History WesternAnimation / MuppetBabies

* TheCameo: Tom Selleck (in live action!) as a lovestruck fan of Piggy. It may have helped that both this and ''Series/MagnumPI'' were on {{CBS}}.

Later seasons would feature guest appearances from other Muppet characters, including fan favorites JustForFun/StatlerAndWaldorf. The Babies also had a memorable appearance in ''CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue''.

** ''Muppet Babies'' '''runneth over''' with ''Franchise/StarWars'' references, in fact. Thanks to how close Henson Productions and Lucasfilm were at the time, Lucas basically gave the Henson crew free rein to make [[LawyerFriendlyCameo as many references]] as they liked without fear of lawyers, a privilege they used as much as they could. The target audience being [[SmallReferencePools relatively familiar with the works due to their fame]] helped matters a lot, too. However, it would seem that this ended up being a problem anyway years later as a major factor for why the show has no DVD/Blu Ray release (along with the multitude of other live action snippets). On the other hand, with Disney now owning both the Muppet and Star Wars franchises (along with Marvel, which also had a big hand in making the show), a solution is seemingly possible.

** ''Muppet Babies'' '''runneth over''' with ''Franchise/StarWars'' references, in fact. Thanks to how close Henson Productions and Lucasfilm were at the time, Lucas basically gave the Henson crew free rein to make [[LawyerFriendlyCameo as many references]] as they liked without fear of lawyers, a privilege they used as much as they could. The target audience being [[SmallReferencePools relatively familiar with the works due to their fame]] helped matters a lot, too.

* [[CoolOldGuy Cool Old Guys]]: Statler and Waldorf had had much more softer personalities in this series.

* TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation: Well, this show has been made with full hand drawn animation and with goog animation. Although this show was made in he 80s, it still lasted till the early 90s.

** "It's Only Pretendo" is based around gentle spoofs/pastiches of various NintendoEntertainmentSystem games, plus ''Frogger,'' ''VideoGame/FantasyZone'' and of all things, ''VideoGame/KeithCourageInAlphaZones''.

-->'''Skeeter''': [[{{Tomboy}} I jump through the air!]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In "Dental Hyjinks", Fozzie, Gonzo and Rowlf have deeper voices and sound closer to their adult selves. The episode title music is also different.

* ContinuitySnarl: Only if you consider the FridgeLogic: when is this show taking place anyway? Let's not even get started on the later season that introduced Baby Bean Bunny; Bean's a young kid in the normal Muppets! Or that fact that this was all just Piggy's dream sequence in the third film, but ''actual backstory'' in Film/AMuppetFamilyChristmas, but that would contradict Film/TheMuppetMovie ....yup, this is a galaxy-sized snarl. It's somewhat justified, however, by the very nature of The Muppets. In pretty much every continuity they're entertainers, so any works that don't square with others can be called MutuallyFictional. Even TheMuppetMovie included a throw-away line indicating that liberties had been taken with the "real" events.

** "Eight Take Away One Equals Panic" begins with the babies pretending they are flying on an airliner plane, until they overhear Nanny on the phone and think she's planning on getting rid of one of them. [[spoiler(She was on the phone with a charity and actually looking at getting rid of an old chair from the nursery but was having trouble deciding which one; naturally, with the babies only hearing part of her end of the conversation ... .)/spoiler]]

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Piggy and Skeeter respectively ([[HiddenDepths No, we did not get that mixed up]] -- Piggy dresses in pink, bows, and lace [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and]] [[CuteBruiser karate chops]] anyone when they set off her HairTriggerTemper, whereas Skeeter is a pants-wearing athlete, but sweeter and much more mellow.)

