Muppet Babies 1983 - 2003

Last updated: Sept 15, 2022
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Proving that continuity doesn't matter, the Muppet Babies contradicted the Muppet Movie storyline but they were too cute to complain about. First appearing in Miss Piggy's dream from the Muppets Take Manhattan, the Babies made the leap to TV in cartoon form and lived there for an impressive 8 seasons (100 episodes). Imagine being locked in a room and being forced to watch every episode! ....that would be awesome!

In 1984 Milton Bradley produced a series of four Muppet Babies 60 piece puzzles with photos of the puppet characters. Shown above is the Baby Kermit Puzzle, below is the Baby Fozzie puzzle. There is also a Baby Piggy puzzle and one of Piggy and Kermit on a swing. Milton Bradley followed this series with a set of puzzles based on the animated TV show.

This is a Muppet Babies Colorforms playset from 1984. The side of the box has a photo of several of the actual Muppet Babies puppets including Baby Animal. This is the first time that I ever saw the puppet version of the character in any Muppet merchandise or TV show, as Baby Animal wasn't in the baby scene from the Muppets Take Manhattan movie. It wasn't until 1987 that the actual Baby Animal puppet was seen in a TV show, The Muppet Family Christmas special. Baby Animal and the rest of the Babies puppets are also seen with Steve Martin in an issue of Muppet Magazine.

Here is a figural pin of Baby Kermit made by Avon in the mid 1980s. It was sold on a small record shaped bubble card with illustrations of the other characters. A Baby Piggy pin was also made in this set.

These two Muppet Babies finger puppets were made by Avon in 1985 and sold as the cap on bottles of bubble bath.

This is the complete set of three Muppet Babies squeeze toys made in 1984 by Hasbro/Playskool. These are one piece figures (the heads do not turn) that were available in stores at the same time as the series of figure shown below. As all of these figures are the same size and made by the same company, I consider them all to be part of the same collection even though technically they were not.

In 1984 and 1985 Hasbro/Playskool produced this series of hollow plastic figures of the Muppet Babies. All of these figures have heads that turn, which is the only movable part on the figures. The bodies are molded in one position. Shown here is (L to R, top row) Baby Gonzo, Baby Piggy, Baby Kermit, Baby Fozzie (L to R, Bottom row) Baby Animal, Baby Rowlf, Baby Scooter and Baby Skeeter. All are marked 1984 except for Rowlf, Scooter and Skeeter which are marked 1985. 

Unfortunately the plastic that was used to make these figures tends to break down and "sweat" over time, becoming sticky to the touch. I've had this happen to Animal, Scooter and Skeeter. However, I had duplicates of Animal and one of them was okay, so it seems the condition of the plastic depends on the individual copies of the figures rather than being an issue with the production of specific characters. I find it interesting to note that later in 1990 Hasbro would produce the Jim Henson Dinosaurs TV show figures in the same style as these Muppet Babies figures, only with the turning joint at the character's waist rather than the neck.

I've noticed a colour variation for Baby Piggy and Baby Kermit. Piggy is obvious, with bright or lighter pink clothes and dark or light purple bow and gloves. The light pink Piggy has darker skin tone plastic but this might be a result of the plastic aging and becoming discoloured. The paint however wouldn't discolour in the same way. Below is Baby Kermit with a reddish tongue or a bright pink tongue. He also has a dark or light green collar. Again, the green skin tone is darker for one, which may have to do with the plastic ageing.

In 1985 Hasbro/Playskool produced a series of Muppet Babies plush toys. The 12 inch Baby Kermit and Piggy plush toys shown above were made in 1985, while Baby Fozzie and Rowlf, shown below, were added to the collection in 1986. I recall saving up to buy each one of these new from the store, one at a time, when I was around 11 or 12 years old. Unfortunately I didn't keep any of the boxes but I recall Kermit and Piggy's boxes just showed those two plush toys on the back, while Fozzie and Rowlf's boxes showed all four on the back. Smaller sized plush toys of Kermit and Piggy were also made. The small plush Baby Piggy was the same as this one only smaller, but the smaller Baby Kermit was dressed in a sailor outfit as seen in the movie.

