Gonzo (Muppet)
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Gonzo (aka Gonzo the Great or the Great Gonzo) is a puppet character, one of Jim Henson's Muppets. He is performed by Dave Goelz. He was created by Jim Henson in 1970 for a Christmas special "The Great Santa Claus Switch". He is known as a weirdo considered "Frackles". Since his character lived in a cigar box, he was called the "Cigar Box Frackle".
Unlike most of the central Muppets characters , Gonzo is not meant to represent a human being or an anthropomorphized animal, but sports a bizarre, non-human appearance, which includes blue fur, bug-eyes, and a long, banana-like nose. On The Muppet Show he performed as a performance artist, stuntman and daredevil under the name "The Great Gonzo" (or "Gonzo the Great"). He takes pride in his iconoclasm, all the while romantically pursuing Camilla the chicken. In his original performance, he often complained about the people who did not appreciate his "art".
A running gag related to Gonzo is that it is not clear what species he is supposed to be, though some say he resembles a buzzard. John Cleese, in his appearance on the show, referred to him as "the ugly, disgusting little blue creature who catches cannonballs." In the film The Great Muppet Caper, he is shipped to England in a crate labeled "Whatever" (while Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are respectively labeled "Frog" and "Bear"). In Muppet Babies Gonzo (voice of Russi Taylor) was simply referred to as a "weirdo" or "blue weirdo." He has referred to himself as a "whatever," resigned to ignorance of his actual species. In Muppets from Space it is revealed that Gonzo is an alien. It is not clear whether this is to be considered a canonical statement of Gonzo's origins.
Originally in the first season of The Muppet Show, the character had sad and immobile eyes. The producers noticed that he worked better in a more energetic form and modified the eyes to have movable eyelids which helped make him a more active character. As such, he became one of the principal characters in the series.
His most well-known running gag is playing the final trumpet note of the opening Muppet Show theme and having some strange thing happen--the bell of the instrument explodes, sprays water, has an inflating balloon in it, et cetera. In the first season, Gonzo did not use a trumpet, but instead attempted to hit the white space within the "O" in the "Muppet Show" sign like a gong, usually with bad results. (Gonzo did finally hit that trumpet note - in the final episode of the series)
He has several memorable performances such as his song from The Muppet Movie, "I'm Going to Go Back There Some Day", or his rendition of "My Way". Gonzo fans would also recognise this quote: "I shall now eat a rubber tire to the music of The Flight of the Bumblebee...music, maestro!" Another famous performance is best summed up by his quote, "I shall now defuse this highly explosive bomb while simultaneously, and at the same time, reciting from the works of Percy Bysshe Shelley." Other acts include: tap-dancing "Top Hat" in a vat of oatmeal, hypnotizing chickens, catching cannonballs (Waldorf: "I've seen a lot of cannonball catching acts, but that one had something different. A survivor!") and being hammered feet first into a railway tie by two American Gladiators.
In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Gonzo played a Tin Man-ish character primarily known as the "Tin Thing."
It is interesting to note that in the Shona language, the word for "rat" is "gonzo." Rizzo the Rat would find this amusing.
Gonzo's Friends And Family
Gonzo is good friends with Kermit the Frog, Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy. He is also romantically interested in Camilla the Chicken. Gonzo has family in outer space, including his relative Ubergonzo, who appears in Muppets from Space. Gonzo is also roommates and friends with Rizzo the Rat.Gonzo's Motto
Gonzo's motto is: "Anything worth doing is worth doing without a parachute!" (found on the Muppet show website)
External links
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