** "Eight Take Away One Equals Panic" begins with the babies pretending they are flying on an airliner plane, until they overhear Nanny on the phone and think she's planning on getting rid of one of them. [[spoiler]](She was on the phone with a charity and actually looking at getting rid of an old chair from the nursery but was having trouble deciding which one; naturally, with the babies only hearing part of her end of the conversation ... .)[[/spoiler]]

** In one episode, the babies try to figure out how to relate with Gonzo better by finding ways where they are really weird too. It worked too well, and Gonzo wound up coming to the conclusion that he wasn't really weird and if he wasn't a 'weirdo', then he wasn't anything at all. Of course, for the ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' version of Gonzo, [[IAmWhatIAm being labeled "weird" was always a point of pride.]]

** In one episode, the babies try to figure out how to relate with Gonzo better by finding ways where they are really weird too. It worked too well, and Gonzo wound up coming to the conclusion that he wasn't really weird and if he wasn't a 'weirdo', then he wasn't anything at all. Of course, for the MuppetBabies version of Gonzo, [[IAmWhatIAm being labeled "weird" was always a point of pride.]]

%%* StraightMan: Rowlf

%%* ThemeTuneRollCall
* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Piggy and Skeeter respectively ([[HiddenDepths No, we did not get that mixed up]] -- Piggy dresses in pink, bows, and lace [[BreadEggsMilkSquick and]] [[CuteBruiser karate chops]] anyone when they set off her HairTriggerTemper, whereas Skeeter is a {{tomboy}} but much more mellow.)

%%* {{Tsundere}}: Piggy is a mix between this and {{Yandere}}.

-->'''Gonzo''': [[CloudCuckoolander And I've got blue hair! Ha!]]
-->'''Bunsen''': [[TheSmartGuy Me, I invent things!]]

** and Mr and Mrs. Howell in a GilligansIsland parody.

A CGI reboot for 2018 is currently in production for DisneyJunior.

Later seasons would feature guest appearances from other Muppet characters, including fan favorites StatlerAndWaldorf. The Babies also had a memorable appearance in ''CartoonAllStarsToTheRescue''.

** "Eight Take Away One Equals Panic" begins with the babies pretending they are flying on an airliner plane, until they overhear Nanny on the phone and think she's planning on getting rid of one of them.

* DoNotPassGo: In the Valentine's Day episode, Scooter has his computer generate a Valentine's Day poem, but it's not what he was expecting:
-->''Roses are red''
-->''Pickles are blue''
-->''Have a nice banana''
-->''You live at the zoo.''
-->''Do not pass Go, do not collect $200'' (over an image of a banana behind jail bars)

* OffModel: It is a Marvel animation production (see also ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePony'')... But then Creator/{{AKOM}} took over...

* TheFaceless: Nanny. You never see anything about her waist, but she has very distinctive socks at least.

'''''Muppet Babies''''' (1984-1991) was one of the few well-received SpinoffBabies conversions, partially because [[FirstInstallmentWins it was one of the first]]. Spinning off from ''Series/TheMuppetShow'', the show's premise was a takeoff from a sequence in ''Film/TheMuppetsTakeManhattan'' involving baby-versions of the characters, itself later referred to in an amusing callback. It also naturally spawned a side franchise of children's books.

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[[caption-width-right:346:Clockwise from top: Fozzie Bear, Kermit, Gonzo, Rowlf, Animal, Skeeter, Scooter, Miss Piggy.]]

* Animal even more so, and in his case, he can (and does) eat almost ANYTHING.

* BigEater: Piggy, [[FurryReminder being well, a pig and all.]] One time, when the gang wanted some cupcakes but they were all gone, Piggy demanded to know what happened to the rest of the cupcake with Nanny answered promptly to her, "You ate the last three."...much to Piggy blushing. Animal even more so, and in his case, he can (and does) eat almost ANYTHING.

* DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale: Piggy on Gonzo. When Gonzo accidentally annoys her or ticks her off or when he shows romantic feelings to her, she thrash him or throw him across the room.

* FracturedFairyTale: Several times throughout the series. For example, in "Slipping Beauty" instead pricking her finger to fall into a deep sleep is in 'Sleeping Beauty', Piggy as the sleeping princess, slips ontoa banana peel, falls and then goes into a deep sleep. Slipping Beauty.