Fraggle Rock (also known as Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock or Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets) is a children's puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim Henson.
Fraggle Rock was co-produced by British television company Television South (TVS), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, U.S. pay television service Home Box Office and Henson Associates. Unlike Sesame Street, which had been created for a single market and later adapted for international markets, Fraggle Rock was intended from the start to be an international production and the entire show was constructed with this in mind.
History
Fraggle Rock debuted in 1983 as one of the first shows involving the collaboration of Henson International Television (HiT Entertainment from 1989), the international arm of Jim Henson Productions. The co-production brought together British regional ITV franchise-holder Television South (TVS), CBC Television, United States pay-television service Home Box Office and Henson Associates (later Jim Henson Productions). Filming took place on a Toronto sound-stage (and later at Elstree Studios, London). The avant-garde poet bpNichol worked as one of the show's writers. In the early days of development, the script called the Fraggles "Woozles" pending the devising of a more suitable name.
Henson described the Fraggle Rock series as "a high-energy, raucous musical romp. It's a lot of silliness. It's wonderful." The program proved accessible to audiences of all ages, and used the fantasy creatures as an allegory to deal with serious issues such as prejudice, spirituality, personal identity, the environment, and social conflict.
In 2009, as part of the Jim Henson Foundation's donation of puppets to the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Atlanta museum displayed many of the original puppet characters from Fraggle Rock in their exhibition Jim Henson: Wonders from his Workshop.
International co-productions
The producers made the series with the intention of it airing in various forms internationally. That concept grew out of Jim Henson's experience adapting Sesame Street to the requirements of foreign markets. The human "wraparound" segments were produced separately in several countries, so the viewer could always relate to the world of the program. The series has appeared now in over ten countries and languages. The head producer was Wesley James Tomlinson.
- The main version, filmed in Toronto, features an inventor named Doc (played by Gerry Parkes) and his dog Sprocket. This wraparound was also used in the USA, Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, the Republic Of Ireland, Scandinavia, Spain and Eastern Europe. Dutch, Scandinavian, Spanish and Eastern European shows were dubbed in their respective languages.
- The British inserts were filmed at the TVS Studios in Southampton, and later at the TVS Television Theatre in Gillingham, Kent (since closed) and presents Fraggle Rock as a rocky sea-island with a lighthouse. Exterior footage was that of St Anthony's Lighthouse located near Falmouth in Cornwall. The lighthouse keeper is The Captain (played by Fulton Mackay), a retired sailor who lives with his faithful dog Sprocket. In the third season following the death of Fulton Mackay, the role was filled by John Gordon Sinclair as P.K. (the Captain's nephew) and in the fourth Simon O'Brien as B.J. (the Captain's son). In 2014, 35 of these British wraparounds were still missing, believed wiped. Though subsequent recoveries have reduced this number to nine with 87 known to exist. Nickelodeon repeated it in the UK from 1993, as did Boomerang and Cartoonito in 2007. The episodes shown were the Canadian versions.
- In the German version, the action takes place beneath the workshop of the inventor Doc (played by Hans-Helmut Dickow). The series was named Die Fraggles with 85 of the 96 produced episodes being presented in German.
- In France, the wraparound segments take place in a bakery with its version of Doc (played by Michel Robin) who worked as a baker and a French alter-ego for Sprocket called Croquette. Doc inherited the home from his eccentric Uncle Georges (who was a noted inventor). Thus, when the frame story required the use of a mechanical device, Doc would find yet another of Uncle Georges's machines. Plot-lines also frequently involved the elegant but unseen Madame Pontaven (who Doc repeatedly attempted to impress and invite to dinner with no success). Not all of the 96 episodes were produced in French.
Setting
There are four main intelligent anthropomorphic species in the Fraggle Rock environment: Fraggles, Doozers, Gorgs and Silly Creatures. The Fraggles and Doozers live in a system of natural caves called Fraggle Rock that are filled with all manner of creatures and features and which connect to at least two different areas:
- The Land of the Gorgs which they consider part of the "Universe."
