Muppet Babies debuted initially in the 1984 film Muppets Take Manhattan in a cutaway joke and quickly became its own animated series which ran on CBS from 1984 until 1991. The original show could arguably be one of the most popular pieces of media from the Muppets franchise.
The show mixed Muppets along with cutaway gags and had a lot of jokes intended for adults including insertion of live action footage into animation. Many of these cutaways included classic films like Star Wars and African Queen. The show has a great theme song that made it a unique eighties show that had an extraordinarily long for an eighties cartoon.
The classic eighties cartoon had a recent reboot featuring voice actress Jenny Slate (Lego Batman Movie, Parks and Recreation). The show was initially as an upcoming show to Disney Channel’s lineup with little details except for the fact it was 3D animated. When the show launched it became a Disney Junior program and doesn’t quite match the tone of the original.
In the first few episodes some jokes match those of the original including some cutaway gags involving the original Muppet Show and Indiana Jones. The animation is also quite pretty for a Disney Junior show. Each Muppet has a clear plush look and shows clear texture and movement. The aesthetics are nice in the show but the jokes and story line are geared much more towards younger children rather than a family audience.
The adults watching can get a bit out of the Muppets as characters and knowing them from previous media but there is a new character that took the place of Skeeter and Scooter in the form of Summer. The character is fine but doesn’t quite fit the same dynamics as the original show. The two removed Muppets do appear in a picture in the background of the daycare along with other Muppets including The Swedish Chef.
The first few episodes deal with things like the Muppets being afraid of a dark closet, pretending to fly to France and learning how to be honest to each other. The themes are great for children and are good things for them to learn and using the brand is a good way to make the show more approachable to parents to choose for children. Adult jokes are few and far between and the first episode seemed weighted towards this idea to get parents to save the show on their DVR or not follow on how the show progresses. As the show progresses there are less cutaway jokes and less content available for parents watching with small children.
The show still follows the same structure of the original show as a nanny is watching the Muppets passively and they have a daydreams about the baby things they are doing are adult things. The show is more or less a precursor to Rugrats in this way. Jenny Slate does a good job in the reboot of adding some character to the show but the show is wholly meant for small children. For parents looking for a good option of a show teaching values this is a good option, but for those that grew up with the show and want more episodes this is not the solution. Hopefully the new Muppet Show on Disney Plus will do a better job of furthering the brand.
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