Muppet of the Fortnight: Animal

I love me The Muppets so I thought I'd do a feature on one every month.  Then I thought that'd take forever so maybe I should do one weekly.  Then I thought that'd be a bit too often so 'Muppet of the Fortnight' it is!

We're going to start with the one that used to be my favorite, Animal.  'Used to be', eh?  Do explain, mth!

Righto, well, back when I was a wee pup, Animal was my favorite.  I thought he was awesome.  For those who don't know beans about The Muppets, Animal is a bestial rock 'n' roll drummer with a limited vocabulary prone to getting overly enthusiastic, chasing folks, and beating the ever-loving crap out of his drumset.

So, why did little me love him so?  A few reasons, I think:

-His comedy is simple.  It isn't clever wordplay or satire.  It isn't jokes that would fly over the head of a six year old.  I suppose part of the reason for that is that he's portrayed as a fairly simple-minded character that talks like a caveman.  Easy for a kid to understand his dialogue.  A lot of it is him reacting to things with his classic look of confusion or embarrassment, where his thick bushy eyebrows drop and he breathes heavy, the hair on his face somehow seeming to wave with each exhale. Or he perks up, eyes wide, jaw slowly dropping into an open-mouth grin before bellowing about whatever it is and flipping right out.  Chasing people, biting people, headbutting a snare drum, and being an idiot are things a kid can appreciate.

-He is easy to imitate.  A lot of the Muppets have very distinct voices and that's part of the reason folks struggle to accept new voice actors if they can't nail the classic sound of the character.  Animal, though?  A bit of gruffness and then just shout.  You may not be bang on but trust me, if the gist is there, it'll be pretty obvious to anyone who's familiar and much better than your Kermit impression.  Go ahead, try it:
"AN-I-MAL!  A-NI-MAL!"
"WO-MAN!  WO-MAN!"
"DRUM SOLO!  HEH HEH HEH!"
If your spouse/roommate/stalker-in-the-closet knows The Muppets, they'll know who you just impersonated.  So as a kid, it was easy to impress yourself and your friends and have a laugh at your dynamite Animal impression.

-He is a bit of an outcast.  I've always been drawn to the freaks and weirdos.  Quasimodo, Frankenstein's monster, X-Men's Beast, these were my dudes and Animal kind of fits into that crowd.  A lot of the other Muppets may be animals but most of them are pretty human as far as intelligence and behavior are concerned.  Animal's a peg down from that, not quite on the level of the chickens but they've got the dude on a chain for god's sake!  He doesn't quite fit in as an equal and he's even referenced to and treated as a pet in some instances but dammit, he's a Muppet, too!  He has thoughts and feelings!  They may be a bit simpler and he may not be able to express them clearly and without eating a cymbal but they're just as valid as Fozzie's or Gonzo's!

We could probably delve deeper into my psyche to figure out more but I'm not sure either of us are ready for that.  So, why did I say, 'used to be my favorite'?  What's changed?

Well, I do still like him.  I've got a couple t-shirts with his grinning mug on them.  But I've grown up.  Over the past decades, I've grown to appreciate other characters the younger me overlooked.  For example, little me probably thought Kermit was boring and spotlight-hogging (I accidentally typed that as 'hopping' at first, it should be noted) but older me gets him better now, appreciates his heart and determination, gets witty remarks, and so forth (can't explain too much or this'll just turn into my Kermit entry!).  So while I still dig Animal, the playing field has levelled out a bit more and truthfully, sometimes his antics don't do much for me and even annoy me.  Sometimes I think he's a little too one trick, almost predictable because of being a bit of a simpler character.

RANDOM THING!  Sometimes Animal has a tail.  It's a bit like a lion's tail, a long orange thing with a tuft of red on the end.  You can see it clearly when he's clamped on that dude's ankle and getting dragged around in The Muppets Take Manhattan.  I've seen it in a few other instances as well but the vast majority of the time, he's tail-free.  Maybe it's tucked down his trouser leg, maybe he got it surgically removed.  Probably a sensitive issue so I wouldn't ask unless you want your face bitten off.

Now how the hell do I wrap this up...?
Favorite Animal Moment?
Sure, let's do that.
I have to say what immediately sprang to mind when considering it was a scene near the end of The Muppet Movie where the feral fellow eats Dr. Honeydew's insta-grow pills.  A forty foot Animal's grinning maw bursting through the roof was a striking visual that stuck with me to this day.

 I'm not sure how they did the scene but a part of me hopes there's an Animal head the size of a minivan out there in the world.  Part of me hope someone lives in it, too.  *insert Animal House joke here*

In closing, Animal's an iconic member of the group with an instantly recognizable look and personality.  He's pop culture.  I owe a lot to him for getting me into The Muppets, he was good gateway character for an idiot kid.  And while he may not top my list today, he still holds a place in my heart.  Aww.

Take us out with a drum solo, you magnificent shaggy bastard...