- "Outer Space" where the "silly creatures" (or humans) live.
One of the main themes of the series is that, although the three species depend on the other for their survival, they usually fail to communicate due to vast differences in their biology and culture. The series mainly follows the adventures of five Fraggles with five personalities: pragmatic Gobo, idealistic Mokey, impetuous Red, indecisive Wembley and superstitious Boober. Some of the character's names are film industry in-jokes. For example, Uncle Travelling Matt is a reference to the travelling matte technique used with blue screen to give the impression a character is somewhere they're not; Gobo is named after a shaped metal grill placed over a theatre light to produce interesting shadows (window shapes, leaves etc.) and Red is a reference to a redhead, another name for an 800w film light.
Fraggles
Fraggles are small anthropomorphic creatures, typically 18 inches (46Â cm) tall, that come in a variety of colors and have fur tuft tipped tails. Fraggles live a generally carefree life, spending most of their time (they have a thirty-minute work week) playing, exploring, and generally enjoying themselves. They live on mainly radishes and Doozer sticks, made of ground-up radishes and the material with which the Doozers build their constructions. The Fraggles seek wisdom from Marjory the Trash Heap, who is located in a corner of the Gorg's garden. Marjory the Trash Heap is a large, matronly, sentient compost heap. According to her rat-like companions Philo and Gunge, the Trash Heap "knows all and sees all."
Doozers
Within Fraggle Rock lives a second species of small humanoid creatures, the pudgy, green, ant-like Doozers. Standing about 4 inches (10Â cm) tall ("knee-high to a Fraggle"). Doozers are in a sense anti-Fraggles; their lives are dedicated to work and industry. Doozers spend much of their time busily constructing all manner of scaffolding throughout Fraggle Rock, using miniature construction equipment and wearing hardhats and work boots. Doozers build their constructions out of an edible candy-like substance (manufactured from radishes) which is greatly enjoyed by Fraggles. This is essentially the only interaction between Doozers and Fraggles; Doozers spend most of their time building, and Fraggles spend much of their time eating Doozer buildings which they consider delicious.
Gorgs
Outside another exit from Fraggle Rock live a small family of Gorgs, fat furry humanoids standing about 180 inches (460Â cm). The husband and wife of the family, Pa and Ma, consider themselves the King and Queen of the Universe, with their son Junior Gorg as its prince and heir-apparent, but to all appearances they are simple farmers with a rustic house and garden patch. In "The Gorg Who Would be King", Pa says he has ruled for 742 years.
Fraggles are considered pests by the Gorgs, as they often steal radishes from the garden. The Fraggles don't consider it stealing. The Gorgs use the radishes to make anti-vanishing cream, without which they disappear headfirst.
The Silly Creatures of Outer Space
In the North American, Spanish, French and German versions of Fraggle Rock, the connection between Fraggle Rock and Outer Space is a small hole in the wall of the workshop of an eccentric inventor named Doc and his (Muppet) dog Sprocket. In the British version the situation is much the same, except that the hole leads into the living quarters of a lighthouse where the keeper ("The Captain") lives with his dog (also called Sprocket).
Gobo must go out into Doc's workshop to retrieve the postcards from his uncle Matt from the wastebasket where Doc throws them, assuming they are misdelivered. Traveling Matt (a pun on travelling matte, the technique used in his segments) is exploring the wider world, observing humans and reporting humorously false conclusions about their everyday behaviour.
Sprocket often sees and chases Gobo, but can't convince Doc anything lives beyond the wall. Sprocket and Doc have many similar miscommunications throughout the series, given the language barrier, but overall, they understand each other quite well.
In the final episode, Gobo tells Doc that Fraggles refer to humans as "silly creatures", and apologizes. Doc smiles and tells him that he thinks that it's a very good name for humans.
Episodes
Broadcast history
The CBC/HBO version of the series has been broadcast and dubbed in 95 countries. The series airs on Channel 7 in Australia, Doordarshan in India, and TV1 in New Zealand
After the show ended on HBO in 1987, the channel started to rerun the series. In 1988, it ran on TNT. The show aired on Disney Channel from April 6, 1992 to November 5, 1996. From 1999 to 2001, the show moved to Odyssey Network, which had recently been purchased by Henson and Hallmark. After Hallmark took full control, it discontinued the reruns.
