The Muppet Musicians of Bremen

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The Muppet Musicians of Bremen Heroes!

The Muppet Musicians of Bremen Baddies.

The Muppet Musicians of Bremen, part of the Tales from Muppetland series, was syndicated in 1972. It is a modern telling of the Town Musicians of Bremen fairy tale popularly recorded by the Brothers Grimm.

In this one-hour musical special, Kermit the Frog narrates the story of the Muppet Musicians of Bremen. In a departure from the source material (the folk tale "The Musicians of Bremen"), the action takes place not in Germany but in the Louisiana countryside.

Leroy (a donkey), T.R. (a rooster), Rover Joe (a hound dog) and Catgut (a cat) escape the clutches of their cruel human owners and set out in search of a better life. They find musical instruments -- which they learn to play remarkably quickly -- then form a band and go on the road, playing their own distinctive brand of Louisiana Bayou jazz.

While their owners -- a gang of robbers named Mordecai Sledge, Farmer Lardpork, Mean Floyd and Caleb Siles -- are hiding out in a cabin in the Bayou to divide their loot, the fugitive animals mistake the cabin for lodgings where they can play their music in exchange for room and board. The superstitious gang members are spooked out of their lair by the sound of mysterious music on a night with a full moon.

Two of the most prominent Muppet character types, the rats and the chickens, were first created for this special.