<![CDATA[Muppet Monday: What Do ‘Muppet Babies’ and IKEA Have In Common?]]>Well, I’m sure you could come up with a couple good answers for this question. Both are good Saturday morning past times. Both can be found in many countries (we assume). Both are two of our favorite things. But what we have in mind is something else. A whatchamacallit.
When we came upon this item in the IKEA marketplace we only thought of one thing: the episode of Muppet Babies in which Kermit and Fozzie find one of these in the basement and the little Muppets use their imaginations to suggest various uses for the gadget, including a microphone, intergalactic cheeseburger maker, dinosaur head, alphabet soup strainer and something called the “Mupp0-Matic” (thanks, Fozzie). And even though Nanny eventually explains the actual use of the item the kids refuse to let their creativity be stifled. To top it all off, the episode is titled “Muppets Not Included,” a reference to the 1987 Steven Spielberg-produced film *Batteries Not Included. What other late 1980s children’s cartoon had such deep subtext, tapping into the cultural zeitgeist? None.
When we came upon this item in the IKEA marketplace we only thought of one thing: the episode of Muppet Babies in which Kermit and Fozzie find one of these in the basement and the little Muppets use their imaginations to suggest various uses for the gadget, including a microphone, intergalactic cheeseburger maker, dinosaur head, alphabet soup strainer and something called the “Mupp0-Matic” (thanks, Fozzie). And even though Nanny eventually explains the actual use of the item the kids refuse to let their creativity be stifled. To top it all off, the episode is titled “Muppets Not Included,” a reference to the 1987 Steven Spielberg-produced film *Batteries Not Included. What other late 1980s children’s cartoon had such deep subtext, tapping into the cultural zeitgeist? None.