In 2007, Fraggle Rock reruns aired on television in several countries. On July 23, 2007, Boomerang And Cartoonito started repeating episodes of the North American co-production of Fraggle Rock in the UK. In January 2013, ITV broadcast 2 episodes of this version as part of their 'Old Skool' Weekend feature on the CITV channel.
On December 12, 2015, the remastered "The Bells of Fraggle Rock" episode debuted alongside Henson's remastered Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas on ABC Family in its 25 Days of Christmas programming block. Fraggle Rock is available on HBO Now in HD and in 2016 the series began to air reruns on HBO Family.
Home video
Australia
Magna Pacific published the American version of Fraggle Rock on Region 4 DVD in 2007. The DVD set Fraggle Rock: The Complete Fourth Season actually includes seasons four and five. The DVDs have no special features.
A set of plush dolls of Gobo, Wembley, Boober, and Red were released by Sababa Toys, each accompanied by a DVD featuring two episodes of the show, and one episode of the animated series.
United Kingdom
Twelve UK episodes were released on VHS and DVD by Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment in April 2004. TVS, the original ITV broadcaster, has passed through several owners since dropping out of the ITV network in 1992 and it was believed only these twelve episodes had survived. Research found more episodes, but many of the original 95 remain lost. HiT Entertainment has tried unsuccessfully to locate the missing episodes, including extensive enquiries with The Jim Henson Company both in the UK and the US. When UK television channels wish to broadcast the show, they must use US versions; such was the case with Boomerang and Cartoonito in 2007. In addition to the unknown fate of the physical master material, much of the original TVS production paperwork and sales documentation has been lost during the intervening years. This problem affects the majority of the TVS programme archive, preventing any commercial exploitation. As of May 2016, search efforts and returned episodes from private collectors - mostly home recordings on VHS - has raised the number of episodes to 87, with only nine missing. In 2010, Lionsgate Home Entertainment UK began releasing complete season box sets. These releases are the same as the American box sets, except without bonus features.
- Virgin Video (1984)
- Palace Video (1987â€"1988)
- Video Collection International (1989-1994)
- Buena Vista Home Video (1993)
- Columbia Tristar Home Entertainment (2004)
- HiT Entertainment (2004â€"2007)
- Lionsgate Home Entertainment (2009â€"present)
United States
HBO video released a collection of single-episode VHS tapes during the 1980s.
In 1993, Jim Henson Video released five Fraggle Rock VHS tapes with two episodes each.
HIT Entertainment released a number of single-disc DVDs with three episodes each (two in the VHS counterparts) plus bonus episodes which could be unlocked by completing a trivia game before releasing the first three seasons of Fraggle Rock on DVD in Region 1 between September 2005 and September 2007. It released a complete series box set on November 4, 2008 but did not release the final season in a separate release. Season 4 had originally been scheduled to be released on the same day as the complete series set but at the last minute it was scrapped and was never released. The season box sets have been re-released by Vivendi Visual Entertainment, but the 5 DVDs with 3 episodes are still sold in stores.
On August 10, 2009, Lionsgate Home Entertainment announced it had reached a deal with The Jim Henson Company to acquire the rights to release Fraggle Rock on DVD. It subsequently released the final season on DVD for the first time on November 3, 2009. It re-released the "Complete Series" collection with new packaging (due to numerous complaints about the previous release) on the same day.
On February 18, 2013, Vivendi Visual Entertainment announced it had acquired the rights to the series. Season 1 was re-released on March 12, 2013, followed by Season 2 on April 16, 2013, Season 3 on May 14, 2013 and Season 4 on June 18, 2013. A complete series set was released on May 14 as Fraggle Rock - The 30th Anniversary Collection. This 22-disc set features all 96 episodes of the series as well as bonus features. A six-episode DVD with the same title Meet The Fraggles as a previously released 1993 VHS cassette, but it contains different episodes.
