Here Muppet, Here Boy!

One thing that defines people of my generation is muppets. As children, we didn't realize that previous generations didn't grow up with this unique breed of puppet, and we probably take for granted that children today are probably less familiar with them. But for a glorious period in history, our lives with filled with Jim Henson's creations and I've been thinking a lot about their brilliance recently. Last weekend, my mom had put the family dog to sleep, who was very much muppetish. Though I never shared home with Pepper, I did spend a lot of time with her over the years. She was a great dog and in honor of her, I thought I'd share a list of my favorite muppet pups.

Barkley from Sesame Street: Never having a staring role in the show, I still always gravitated to this fluffy moppet when I was little. He has that great bouncy stroll and I love have you'd see him out and about on the streets of New York and nobody seemed freaked out by this beast. He also knew Snuffy, my favorite character, which gave him points in my book. Plus, he's been to the Great Wall of China. What a dog!

Ralph from The Muppets: The quintessential muppet dog, Ralph was always the cool one. I used to love watching him wail on the piano in the opening sequence of the Muppet Show. He's a dog with class and style, and though he never had the one-liners, he's a consistent comedian. 

Sprocket from Fraggle Rock: The most "doggish" of all the muppet pups, Sprocket was one of the many subtle strokes of genius on a show full of genius. He's one of those classic characters that knows more than the other characters, being fully aware of the Fraggles when his owner never caught on.

 

Wicket of the Ewoks: Okay, not technically a dog, but sort of. I know people seem to despise the ewoks, feeling they were a ploy to appeal to children, but I was a child, and they did appeal to me. I loved Wicket in all his roles, from Return to the Jedi to the two Ewok Adventure movies.