In 1985 when the 12 inch plush toys were introduced Hasbro also offered smaller sized plush toys of Baby Kermit and Bay Piggy. Kermit is dressed in a sailors outfit, which is different from the 12 inch version, however both sized plush toys of Baby Piggy are dressed the same.

In 1986 Hasbro made a Jumbo sized Baby Kermit plush toy. As you can see it's quite huge! I've included the 12 inch Baby Kermit in the picture for size comparison. Jumbo Baby Kermit is 20 inches sitting. Hasbro was also producing Sesame Street plush toys at the same time and made a Jumbo Big Bird plush toy. I recall seeing both of them at the toy store next to each other on the same shelf. This Jumbo Baby Kermit was found at a thrift store in the mid 1990s. Even though this toy was mass produced, in my experience this jumbo Baby Kermit plush toy is super rare to find these days.

 Here is a full-length Muppet Babies record from 1985 with songs from the animated TV series.

Here is the back view. There were 11 songs included on the album, and the lyrics for each song were included on a sheet inside the album.

Side 1:                                                Side 2:
The Muppet Babies Theme                 Camilla
Merry-Go-Round                               Rocket to the Stars
Sleep Rockin'                                     Practise Makes Perfect
Dream For Your Inspiration                It's Up To You
Good Things Happen in the Dark        I Can't Help Being A Star
                                                          The Muppet Babies Theme (Reprise)

From 1985 to 1989 Marvel Comics published 26 issues of the Muppet Babies comic book as part of their Star Comics line. I have 16 issues which is more than half of the series, but there are still ten missing. Issue number 1 and 2 are shown above.

 Issues 3 and 4

Issue 5 and 6

Issue 7 and 8 

Issue 9 and 10

Issue 11 and 12

Issue 13 (I'm missing issues 14 through 20)

Issue 21 and 22 (I'm missing issue 23)

Issue 24 (I'm missing issue 25 and 26)

The two books shown above were published in 1986. They are from of a series of hard cover Muppet Babies "Weekly Reader" Book Club books sold by mail order from 1986 to 1988.  Three more books are shown below. The series was published jointly by Muppet Press and Marvel. Marvel also produced the Muppet Babies comic books series shown above. In my experience these books are somewhat hard to find as in all my years of collecting Muppets, including thrift store and flea market hunting, these five books are the only ones that I've ever found from the book club. I have confirmed that there are at least 18 books in the series, though there are likely 20 books in all. A similar series of mail order hard cover books based on the Fraggle Rock TV series was also produced in the 1980's.

The book on the left was published in 1987, the book on the right is from1986.

This book club book was published in 1988.

Here is a Muppet Babies "Super Shape Book" by Golden Books, 1982.

This Muppet Babies "Little Golden Book" was published in 1995.

This director Baby Kermit figure is 4.5 inches tall, made out of soft rubber and is hollow. The smaller Baby Kermit figure shown on the right with the sailor outfit is 2.5 inches tall, and also a soft rubber, hollow toy but it's made with softer rubber than the director Baby Kermit. Both are dated 1989 on the bottom however I don't know what company made them.

Above is the Baby Gonzo PVC figure from the Circus series made in the 80's by Applause. 

(Photo submitted by Andy)

This Baby Piggy PVC figure was also made by Applause. The Applause toy company produced over 20 Muppet Babies PVC figures in the late 1980's. 

The Baby Fozzie and Baby Gonzo figures were made by Comics Spain in the mid to late 80's and sold in Europe. The Fozzie figure is a rare variation with a blue outfit and brown teddy bear. The regular version has a yellow outfit and a blue teddy bear. The Comics Spain series has seven figures including the variation of Fozzie: Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Fozzie - yellow, Baby Fozzie - blue, Baby Gonzo, Baby Animal and Baby Rowlf. 