Spin-offs
Animated series
An animated Fraggle Rock series aired for one season on NBC's Saturday morning lineup in 1987. The cartoon series introduced some Fraggles, Doozers, and other cave creatures exclusive to the series.
A Muppet Family Christmas
Doc, Sprocket the Dog, Gobo Fraggle, Wembley Fraggle, Boober Fraggle, Mokey Fraggle, Red Fraggle, and Uncle Traveling Matt appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas. Doc and Sprocket rent the farmhouse of Fozzie Bear's mother while she plans to go to Malibu until Fozzie shows up with his friends. Doc and Sprocket end up adjusting to the Muppets and the characters from Sesame Street even to the part where Doc volunteers to help Kermit by looking for Miss Piggy in the blizzard. While Doc was out looking for Miss Piggy, Kermit and Robin find a Fraggle Hole in the basement and enter Fraggle Rock where they encounter the five main Fraggles and tell them about Christmas. During the song "Pass It On," Large Marvin Fraggle and the other background Fraggles made appearances. During the Christmas songs near the finale, the five Fraggles came up where Uncle Traveling Matt was seen sitting near Doc and Sprocket. In the final scenes, Sprocket helps Jim Henson to wash the dishes where Sprocket dries the dishes that Jim washes.
The Doozers
In 2012, The Jim Henson Company and DHX Media announced a computer animated spin-off to Fraggle Rock, titled The Doozers, targeted at children between ages 4 and 7. It focuses on four young Doozers named Spike, Mollybolt, Flex and Daisy Wheel, who live at Doozer Creek.
The series began airing on Hulu on April 25, 2014.
Feature film
In September 2005, The Jim Henson Company announced it was working on a film adaptation of Fraggle Rock, known as Fraggle Rock: The Movie, with the aim of a release in 2009. The story allegedly involves the original Fraggle characters.
On October 20, 2006, Darkhorizons.com reported "Henson's company has hired executive producer Ahmet Zappa (The Monstrous Memoirs of a Mighty McFearless) to write a treatment for the film which will be a full-length live-action musical fantasy starring the underground dwellers who venture out into the human world. Henson Co. co-topper Lisa Henson is producing, whilst Brian Henson will exec produce."
In May 2008, The Weinstein Company announced it would distribute the Fraggle Rock movie. The film was written as a live-action musical by Cory Edwards, who would also direct. The film was to be produced by The Jim Henson Company; Ahmet Zappa was executive producing along with Brian Inerfeld. The film would involve all of the core characters from the series. The story would take the characters "outside of their home in Fraggle Rock, where they interact with humans, which they think are aliens." Karen Prell and Dave Goelz were slated to return for the film as Red Fraggle, Boober Fraggle, and Uncle Traveling Matt, respectively.
In 2011, Weinstein's deal with Henson expired, leaving production of the film in doubt. The Scissor Sisters were announced to write music for the film. In October 2011, New Regency acquired the rights to the movie to be produced by The Jim Henson Company and The Montecito Picture Company, with 20th Century Fox distributing. New Regency and the producers are currently in discussion whether to use puppets or CGI as well as a mix of live action. Once this has been decided, it will look to a writer for the movie.
In 2012, James Byrkit and Alex Manugian were announced as screenwriters.
On March 18, 2015, Variety said Joseph Gordon-Levitt would star in and produce the film.
Music
Music played a central part in Fraggle Rock. Every episode featured two or three original songs co-written by Canadian poet Dennis Lee and Philip Balsam, as well as incidental music. Several episodes (usually involving Cantus and the Minstrels) focused primarily on musicâ€"such as Red Fraggle's attempt to find "her song" for the Fraggle Medley, or the effect of music on the breaking of winter or the presence of light in Fraggle Rock.
The "Fraggle Rock Theme" reached number 33 on the British music charts during the phenomenon. Writers included Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, and Jocelyn Stevenson, with songs by Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee.
