#Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #1407

Ali J. Eisner, puppeteer and actor on Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is transgender/non-binary. They have played Turbo Doozer, Balsam, and Joogie the Inkspot. They also assisted for Jack Hammer and Red Fraggle, who they also doubled for.

Sources:

Ali J. Eisner (@/AliEisner). "TODAY @/fragglerock dropped!" Twitter (Archived), January 21, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220511132035/https://twitter.com/AliEisner/status/1484571273724416000/photo/1.

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. 2022-2024.

[puppetdaily]

Manty the Mantivore from Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock

[thwipped]

get fraggled, idiot

[miss-whimsy-fella]

Late Trans Day of Visibility art featuring Wembley and Gonzorella! 🏳️‍⚧️💖

[millipedish]

This image is my everything right now ok

[iconuk01]

Icon-UK watches Fraggle Rock: Back the Rock - Season 2, Episode 5 - "I'm Pogey"

My cynical old walnut of a heart is once again powerless against the Henson Company. In this case "Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock".

A recurring background character in this series has been a fairly generic Fraggle named Pogey, who is always introduced by showing up yelling "I'm Pogey!"

And in this episode we finally discover why. It's not that Pogey isn't smart (a bit literal perhaps, but that's not the same thing), it's that Pogey is very proud of the name "Pogey" because it took them a VERY long time to find a name they felt fitted the them they wanted to be.

Though gender presentation is hardly straightforward with Muppets, Pogey is, I think, the first deliberately genderqueer Muppet, and the show introduces the concept elegantly.

Wembley (always a favourite of mine) is having an identity crisis AND self esteem issues. He tried a new look which he really liked, but talked himself out of, because he worried people wouldn't like him anymore (and Red inadvertantly snapping at him over something else didn't help)

Red, who is having a bad day, had asked Pogey to join in a cheer for Gobo they are arranging, and whether they wanted to be a "Go" or a "Bo" and they have to try and explain that they're not not a "Go", or a "Bo", except sometimes they're both... or in between.... or neither.

Pogey meets up with Wembley and explains how they can be different from what they were, and change many times, but they know that, at their core, they are still always Pogey.

Cue a visit to the frankly fabulous Great Glitterini (voiced by Adam Lambert) for Wembley to realise that maybe he does want to feel like that sometimes, and that's okay because no matter what "I'm Wembley!"

Helped, in no small part, by the glitter in the Great Glitterini's "Glitter Globe", which allows anyone to express themselves as as any version of themselves they can think of.

Though cis, I've seen friends realise that how they happened to be born as is not who they really are, or want to be, and recognise the importance of Wembley's line in the above.

"You look amazing!" followed by an almost mournful "... and happy"

Because I can't think of anyone I know who has decided to become their truer selves whose baseline happiness level didn't increase. An old schoolfriend was one of the most miserable people I know, I'm talking Marvin the Paranoid Android levels of cynicism here, but since she came out as trans, she is SO much happier with her life.

And finally, just cap this charming episode off, we get a rendition of one of my all time favourite Fraggle Rock songs from the original series "Free and High!" with the Great Glitterini being joined by Wembley, Pogey and Doc.

And the scene at the end where Wembley, more comfortable in himself and publicly trying a new more glittery look, meets his friends again and Gobo, his room-mate and absolute best friend in the world, immediately and unprompted, tells him he looks amazing, and that he's never seen him happier, honestly... ugly crying right here, I'm not ashamed to say it.

(There's also a subplot with the Gorgs where, as part of his 500th birthday celebrations, Junior has to choose between one of two boxes which will decide how he is perceived for the rest of his life and him realising he doesn't like either very much. It's not subtle, but it's fun)

[boomgers-blog]

Están listos para más aventuras épicas… “Fraggle Rock: El Regreso · Temporada 2”

Tras grandes cambios que afectan a la Roca, los Fraggles, Doozers y Gorgs, deberán enfrentar su pasado y celebrar su interdependencia mientras atraviesan juntos distintos desafíos con esperanza, locuras y canciones nuevas, sin dejar de bailar para olvidar sus preocupaciones.

Estreno: 29 de marzo de 2024 en Apple TV+.

La segunda temporada está producida por Chris Plourde y coproducida por Tim O’Brien. La producción ejecutiva corre a cargo de Lisa Henson, Halle Stanford, John Tartaglia, Matt Fusfeld y Alex Cuthbertson.

[weirdlymarty]

Change

[abbycadoodle]

shout-out to Wembley man, a yapper after my own heart

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #1043

Rollie Krewson rebuilt the Wembley puppet for Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock.

Source:

Below The Frame with Matt Vogel. EP#28: Rollie Krewson/Injury Corner (Bruce Lanoil)/NOT Puppets (Louise Gold). December 22, 2021. (At about 1:03:00).

[puppetdaily]

Varicose Fraggle from Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock

[rolley-polley-pillbug]

Ok guys, so like. The first two pics are redraws, but the others are just cutsie. I looooveed barry blueberry and sharey contrary so much....like what. I also love poguey man. I think every new character from fraggle rock back to the rock was sooo good. Im obsessed with lyle broo...i make him teeny tiny...

[miss-whimsy-fella]

drew boober for comfort today :)

[millipedish]

I finished Wembley the Spokesfraggle, and I gotta ask: what do you think of Jack Hammer Doozer (considering he's a spiritual successor to Convincing John), and what do you think of how they used Ball of Fire?

It got through! I think Jack Hammer is fine! He's not as interesting to me as my boy John, but that's because he's a one-off celebrity guest so they can't dig into his lore like fr gave us for John. Man, maybe I should make a post about my John lore sometime? But even design wise, John wins out for me. His design inspirations come from bombastic televangelists. He is kind of a very specific criticism of preachers who straight up tell lies about the world to scare people into going down the 'correct' path. But also, I love the suit and the horrible teeth. Man is channeling Iyami Osomatsusan and I love that for him. But I do adore the bttr team and what they were going for with Jack Hammer's design. Guy Fieri is a hype man, and he has sold some really dumb shit in his lifetime. Jack Hammer is less a criticism of preachers and more of a criticism of advertising. Also I love the pompadour and the vest! Bttr has some extremely skilled and dedicated set and puppet designers. I mean they're kind of two sides of the same coin, aren't they? John exaggerates the negative and scary things and Jack exaggerates the positives, but both are being quite dishonest. The thing that John represents feels a little more biting, advertising is also super dangerous, and kids need to learn to think for themselves. So this is ultimately a good thing. Something I really like about this episode is that it feels like peering into John's origin story. I really love that the Doozers picked Wembley for this role *because* he's such a Wembler. A very good shout out to the Secret of Convincing John, where it's revealed that John a worse Wembley than the guy *named after* wembling! With little details like this, you can tell bttr is made by people who have a lot of love and respect for the original series. I'm not a fan of bttr's rendition of Ball of Fire. Kenan is great, but he kind of just shouts the words instead of singing them. But's not a song that I was super attached to to begin with, so it's not like I feel like it 'ruined' it or anything. Actually, I feel strongly that old things don't get ruined just because someone does a new version of it. The old things are still there and still exist in their own context. I like what they're *going* for tho, turning this song into a pseudo villain song. I really think it's neat how they use songs in different contexts in bttr. Turning Chase the Wind from a sports anthem to a queer pride anthem is fucking genius! But this one just doesn't work for me 🤷

[heuffopla]

Wembleys about to get sooooo murdered lol🥰