Fozzie Bear

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Fozzie Bear

Fozzie Bear in Muppets Treasure Island (and Mr. Bimble, the man living in his finger)

For the heavy metal band fronted by Chris Jericho, see Fozzy

Fozzie Bear is a fictional character, originally created by Jim Henson as a member of The Muppets. He is an orange, fuzzy Muppet bear who tells semi-funny jokes and ends each joke with his catch phrase "Wocka Wocka Wocka." Shortly after telling the joke, he is constantly the target of rotten tomatoes and ridicule, especially from hecklers Statler & Waldorf. This act is similar to Rodney Dangerfield acts.

Fozzie is very good natured and loves his friends. He was originally performed by puppeteer Frank Oz, although in recent years he has been performed by Eric Jacobson. Fozzie was named after puppet builder Faz Fazakas, who created the mechanism that allowed Fozzie to wiggle his ears. He also sings and dances; when the Muppets released records, Fozzie Bear had such classics as "Wotcher Knocked 'Em in the Old Kent Road" to his credit.

Fozzie's mother Emily Bear (performed by Jerry Nelson) appeared in A Muppet Family Christmas film. In The Great Muppet Caper, Kermit and Fozzie are questionable news reporters and apparently twin brothers. Fozzie also has a cousin who appeared in the first season of The Muppet Show, also performed by Frank Oz.

In the late '80's a children's video was released called Hey, You're as Funny as Fozzie Bear! which was to help kids develop comedic talent.

Since the early days of The Muppet Show, Fozzie has often interacted with Kermit. Fozzie got Kermit to reluctantly assist him for one of his best-known monologues, "Good Grief! The Comedian's a Bear!", and has also had quite a bit of interaction with Kermit backstage.

In episode 115, Fozzie constantly annoyed Kermit with a running gag, delivering a number of pun items, such as a "wire" and a "letter" for Kermit the Frog which turned out to be a clothes wire and the letter R, respectively.

In episode 114, Fozzie performed the supposedly famous "Banana Sketch." When Kermit confessed that he didn't know what "The Banana Sketch" was, the cast and guest star Sandy Duncan teased him for his ignorance.

Kermit and Fozzie have also frequently been paired together in countless movies, books, and specials. In The Muppet Movie, Fozzie was the first Muppet Kermit met on his journey. After Fozzie's unsuccessful comedy performance at the El Sleezo Cafe, Kermit invited Fozzie to come to Hollywood with him. The two friends sang the duet "Movin' Right Along" in the same film.

Fozzie was also frequently teamed up with Rowlf the Dog. In episode 101, Fozzie played a western bandit to Rowlf's role as a western hero. Fozzie also appeared in two Veterinarian's Hospital sketches, in which Rowlf starred as Dr. Bob.

In episode 218, Rowlf learned that Fozzie could play the piano, and they played the piano together in a performance of "English Country Garden". Rowlf has also played back-up to Fozzie's renditions of "Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" and "I've Got Rhythm." During the latter number, Rowlf attempted to help Fozzie with his singing.

The young incarnations of Fozzie and Rowlf were also frequently paired together on Muppet Babies.

He was the character most noticeably absent from the short-lived Muppets Tonight.

The character now belongs to The Walt Disney Company after Disney bought the franchise from The Jim Henson Company. The original puppet is kept in the teddy bear museum in Stratford-upon-avon, founded by Gyles Brandreth.