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| Written by | Louise Gikow |
| Illustrator | Tom Brannon and John E. Barrett |
| Published | 1990 |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishing Company |
| ISBN | 0765197308 |
Muppet Babies' Classic Children's Tales is a large format book containing photos by John Barrett of the Muppet Babies photo puppets in their versions of classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales. It is interesting to note that although the characters appear somewhat true to their origins in Miss Piggy's dream sequence from The Muppets Take Manhattan, the group includes Baby Animal, who only appeared in puppet form in A Muppet Family Christmas, and Baby Skeeter, who was introduced in the animated Muppet Babies series and never appeared in puppet form on film.
Each photo is accompanied by text from the featured story, surrounded by illustrations by Tom Brannon. Each one contains a rat, possibly meant to be a Baby Rizzo.
The book is based on photographs taken for the Muppet Babies Storybook Calendar 1990. The care taken in the set and costume design for these images is reminiscent of the work of Michael K. Frith in the 1980s on projects such as the Miss Piggy Calendars.
Contents
- Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by the Brothers Grimm - Piggy as Snow White, and Kermit, Fozzie, Gonzo, Rowlf, Scooter, Skeeter, and Animal as the Seven Dwarves at the woodland cottage.
- Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson - Kermit as Jim Hawkins and Gonzo as Long John Silver in a treasure cave.
- The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling - Animal as Mowgli in the jungle with exotic animals.
- Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates by Mary Mapes Dodge - Scooter and Skeeter skating by a windmill.
- Robin Hood by Paul Creswick - Kermit as Robin Hood, Piggy as Maid Marian, Rowlf as Friar Tuck, Scooter as Alan-A-Dale, and Fozzie as Little John.
- Alice's Adventures In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll - Piggy as Alice, Gonzo as the Mad Hatter, Fozzie as the March Hare, and the baby rat as the Dormouse.
- Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi - Gonzo as Pinocchio.
- Hansel and Gretel by the Brothers Grimm - Kermit as Hansel and Piggy as Gretel.
- The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum - Kermit as the Scarecrow, Gonzo as the Tin-Man, Piggy as Dorothy, Fozzie as the Cowardly Lion, and the baby rat as Toto.
- King Arthur and His Knights retold by Sidney Lanier - Kermit as Arthur, Piggy as Guenevere, with Skeeter and Gonzo.
- Heidi, by Johanna Spyri - Piggy as Heidi with two sheep in the mountains.
- Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie - Kermit as Peter Pan, Piggy as Wendy, Scooter as John, Animal as Michael, and the baby rat as Tinkerbell.
Credits
- Art Direction: Lauren Attinello
- Photographer: John E. Barrett
- Photo Assistants: Ellen Hoffmann, Laurie Steiner
- Production Coordinator: Robin Cynar
- Stylist: Danielle Obinger
- Costumes: Barbara Davis
- Props and Sets: Brian Hess, Bill Wiggins
- Graphic Design: Richard Pracher
- Special thanks to John Attinello, Arley Berryhill, Didi Charney, Don Creech, Bob Flannagan, Christine Moyes, Lyndon Mosse, Norman Tempia