Fozzie Bear

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fozzie Bear as the Cowardly Lion in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
Fozzie Bear as the Cowardly Lion in The Muppets' Wizard of Oz.
For the heavy metal band fronted by Chris Jericho, see Fozzy

Fozzie Bear is a fictional character, originally created by Jim Henson as a member of The Muppets. He is an orange, fuzzy Muppet bear who tells bad jokes and ends each joke with his catch phrase "Wocka Wocka Wocka". Shortly after telling the joke, he is constantly the target of rotten tomatoes and ridicule, especially from hecklers Statler & Waldorf.

[edit] History

Fozzie is very good natured and loves his friends. He was originally performed by puppeteer Frank Oz, although in recent years he has been performed by Eric Jacobson. In Muppet Babies, his voice was provided by Greg Berg, who also voiced Baby Scooter. Berg also voiced him in the ill-fated Little Muppet Monsters. There are a number of stories as to the origin of his name; either he was named after puppet builder Faz Fazakas, who created the mechanism that allowed Fozzie to wiggle his ears or it was a play on Frank Oz's name (F.Oz).

Fozzie's mother Emily Bear (performed by Jerry Nelson) appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas special. To Fozzie's surprise, she was friends with Statler and Waldorf, despite the heckling they perform on him. In The Great Muppet Caper, Kermit and Fozzie are questionable news reporters and apparently twin brothers. Fozzie also has a cousin who appeared in the first season of The Muppet Show, also performed by Frank Oz.

In the late '80s a children's video was released called Hey, You're as Funny as Fozzie Bear! which was to help kids develop comedic talent.

Since the early days of The Muppet Show, Fozzie has often interacted with Kermit. Fozzie got Kermit to reluctantly assist him for one of his best-known monologues, "Good Grief! The Comedian's a Bear!", and has also had quite a bit of interaction with Kermit backstage.

In episode 115, Fozzie constantly annoyed Kermit with a running gag, delivering a number of pun items, such as a "wire" and a "letter" for Kermit the Frog which turned out to be a clothes wire and the letter R, respectively.

Another running gag is Fozzie's hat - as a bear, he is naturally covered with fur, all over. However, upon removing his hat, it is clear that his head shape is modeled on the pate of a bald headed man - thus, the juxtaposition of being both furred and bald simultaneously.

Kermit and Fozzie have also frequently been paired together in countless movies, books, and specials. In The Muppet Movie, Fozzie was the first Muppet Kermit met on his journey. After Fozzie's unsuccessful comedy performance at the El Sleezo Cafe, Kermit invited Fozzie to come to Hollywood with him. The two friends sang the duet "Movin' Right Along" in the same film. Several episodes show Fozzie as dedicated to Kermit, usually responding to his instructions with a chipper "Yes sir." On those rare occasions when Kermit must be away from the theater, he invariably leaves Fozzie in charge of the show, although he equally invariably regrets it.

Fozzie was also frequently teamed up with Rowlf the Dog. In episode 101, Fozzie played a western bandit to Rowlf's role as a western hero. Fozzie also appeared in two Veterinarian's Hospital sketches, in which Rowlf starred as Dr. Bob.

Fozzie Bear and Rowlf the Dog perform "English Country Garden" on episode 218 of The Muppet Show
Fozzie Bear and Rowlf the Dog perform "English Country Garden" on episode 218 of The Muppet Show

In episode 218, Rowlf learned that Fozzie could play the piano, and they played the piano together in a performance of "English Country Garden". Rowlf has also played back-up to Fozzie's renditions of "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" and "I've Got Rhythm." During the latter number, Rowlf attempted to help Fozzie with his singing but was finally reduced to changing the hapless bear's lyrics to "I Don't Got Rhythm."

The young incarnations of Fozzie and Rowlf were also frequently paired together on Muppet Babies.

The character now belongs to The Walt Disney Company after Disney bought the franchise from The Jim Henson Company. The original puppet is kept in the teddy bear museum in Stratford-upon-Avon, founded by Gyles Brandreth.

[edit] Fozzie Bear's Roles

Fozzie Bear has been in every Muppet Movie. Here are some of the roles that he has played:

[edit] External links

Muppet Wiki has information related to:
Fozzie Bear