Gonzo

Gonzo, also known as The Great Gonzo, or Gonzo The Great, is a Muppet character from the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show, known for his eccentric passion for stunt performance.

Aside from his trademark enthusiasm for performance art, another defining trait of Gonzo is the ambiguity of his species, which has become a running gag in the franchise.

He has been considered to be of various origins, including a Frackle, in his debut appearance in The Great Santa Claus Switch; extraterrestrial in Muppets from Space; or avian creature.

Developed and performed by Dave Goelz, Gonzo made his first appearance in the 1970 special The Great Santa Claus Switch, as the "Cigar Box Frackle".

Originally introduced as a minor figure in The Muppet Show, he soon evolved into one of the franchise's primary characters.

Gonzo has appeared in every Muppet film, including The Muppet Christmas Carol, where he portrayed author Charles Dickens and developed a double act with Rizzo the Rat.

The prototype of Gonzo appeared in The Great Santa Claus Switch, "as a generic gruff baddie".

Jim Henson selected this Frackle as the basis for Gonzo, and gave the character to puppeteer Dave Goelz.

Gonzo was created as a character with low self-esteem, as written by Jerry Juhl, with Goelz acknowledging he put himself into that interpretation.

Later, with Henson's approval, they reworked the eyes to allow the character to convey more excitement, and a "zany, bombastic appreciation for life".

Gonzo has several memorable performances such as his 1979 song from The Muppet Movie, "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday".

He became known for his stunts as acts within The Muppet Show and beyond, with the famous quote "Tonight ladies and gentlemen I will eat this rubber tire to the music of The Flight of the Bumblebee...music, maestro!"

Gonzo has a long-standing romantic relationship with Camilla the Chicken, whom he first courted in a 1979 episode of The Muppet Show guest starring Leslie Uggams, and directed Camilla and the other chickens in 2008 YouTube videos.

A running gag related to Gonzo is that it is not clear what species he is supposed to be.

Gonzo's self-identity is a "whatever".

In The Muppet Movie, Kermit, while conversing with his inner self, says "And a thing, whatever Gonzo is. He's a little like a turkey", to which his inner self replies "but not much".

In the film The Great Muppet Caper, he is shipped to England in a crate labeled "Whatever" (while Kermit the Frog and Fozzie Bear are respectively labeled "Frog" and "Bear").

Not long afterward, the three land in a pond in front of Robert Morley who ponders if it's raining cats and dogs; Kermit and Fozzie respectively reply, "Actually, we're bears and frogs."

"And Gonzos."

In A Muppet Family Christmas, when Gonzo states to the Christmas Turkey that Camilla is his girlfriend, the Christmas Turkey says "You're not even a bird!"

In the Muppet Treasure Island CD-ROM Game, Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat land in a bucket of molasses, following the dialogue of a carriage driver saying "It's raining rats and... whatevers".

In The Muppets' Wizard of Oz, Gonzo played a Tin Man-ish character primarily known as the "Tin Thing".

In Jim Henson's Muppet Babies, Gonzo (voice of Russi Taylor) is simply referred to, most often by Baby Piggy, as a "weirdo" or "blue weirdo".

In Muppets from Space, Gonzo has a starring role.

In the film, he is shown to be an alien, and his alien family tracks him down with the intention of welcoming him back into his long-lost community; before their departure, they ask him to return to space with them.

Gonzo says goodbye to the Muppets, but soon realizes that he would be abandoning the friends who have been like his family all along, prompting him to decline the aliens' offer.

In a 1984 Muppets comic strip, Gonzo is seen passing by the gendered bathroom options of "Women" and "Men", and instead walking through a door labeled "Whatever", which some people have interpreted to mean that Gonzo is non-binary.

On a 2021 episode of Muppet Babies parodying Cinderella, Gonzo puts on the glass slipper and transforms into "Gonzorella".

Gonzo later admits to his fellow Muppets that "the princess who came to your ball tonight... was me."

When Miss Piggy asks why Gonzo did not tell them, Gonzo replies, "Because you all expected me to look a certain way. I don't want you to be upset with me... but I don't want to do things just because that's the way they've been done, either. I wanna be me."

In 1992, he played the part of Charles Dickens in The Muppet Christmas Carol, as director Brian Henson said Gonzo was the most improbable Muppet to do so.

Here, he developed a double act with Rizzo the Rat, narrating and breaking the fourth wall, with Rizzo challenging Gonzo's claims to be Dickens.

The Gonzo and Rizzo partnership was continued in Muppet Treasure Island (1996) and Muppets from Space (1999).

Along with Kermit and Rizzo, Gonzo gave an audio commentary for the Muppets from Space DVD.

In The Muppets, it was revealed that he had become a powerful plumbing magnate since the Muppets split up.

In the 2015 television series The Muppets, Gonzo is a major character and the head writer of Miss Piggy's late night talk show, Up Late with Miss Piggy.

Gonzo is not a puppet version of a human or a recognizable animal.

He has an awkward, non animal-like appearance, which includes purple-blue fur, purple feathers on his head, bug-eyes, and a long, hooked nose, referred to as a "beak".

In The Muppet Show and The Muppet Movie, he performed as a performance artist, stunt double and daredevil under the name "The Great Gonzo" (or "Gonzo the Great").

Gonzo is good friends with all of the Muppets, but performed a double act with Rizzo the Rat since The Muppet Christmas Carol.