More Muppet Babies PVC figures can be seen at the Muppet Wiki Website.

This is a sticker from 1988 that was free inside General Mills cereal boxes. It's from a set of six stickers, each featuring a different Muppet including Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Fozzie, Baby Gonzo, Baby Animal and Baby Scooter. What's interesting about this series is that, with the exception of Baby Scooter, the illustrations of the characters are clearly based on the PCV figures that were sold at McDonalds restaurants two years prior in 1986, shown below.

The first series of McDonalds PVC Figures from 1986.

In 1986 McDonald's restaurants sold Muppet Babies PVC figures that came with removable vehicles. The set included Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Fozzie, and Baby Gonzo. These toys proved to be extremely popular in their day, so much so that within a year (in '86 or '87) McDonald's reissued them and added Baby Animal to the set. According to Muppet Wiki Baby Animal was only available in Canada. However the Muppet Wiki information is inaccurate as it states that there were only two sets of figures released in North America when there are in fact three. Muppet Wiki also states that Baby Animal was included with the first release of the figures however that is not the case. He was not released until the second go around when the toys were reissued.

The Muppet Wiki page also claims that the Canadian Baby Gonzo figure was barefoot and the American Baby Gonzo had shoes. This is also inaccurate as the figure with no shoes is from the first series and the figure with shoes is from the second series. Both figurers were sold in Canada therefore the figure with shoes is not exclusive to the United States. As I live in Ontario, Canada I don't know if the figure without shoes was sold in the US or not. Although this second "reissued" set appeared to be the same toys as the first series, they were in fact slightly different re-sculpts of the figures. I've shown comparisons of all the figures further below. In 1990 McDonald's offered a third set of Muppet Babies figures, however this time a completely new set of figures and vehicles was produced.

A fourth set of Muppet Babies toys was issued in 1993 that was only available at McDonalds restaurants in Europe. This set featured the same four characters. Fozzie Bear is attached to his vehicle which is a friction toy. I'm not certain if the other figures could be removed from their vehicles or not. The vehicles were reused from the Garfield and Hanna-Barbera series of toys that had previously been released in North America, but made in different colours.

The second series of McDonalds PVC Figures from 1986 or '87 with the addition of Baby Animal.

This is a large pin button that staff at McDonalds restaurants wore to promote the return of the Muppet Babies figures, which is why the button says "They're Back" at the top. Baby Animal is featured in the front of the other figures because he was a new addition to the set. The button is dated 1986 which suggests that the second series was available in '86 rather than '87.

Here are 3 of the 4 paper inserts that came in the baggies with the figures. They're dated 1986. The same inserts were used for the first and second series. On the far left is Baby Piggy from the second release in an unopened baggie. Below is the opposite side to show the toy still in the bag. 

Series 2 Baby Piggy in an unopened baggie. The insert card is dated 1986.

The third series of McDonalds PVC Figures from 1990.

Here are the inserts for the third series of Muppet Babies figures which are dated 1990.

Each of the vehicles from the third series was made with a pivot joint at the center that allows the vehicle to turn left or right. However, this feature doesn't work very well when the figure is sitting on the vehicle because it either knocks the figure off or cannot be turned with the figure in place, depending on which vehicle it is. All of the vehicles can be hooked together to form a train.

All three of the Baby Kermit figures, L to R: series 1, series 2 and series 3

The series 1 figure is slightly smaller than the series 2 figure. Series 1 has smaller irises than series 1, and series 2 has the irises painted more toward the top of the eye. The red inside the mouth is lighter for series 1 and the blue necktie detail is painted to be thinner. Series 3 Kermit is sitting rather than standing. Below is the side view.

You can see that Kermit's foot for series 1 is quite smaller than series 2, as is the whole figure.

