Fozzie Bear

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Fozzie Bear

Fozzie Bear in Muppets Treasure Island

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 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.

In the early '90's a children's video was released called Hey, You're as Funny as Fozzie Bear! which was to help kids develop comedic talent.

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.