Album releases
KOCH Records released Fraggle Rockin': A Collection, a three-disc box set of Fraggle Rock music, on October 30, 2007. The collection featured "restored and remastered" versions of three original Fraggle Rock LPs. The collection also included "special liner notes featuring rarely seen photos, contributions from the original composers and even sheet music for select songs." The main portion of these liner notes, called "Getting Down at Fraggle Rock," features an interview with Philip Balsam and Lawrence S. Mirkin and is written by Mike Petersen and Saul Pincus.
Song list
Soundtrack musicians
- Don Gillis â€" Musical Director
- Bernie LaBarge â€" Guitar
- Michael Francis â€" Guitar
- Bob McLaren â€" Drums
- Ray Parker â€" Keyboards
- Tom Szczesniak â€" Bass Guitar
- Dick Smith â€" Percussion
In other media
Books
Interactive books produced for Playskool's Talk 'n Play:
- Fraggle Rock: The Great Fraggle Travel Race
Magic Pen and Invisible Inks books for Lee Publications
- Fraggle Rock (No title - cover scene of Fraggles playing tag - artwork by Nate Butler) (1989)
- Fraggle Rock (No title - cover scene of Fraggles looking into musical treasure chest - artwork by Nate Butler) (1989)
Comics
The Star Comics imprint of Marvel Comics published two separate Fraggle Rock comic-book series in 1985 and 1988 respectively. Originally, the first series was to be drawn by Marty Taras, the creator of Baby Huey, and the cover of the first published issue of the Fraggle Rock comic is done by him. Also, at least one penciled page of his Fraggle work for that first issue has been preserved in print. However the art assignment for the series finally went to Marie Severin, who illustrated all eight issue interiors and the other seven covers. The second series lasted six issues.
In early 2010, Archaia Studios Press published their first three-issue series of Fraggle Rock. A second three-issue series was followed in January 2011. Both series were collected into hardcover editions shortly after their respective publications. No further announcements were made regarding any future volumes.
Other televised appearances
- Before its background appearance on Fraggle Rock, Food first appeared on Saturday Night Live during "The Land of Gorch" sketch. It was later recycled as Zsa Zsa Porkmustard in the "Science Fiction" episode of The Jim Henson Hour as well as an undersea creature cameo in the "Aquatic Life" episode.
- Uncle Traveling Matt appears in The Muppets Take Manhattan, seated in Piggy's wedding party during the play where he is in the same section as the bears that Fozzie Bear was hibernating with.
- There was a special featuring the Fraggles called Fraggles Look for Jobs which details the Fraggles after the show had ended. Gobo has secured a singing job billed as "Gobo the Frosty Fraggle," Wembley has no immediate plans except to stop wearing banana tree shirts, Mokey is writing a screenplay called "Girls of the Sixties," and Red has signed a contract to play hockey for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Boober spends most of the video on the phone (with Bernie and others) hoping to find another acting job, preferably as a romantic lead. Two clips from this have been shown on The Jim Henson Company's YouTube page.
- A prototype version of Blustering Bellowpane Monster appeared in the Play-Along Video film Neat Stuff: To Know & to Do as Mergie (performed by Camille Bonora).
- Mama Tree Bird and Baby Tree Bird appeared in The Ghost of Faffner Hall.
- The Rumble Bugs made background cameos in The Song of the Cloud Forest.
- Sprocket the Dog made a cameo appearance in The Muppets at Walt Disney World. He is seen as an inmate at the Disney World Pet Care Center.
- Gobo Fraggle, Mokey Fraggle, and Wembley Fraggle made a cameo appearance in The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson alongside the other Muppets and characters from "Sesame Street" in the "Just One Person" tribute song to Jim Henson.
- The puppets for Sprocket the Dog, Begoony, Mudwell the Mudbunny, Murray the Minstrel, Aretha, Wander McMooch, Brool the Minstrel, and the Inkspots make cameo appearances in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Begooney was shown as the child of the characters depicted by Mudwell and Murray. Sprocket was seen in a crowd cameo. The Inkspots (performed by Jerry Nelson and Steve Whitmire) were seen in the house windows and one of them was seen near a mud puddle during the song "Scrooge" while sitting next to the Porcupine from Billy Bunny's Animal Songs. Aretha appears in a crowd chorus where she has a line in the song with a Pig Businessman and the Blue Frackle. Wander McMooch (performed by David Rudman) and Brool the Minstrel (performed by Louise Gold) make cameo appearances as one of the guests at Fred's party.