All three of the Baby Piggy figures, L to R: series 1, series 2 and series 3

All three figures are in a sitting position which can make them confusing to identify.

The shape of Baby Piggy's face and the bow on her head is quite different between the series 1 and series 2 figures. The series 3 figure is much larger than the others and the feet are wider apart which prevents the figure from fitting into the pink car. Only series 1 and 2 figures can fit in the car. 

Side view

The bows on Baby Piggy's head are quite different on all three figures. 

Series 1 Piggy doesn't have a bow on her back.

All three of the Baby Fozzie figures, L to R: series 1, series 2 and series 3

Series 1 and series 2 figures appear to be identical in size and shape, however a closer look shows that the feet are shaped differently. The series 1 figure also has deeper lines on the cheeks to accent his smile. The series 1 figure has larger dots on the bowtie while the irises on the series 2 figure are larger and closer together. The series 3 figure is sitting rather than standing. 

Side view

All three of the Baby Gonzo figures, L to R: series 1, series 2 and series 3

All are in a sitting position which makes them more complicated to identify.

The series 1 figure is the easiest to identify because it's the only one without shoes and the strands of hair are bigger. Series 2 and series 3 figures are shaped quite differently and the third figure is much larger than the others.

Side view

Baby Animal and his wagon from series 2. Both are marked 1986.

Side view

In 1986 when series 1 was available, McDonalds produced two PVC figures for younger children who could not play with the regular toys due to the small pieces. The above figure of Baby Kermit on roller-skates is one of these figures, the other figure is Baby Piggy on roller-skates which I don't have. I assume these figures would have also been reissued with series 2.

In 1994 McDonalds released a series of toys under the title "All Time Favourites" which included a variety of licensed characters that had previously been featured in their own McDonalds toy series. Each character was presented as a toy that could be hooked together to form a 15 car train set. Baby Kermit and Baby Piggy were featured on toy number 11 from the set. Above is the toy in a sealed baggie next to one that is loose. When the toy is rolled forward Kermit and Piggy spin around. The base that they are on is designed to look like a record player.

The toy has five wheels on the bottom. The wheel in the center is the one that makes the figures spin around.

In 1999 Dairy Queen restaurants released a series of five Muppet Babies toys. Above is the toy featuring Baby Kermit. When the wheel on the back is turned Kermit moves forward in his roller coaster cart. All five toys can be connected so that they move together in unison. The other toys were similar to this one and featured Baby Piggy, Baby Fozzie, Baby Gonzo and Baby Animal. 

McDonalds really liked the Muppet Babies in the 80's! These are very popular Muppet babies plush toys that were sold at McDonald's in 1988, two years after the PVC figures were available. Fozzie and Kermit's clothes are removable, while Baby Piggy's outfit is attached. Unfortunately there was an error during the production of the Baby Piggy dolls as her hair has been sewn on inside out (I opened this one up at the back to check, and the curls are in fact on the inside of the doll!). I suspect there are other Piggy dolls that have the hair attached correctly, but I have yet to find one.

Baby Fozzie is shown in the original bag with the hang tag still attached. McDonalds produced so many of these dolls that 30 plus years later they are still commonly found at thrift stores, which is where I found this one. However, they don't normally turn up in the original bags!

Here's a view of Baby Fozzie without his hat to show his eyes and ears better. The hat is made of felt with some felt Holly leaves attached, and two holes for Fozzie's ears. Fozzie is the best plush toy from this series in my view. He's very well made and the choice of fabric for his fur makes him a very soft and huggable toy.

Here are some smaller sized Muppet Babies plush toys of Baby Kermit and Baby Gonzo, about 7 inches tall, made by Dakin in the late 1980s...likely in 1988 along with the larger sized Muppet Babies plush by Dakin, shown below. In my experience the above 7 inch plush toys are considerably less common than the larger set of plush toys. This is the only Baby Gonzo doll that Dakin made, as the character was not included in the series of larger sized plush toys. To my knowledge this is the first Baby Gonzo plush toy ever made as Hasbro didn't include Baby Gonzo in any of their Muppet Babies plush collections. Miss Piggy was also made for this 7 inch series, though I have yet to see any other characters for this set.

