most Interesting Muppet Show Characters
- 11Steve WhitmireRizzo the Rat AKA Ralph is a Muppet, performed by Steve Whitmire.
- Statler and Waldorf are a pair of Muppet characters. They are two disagreeable old men who first appeared in the television series The Muppet Show and heckled the rest of the cast from their balcony seats. They appeared in all but one episode of the show. In one episode, Waldorf appeared alone at the beginning, explaining that Statler was sick, and that Waldorf's wife would substitute. Her name turned out to be Astoria and she looked remarkably like Statler wearing a dress. In The Muppet Show, the two were always trashing Fozzie Bear's humor, except for one occasion where Fozzie, with help from Bruce Forsyth, heckled them back. In contrast, they found themselves vastly entertaining and inevitably burst into mutual laughter at their own witticisms. It is later revealed in the A Muppet Family Christmas special that the two hecklers were friends with Fozzie's mother, Emily Bear. Despite constantly complaining about the show and how terrible some acts were, they would always be back the following week in the best seats in the house. As to why, the original version of The Muppet Show theme song had Statler admitting, "I guess we'll never know."
- 13Steve WhitmireBean Bunny is one of the Muppets. His first appearance was in the HBO special The Tale of the Bunny Picnic. He is performed by Steve Whitmire. In Muppet Babies, he was voiced by Dave Coulier, who took over all of Howie Mandel's roles. According to Brian Henson, he is not popular with Muppet performers: "Inside the Muppet Company, we love to hate Bean Bunny."
- 14Frank OzMiss Piggy is a Muppet character introduced in 1974 and made famous by her role in Jim Henson's The Muppet Show. The character was performed until 2000 by Frank Oz, who was succeeded by Eric Jacobson in 2001. She was voiced by Laurie O'Brien in Muppet Babies and Hal Rayle in Jim Henson's Little Muppet Monsters. In 1996 TV Guide ranked her number 23 on its 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time list.More Miss Piggy
- #158 of 278 onThe Greatest Cartoon Characters In TV History
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- #134 of 843 onThe Greatest TV Characters Of All Time
- 15Bill BarrettaPepe the King Prawn is a Muppet character.
- 16Richard HuntScooter is a fictional character from the Muppet Show.
- 17Dave Coulier, Dave Goelz, Dave GoelzDr. Bunsen Honeydew, Ph.D. is a Muppet character from The Muppet Show, performed by Dave Goelz. He is a bald, green-skinned, bespectacled, lab-coated scientist who would do periodic science segments from "Muppet Labs, where the future is being made today." The character has no eyes, only completely transparent, lensless glasses, giving the appearance of a stereotypical absent-minded intellectual. His first name is borrowed from Robert Bunsen, after whom the Bunsen Burner was named. His last name is a reference to the honeydew melon, to which his head bears a striking resemblance. It is also a reference to Honeywell Labs, a technology company which aired TV commercials well-known at the time of the original Muppet Show. Honeydew's experiments usually cause great harm to his very nervous and long-suffering assistant Beaker, a nearly mute Muppet with a shock of reddish hair. Honeydew worked alone in the first season of The Muppet Show, but from the second season onward, the luckless Beaker would always be present.
- 18
Sam the Eagle
Frank OzSam Eagle is a Muppet character originating from the television show The Muppet Show, where he was performed by Frank Oz.More Sam the Eagle- #11 of 32 onThe Most Interesting Muppet Show Characters
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- 19Dave GoelzBeauregarde is a fictional character from the 1990 film The Muppets at Walt Disney World.
- 20
Annie Sue
Louise GoldAnnie Sue Pig is a puppet character on The Muppet Show. Annie Sue first appeared in the background during the second season, where she appeared in a group of hippie Muppets. At the time, she had a pink wig instead of the yellow curls that she later wore. Annie Sue is a young pig whom Kermit the Frog hired as a chorus girl, and her interactions are usually with Kermit and Miss Piggy, the latter of which considered Annie a threat to her career and romantic interest in Kermit. She gained prominence in the third season, interacting with Kermit and Fozzie, and performing her own solo musical song-and-tap-dance number "Carbon Paper". Annie Sue took a supporting role a couple of episodes later, singing "The Rhyming Song" with Fozzie, Scooter and Link Hogthrob. In subsequent episodes, Annie Sue became a background character, though she was briefly featured in the last Muppet Show episode, featuring Roger Moore, where she was his date. She also had her own opening number, Chikko Ticko Tock, which she performed with The Muppet Pigs. Annie Sue was puppeteered and voiced by British actress Louise Gold, who also played other characters on the show and participated in several Muppet movies and specials. Muppet chronicler Christopher Finch wrote that Gold was "the most versatile female puppeteer to work on The Muppet Show [and] the only British member of the cast." Annie Sue was the first puppet character to be specifically designed for Gold to perform. As Gold is left-handed, Annie Sue is one of the few right-handed hand-rod Muppet characters. An exception was in the "Carbon Paper" performance, when Frank Oz took over the role for that one number. Gold performed Annie Sue in the Muppeteers' tribute at Jim Henson's memorial service. Annie Sue also made an appearance in The Great Muppet Caper, and can be seen in the audience on Muppets Tonight. Because she is Gold's character, Annie Sue was also featured in clips from The Muppet Show in the BBC Television documentary 'The Wonderful World of Puppets'. - 21
Dr. Julius Strangepork
Jerry NelsonDr. Julius Strangepork was a character on The Muppet Show, and a regular Muppet character . He is a Muppet pig, who most often appeared with Miss Piggy and Link Hogthrob in the recurring Pigs in Space skit, in which he was the science officer on the USS Swinetrek. His name is a reference to the eccentric scientist in Stanley Kubrick's film, Dr. Strangelove.
