Did Fraggle Rock Do an Episode About AIDS?
Added 2021-08-04 00:55:36 +0000 UTC”Gone But Not Forgotten” (February 16, 1987)
Surprise! We’re back! And we brought Fraggles with us!
In the final season of Fraggle Rock, the episode “Gone But Not Forgotten” features Wembley making a new friend in Mudwell the Mudbunny, who knows he will soon die. Mudwell’s passing and Wembley’s grief serve as not only a general life lesson for young viewers but also a parallel for the life of Richard Hunt, the openly gay Muppeteer who voices Mudwell, who lost his own partner to AIDS not long before this episode was filmed and who would die as a result of AIDS not long after. Matt Baume, queer sailor of the pop culture seas, joins us to discuss how Fraggle Rock goes deeper than you might expect.
Watch Matt’s videos
- Richard Hunt, the gay man behind the Muppets
- Star Trek's First Gay Ship-Mates? The Star-Crossed Romance of Garak & Bashir
- What Makes Disney Villains So Gay?
- Rocko’s Modern Life: Cartoons Coming Out of the Closet
- Plus there’s more on his YouTube channel and even more on his Patreon
Also watch the video for Ben Folds’ “Do It Anyway” which features the Fraggles
Watch Jim Henson’s memorial service, where Richard Hunt makes a prescient speech
Watch Drew’s video compilation of every LGBT joke ever on the history of The Simpsons.
Buy Glen’s movie, Being Frank.
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Comments
My own remix of the cave theme from DKC
Drew Mackie
2021-08-10 05:56:43 +0000 UTCI thought the critter Mudbunny transformed into sounded just like Ron Funches for some reason. Also - what was the musical magic at the end? I thought I heard bits from DK Country?
N S P
2021-08-10 02:30:17 +0000 UTCI'm wondering the same thing. I assumed it was airing on PBS, but I can't actually corroborate that.
Erin Hardy
2021-08-05 16:02:08 +0000 UTCI'm now wondering how I was able to watch Fraggle Rock too. No universe exists in which my family would be willing to pay for HBO, but they also had too much Catholic guilt to steal it. Still, I remember watching it in the mornings with my Grandpa when I was three. He'ddrink his coffee and I'd have a diet Sunkist orange soda. Now I'm really wondering how. Did HBO do free trials occasionally like Disney Channel? Did Fraggle Rock occasionally air on netowork TV or basic cable? How. Also, I can't thank you enough for introducing me to Matt's YouTube channel and podcast. SO GOOD.
Kat Heagberg
2021-08-04 22:58:17 +0000 UTCHurray for an episode with Matt!
Joshua Sisco
2021-08-04 00:57:22 +0000 UTC