- Large Marvin Fraggle, Blustering Bellowpane Monster, Begooney, Brool the Minstrel, Inkspots, Mudwell the Mudbunny, Murray the Minstrel, and Poison Cackler appear in Muppets Tonight.
- The puppets for Philo, Begoony, Blustering Bellowpane Monster, The Inkspots, Murray the Minstrel, Beastie, Mudwell the Mudbunny, Brool the Minstrel, Aretha, and an unnamed background cave creature appeared in Mopatop's Shop as various guests.
- Aretha appears in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz as a Flying Monkey.
- Blustering Bellowpane Monster appears in The Muppets. It can be seen in a Muppet crowd cameo near the end of the film.
- Blustering Bellowpane Monster appears in Muppets Most Wanted. He is seen in the opening of "El Muppet Show" and "The Wedding."
Live appearances
- Starting in 2008, Karen Prell began making live appearances with a rebuilt Red Fraggle puppet at various events like San Diego Comic-Con International.
- Wembley Fraggle, Red Fraggle, and Uncle Traveling Matt appeared in the "Fraggle Rock" portion of the Jim Henson's Musical World show at Carnegie Hall in 2012.
- On April 24, 2013, Red Fraggle and Gobo Fraggle appeared at "The Spare Room" to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of Fraggle Rock. Karen Prell performed Red as usual while Matt Vogel performed Gobo.
- In May 2013, John Tartaglia performed Gobo Fraggle at an event to grant the Museum of the Moving Image a permanent gallery devoted to Jim Henson.
- Kathryn Mullen and Karen Prell performed Mokey Fraggle and Red Fraggle at Dragon Con 2013 as part of Fraggle Rock's 30th Anniversary during the "Fraggle Rock Meet and Greet" event. Michael K. Frith also attended with puppeteers Paul McGinnis and Victor Yerrid.
Internet appearances
- Gobo Fraggle, Wembley Fraggle, Boober Fraggle, Mokey Fraggle, Red Fraggle, and Uncle Traveling Matt appear in the music video for the Ben Folds Five song "Do It Anyway," for which Chris Hardwick and Lisa Henson served as executive producers. Only Red, Boober, and Uncle Traveling Matt have dialogue. While Karen Prell and Dave Goelz reprised their roles of Red Fraggle and Uncle Traveling Matt, the other puppeteers included Sean Johnson as Boober Fraggle and Patrick Johnson as Gobo Fraggle. The beginning of the music video had Uncle Traveling Matt reporting about his experience at a recording studio (portrayed by the Jim Henson Company Lot) where the recording of the song is overseen by a sound engineer (played by Rob Corddry). During the song, Ben Fold Five's performance had them rocking all of Fraggle Rock even opening a ceiling where the five Fraggles end up pulled out of upon grabbing the microphone cable and joining in on the song with Uncle Traveling Matt coming in near the end. Also during the music video, there was a gate guard (played by Chris Hardwick) who had a tattoo of Junior Gorg on his left arm and a female receptionist (played by Anna Kendrick) wearing a "Boy Gorg" T-shirt (featuring an image of Junior Gorg dressed as singer Boy George). The end of the music video also includes Ben Folds, the characters played by Chris Hardwick, Rob Corddry, and Anna Kendrick, and Red Fraggle singing the Fraggle Rock theme song with Boober quoting "Down at Fraggle Rock" at the end as usual. There was also a video depicting the making of the music video with interviews with Ben Folds, Chris Hardwick, and Red Fraggle.
References
External links
- Official website
- Fraggle Rock on IMDb
- Fraggle Rock at TV.com
- Fraggle Rock on Hulu.com
- Fraggle Rock on Muppet Wiki, an external wiki