Fraggle Rock

The vision of Fraggle Rock articulated by Jim Henson was to depict a colorful and fun world, but also a world with a relatively complex system of symbiotic relationships between different "races" of creatures, an allegory to our world, where each group was somewhat unaware of how interconnected and important they were to one another. Creating this allegorical world allowed the program to entertain and amuse while seriously exploring complex issues of prejudice, spirituality, personal identity, environment, and social conflict. Fraggle Rock generally refused to over-simplify any individual issue, instead simply illustrating the consequences and inherant difficulties of different actions and relationships. Though the Fraggles do learn important lessons, they rarely are aware that they are learning them. The ideals of friendship, being true to your self, embracing magic, and learning to love those who are incredibly different, were the cornerstone of Jim Henson's work throughout his 40 year career, and he considered Fraggle Rock to be one of the purest and most successful expressions of that vision.

Fraggles are small humanoid creatures, about 22 inches tall, that come in a wide variety of colors and have tails that bear a tuft of fur on the end. They live in a system of natural caves that are filled with all manner of creatures and features, and which seem to connect to at least two different worlds. Fraggles live a very carefree life, spending most of their time playing, exploring, and generally enjoying themselves. They live on a diet of radishes and "doozer sticks" (see below).

The series focused on one group of Fraggles in particular; Gobo, Mokey, Red, Wembley, and Boober. The five form a tight-knit group of friends, and each has a distinctive personality type. Gobo is the "leader", level-headed and practical, and considers himself chiefly an explorer. Mokey is highly spiritual and artistic, being quiet and contemplative. Red, on the other hand, is exuberant and athletic; she is one of the best swimmers among the Fraggles. Wembley is nervous and pathologically indecisive, though no coward when push comes to shove. Boober's cardinal trait is depression and worry, and his favourite activity is washing socks (ironically, Fraggles do not appear to use footwear under most circumstances).

Gobo's uncle Matt, known as Travelling Matt, has gone into "Outer Space" (which is what the Fraggles call the normal human world) to explore, and he sends postcards back to Gobo on a regular basis. The connection between Fraggle Rock and Outer Space is a small hole in the wall (in the US version) of the workshop of an eccentric inventor called "Doc", and Gobo must make the trip out into Doc's workshop to retrieve the postcards from the wastebasket where Doc throws them. Doc is unaware of the Fraggles' existence, but his dog Sprocket has seen them and goes to great efforts to attempt to prove them to his master. Humans are known to Fraggles by the name "Silly Creatures", bestowed by Matt after observing them in his travels.

Outside another exit from Fraggle Rock live a small family of Gorgs, giant furry humanoids standing 22 feet tall. The husband and wife of the family consider themselves the Emperor and Empress of the Universe, with their son Junior as its prince and heir, but to all appearances they are really simple farmers with a rustic house and garden patch. Fraggles are considered a pest by the Gorgs, as they steal radishes. Also in the Gorgs' world is Trash Heap, a sapient compost heap, and her two rat-like sidekicks Philo and Gunge. The Fraggles consider Trash Heap to be all-wise and go to her for advice on a regular basis.

Within Fraggle Rock itself lives a second species of small humanoid creatures, the pudgy green ant-like Doozers. Standing only 6 inches tall, Doozers are in a sense anti-Fraggles; their lives are dedicated to work and industry. Doozers spend much of their time busily constructing all manner of pointless scaffolding throughout Fraggle Rock, using miniature construction equipment and wearing hardhats and work boots. To ensure that they always have a steady stream of work to be done, Doozers build their constructions out of an edible candy-like substance which is greatly enjoyed by Fraggles. This is essentially the only interaction between Doozer and Fraggle; Doozers spend most of their time building, and Fraggles spend much of their time eating tasty Doozer buildings. They thus form an odd sort of symbiosis. The series had several episodes that featured a Doozer as a main character, the young female named Cotterpin, and reveals much of Doozer culture; it is surprisingly well developed.

Doc's true name was revealed in the last episode to be Jerome Christian (or Crystal, according to the official Encyclopedia Fragglia). In the second-last episode, he finally learns of the Fraggles' existence and befriends them.

The first episode aired on January 10, 1983, and the last episode aired on March 30, 1987 for a total of five seasons.

The series was produced with the intention of being aired in varied forms internationally. The human "wraparound" segments were shot separately for each nation, so that the child viewer could always relate to the world of the program. The wraparounds featuring "Doc" in the US are replaced in the UK by the character called "The Captain" who lives in a lighthouse, and the same segments in France take place in a bakery. The series has appeared now in over ten countries and languages.