These 12 inch and 10 inch plush toys of Baby Animal and Baby Rowlf were made by Dakin in 1988. They were sold exclusively through the Muppet Stuff franchise of stores. Below are side views.

This 12 inch Baby Animal plush toy has a silver baby bonnet hood to match his gloves and feet. The yellow tag says "Baby Animal Daredevil". The Muppet Wiki website has this Animal plush toy listed with the 7 inch plush set shown above (Kermit and Gonzo), however as I own one of these Baby Animal plush toys I can say with 100% certainty that it was in fact made as part of the 12 inch series. It is much larger than the 7 inch plush toys. Here is the Muppet Wiki page in question: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Babies_plush_(Dakin)

Baby Rowlf is 10 inches and looks like he's wearing a band leaders outfit. This one is missing the yellow hang tag which would have said what type of outfit it is. The hat is sewn to his head but is not stuffed.

Here is Baby Miss Piggy by Dakin from 1988. This is a 12 inch doll, measured from head to foot. It looks like she's supposed to be a ballerina.

This is the 1988 Baby Fozzie by Dakin which is also 12 inches tall. It looks like he's dressed as a clown with frilly cuffs on his neck, sleeves and legs.

In addition to plush toys, Dakin produced a series of hand puppets in 1988 that were sold exclusively at the Muppet Stuff stores. A set of Muppet Babies characters were included in the series along with Gobo and Red Fraggle, a Doozer, and the adult/regular versions of Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Gonzo. These Dakin puppets are harder to find than the Dakin plush toys. The Muppet Babies set included Baby Piggy (shown above), Baby Animal (shown below), and Baby Fozzie. I have yet to see a Baby Kermit puppet though it's likely that one was made.

Here is a program from the Muppet Babies Live show "Where's Animal?", 1988.

Here are some flyers from the Muppet Babies Live show. Below is the back view. The top one with the Dec 1988 date is for the Toronto show at the O'Keefe Centre, and the bottom flyer is for the Ottawa show at the Ottawa Civic Centre which was also in Dec 1988. I saw the show in Ottawa.

Here is the 1988 poster from Muppet Babies Live that was sold as a souvenir at the event. I also have some pendants in the shape of Baby Animal and Baby Gonzo. I'll add a picture of them here eventually. Pendants of Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy, Baby Fozzie, and Baby Rowlf were also made.

This is one of the large pin back buttons that was available as a souvenir at Muppet Babies Live. Similar buttons were available showing Baby Kermit, Baby Piggy and Baby Fozzie. Baby Scooter and Baby Skeeter were shown together on a button.

These small 8 inch plush toys were made by Avon in 1988. They are made out of a towel like fabric and are intended to be bathtub toys.

These plush toys were made by Direct Connect/Amerawell Products. The two in the stripped shirts were produced in 1989 and the Piggy on the far left was made in 1991. These are all 9 inches tall.

Muppet Babies "Funforms" from 1989. This is a set of 8 pictures that you make using numbered stickers as the puzzle pieces. Muppets Funforms based on the Muppet Show characters were also available at the same time as these. This was made by Lee Publications, the same company that made the Muppet Babies Magic Pen colouring book shown below. I'm missing the magic pen that came with the book. There's no date on the book but it was likely made in 1989 with the Funforms.

Although they haven't been on TV since the late1990's, after a long absence from main stream culture Muppet Babies are slowly making a comeback, at least in regards to memorabilia. In 2003 this Mini Puzzle was produced by Bendon Publishing International along with a series of four colouring books. Two of them are shown below. The other two each have Baby Piggy and Baby Fozzie on the covers.

Photos and Text © Mike Artelle