This is Antibishonen Speaks discussing current events and The Muppets. I know it's bad timing, but I have to speak about this.
Yeah, yeah, along with other relationships that ended in divorce, it shocked everyone Miss Piggy and Kermit the frog broke up.
Honestly, I wasn't too surprised. Kermit was a pushover every time he upsets Miss Piggy. I mean, look at his predicament. I'm surprised he took one beating after another. It even boggles my mind Miss Piggy wanted to be part of his childhood as well.
Which is why I'm going to discuss ‘Muppet Babies’, one of the cartoons I watched when I was a kid! What surprised me is the origin of ‘Muppet Babies’, the effects on other franchises, and why it hasn’t been released on DVD! For starters, let’s take a look how ‘Muppet Babies’ got the greenlight.
The first prototype on the ‘Muppet Babies’ appeared in the movie ‘Muppet Takes Manhattan’ where Miss Piggy imagined if Kermit the Frog and the rest of the cast grew up together at a daycare. It’s only a three minute musical sequence, but it gave the producers an idea to make a spin-off of ‘The Muppet’ franchise. And boy, a hit it was!
Spanning for more than 65 episodes in seven years, it’s no surprise ‘Muppet Babies’ revitalized the Muppet franchise and pretty much made daytime cartoons popular again. Because ‘Muppet Babies’ was a huge hit, other networks and franchises followed up with their ‘young cartoon counterparts’. Some was mildly successful, while other are best left forgotten.
However, ‘Muppet Babies’ unofficially revitalized another franchise from left field: ‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’.
‘Attack of the Killer Tomatoes’ was a low-budget horror parody about killer tomatoes. Yes, it’s cheap and cheesy, but it’s that kind of B-movie expectations you have expected.
Then came ‘Muppet Babies’ when they made an episode ‘The Weirdo Zone’ around ‘The Killer Tomatoes’. In this episode, Fozzie made a terrible tomato joke that the ‘Silly Tomatoes’ attacked him, only to get caught by a giant ketchup bottle.
This ‘Killer Tomatoes’ parody was among one of the highest rated episodes on ‘Muppet Babies’. Naturally, the producers made a deal with the original creators to create a sequel; ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’. That too was also successful that it lead to the animated series.
For me personally, ‘Return of the Killer Tomatoes’ is among my favorite in the ‘Killer Tomatoes’ series, especially when the main hero poked fun at product placements. The jokes was way ahead of its time.
Unfortunately, I only recommend that movie because in the third movie, it starred…. (Rick Rockwell)
OH DEAR GOD, NO!!!!!!! I’ll get to ‘him’ some other time....
Now comes to the ultimate question: If ‘Muppet Babies’ was a popular show, why hasn’t it been released onto DVD?
There’s a valid explanation about this situation. The jokes that were used on ‘Muppet Babies’ had other footage from other popular shows. That means unless you got the rights or release permits from other producers, you’ll end up in a landmine of lawsuits.
Sad, but true. That’s the big reason why you shouldn’t hold your breath for a ‘Muppet Babies’ official release. It’s also doesn’t help that some clips were from rival studios. So yeah, it’s not that easy to get around this legal issue and I know getting clearance from the copyright holders is time-consuming and expensive. Yes, I know they are VHS copies that pop around, but it’s 2014. Yes, I know fans had made DVD versions, but that’s frowned upon. Also, it’s just ripped from the VHS.
Another factor to point out; because Disney obtained the rights from Jim Henson, Marvel, and Star Wars, it might be a possibility to see some ‘Muppet Babies’ episodes released in the future. Again, don’t hold your breath for an official release.
This is Antibishonen Speaks. Seriously, why was Miss Piggy and Kermit a couple?
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