Fraggle Rock Theme
From Muppet Wiki
| Written by | Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee |
| Music by | |
| Lyrics by | |
| Date | |
| Source | |
| Publisher |
The opening theme song for Fraggle Rock. It was included as the theme for both the live-action and animated versions of Fraggle Rock. This opening starts with a shot of Doc's Workshop, leading to the Fraggle hole, where Gobo runs down the tunnel to join the rest of the cast, who sing a verse of the song. Then the Doozers sing a verse and the five main Fraggles announce their names. Gobo then runs to the hole that leads to The Gorgs' Garden and briefly gets captured by Junior Gorg. However, when Junior shows his Ma that he caught a Fraggle, she screams, causing Junior to accidently toss Gobo into the well that leads to the Fraggle Pond. Back in Fraggle Rock, everybody ends the song. The theme ends with Boober saying "Down at Fraggle Rock."
The opening was severly shortened for the TNT airings. After the first verse ends, it cuts right to the shot of Gobo falling into the Fraggle Pond, right before Boober ends the song.
A different opening with additional lyrics was taped but not used. In a 1998 interview, Terry Angus stated that the original opening "didn't explain the show very well... At that time everything was zipping by so fast they didn't show how everything was connected." The opening theme was re-shot to better express the theme of interconnectedness between the different species and worlds.
Five different endings were filmed featuring each of the five main Fraggles saying the final "Down at Fraggle Rock." These endings were meant to be used in different episodes throughout the series, but only the one with Boober was used regularly. The opening that ended with Wembley was used in "The Terrible Tunnel," and the one with Gobo was used in "The Finger of Light." However, on the first season DVD set, as well as in some re-airings, these episodes were shown with the regular theme, ending with Boober's line instead.
The album version of this song was longer. It opened with Sprocket barking at the Fraggle hole and Doc asking what he was barking at. It also had more lines of dialogue, including a verse sung by Junior. This version of the theme (minus Doc and Sprocket's line) was used as the opening for the Fraggle Songs home video release, with many clips from various episodes shown to stretch the time. The theme song was shortened for the Doozer Music video, which had the opening end after the Doozers' portion of the song.
A shorter version of the song was used as the closing theme for Fraggle Rock. It opened with scat-singing by Gobo and Wembley, followed by two verses of the song performed by the Fraggles. In the final episode of the series, the closing theme was sung by the entire cast: the Fraggles, the Doozers, Marjory the Trash Heap, Philo and Gunge, the Gorgs, and even Doc and Sprocket.
In the context of the show, the song was written by the great and wondrous ancient Fraggle named Blundig.
Album Releases
- Fraggle Rock
- Perfect Harmony (opening and closing)
- Fraggle Rock: Music & Magic (opening and closing)
- Fraggle Rockin': A Collection
