| Beaker | |
|---|---|
| The Muppet Show character | |
Beaker testing fire-proof paper. |
|
| First appearance | 1977 on The Muppets Show |
| Created by | Jim Henson |
| Voiced by | Richard Hunt (1977-1991) Steve Whitmire (1992-present) |
| Information | |
| Gender | Male |
Beaker is a Muppet character from The Muppet Show. He is the shy, long-suffering assistant of Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, and is likewise named for a piece of laboratory equipment, although his shape more closely resembles an Erlenmeyer flask.
During the first season of The Muppet Show, Bunsen Honeydew presented the Muppet Labs segments by himself; Beaker was added as his lab assistant from the second season on. Beaker has bulging eyes, a shock of red hair, and a drawbridge mouth. He was originally puppeteered and voiced by Richard Hunt until Hunt's death in 1992, when the role was taken over primarily by Steve Whitmire.
Beaker is a magnet for misfortune; his appearances typically involve him being blown up, electrocuted, eaten by large monsters, or losing body parts. Beaker communicates in a nervous, high-pitched squeak that sounds like "Mee-mee-mee mee". In books and merchandise, the sound is spelled "Meep". In Muppets from Space, at the end of a scene, he appeared to say something other than "mee" or "meep" (he "meeps" Honeydew's previous line "sadly temporary"). His tone or expression helps to communicate his meaning.
He rapidly became a favourite with audiences, who both sympathized with and enjoyed laughing at his humorous sufferings. Occasionally, Beaker was able to take revenge, particularly a segment in which he inadvertently made several copies of himself and spent the rest of the episode chasing Honeydew around the theater. In the 2008 TV special, A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, Beaker is even more fortunate when he tests a wish machine and gets the company of model Petra Němcová, and not only refuses Honeydew's order to send her back, but then also successfully teleports away with her to apparently enjoy his first wish for the rest of the story.
Beaker has also appeared as a musical performer, singing "Danny Boy" and "Carol of the Bells" with the Swedish Chef and Animal, and "Feelings" solo. He also sang "Ode to Joy" with his clones who were accidentally formed by Dr. Honeydew's copying machine, which can be seen from YouTube. The former performance was marked by the Chef's singing in his trademark gibberish and Animal's inability to remember anything but the first three words. For the latter, Animal had to shush the increasingly unruly crowd (who abused the Muppets throughout the episode) so Beaker could finish: "QUIET!!...Thank you." In 2011 Beaker sang a comedic a cappella version of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as part of a barbershop quartet with Sam the Eagle, Rowlf the Dog and Link Hogthrob. Because of Disney's designation of the Muppets franchise as being for family audiences, Beaker was given a crucial role replacing the song's more questionable lines like "a mulatto" and "my libido" with "mee-mee-mee-mo."[1]
The two scientists were later incorporated into the Muppet Babies animated series. Howie Mandel (during early seasons) and Dave Coulier voiced Bunsen, and Frank Welker provided Beaker's squeaky meeps. Following Richard Hunt's death in 1992, the role of Beaker was taken over by Steve Whitmire. Beaker was performed by Kevin Clash in The Muppet Show Live. An animated Beaker was also voiced by Richard Hunt, his usual performer during that period, when he appeared in the short lived Little Muppet Monsters series.
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In Family Guy episode "Jungle Love", Peter Griffin says his new job in the brewery sucks worse than when he was Dr. Bunsen Honeydew's assistant. As described in a cutaway, Peter looks like Beaker with his trademark meeps. Honeydew chuckles and replies, "Agreed, Peter".
In a 2004 Internet poll sponsored by the BBC and the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Beaker and Dr. Bunsen Honeydew were voted Britain's favourite cinematic scientists. They beat Mr. Spock, their closest rival, by a margin of 2 to 1 and won 33 percent of the 43,000 votes cast.[2]
Danny Alexander, Chief Secretary to the Treasury in the United Kingdom, has been nicknamed 'Beaker' due to his appearance.[3][4][5]
On the April 24, 2010 episode of WWE Raw, John Cena said that Sheamus was moonlighting as Beaker from the Muppets with a chip on his shoulder. That same year on the August 30th episode Edge told Sheamus he can go back to the lab with Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and started meeping at him.[6] On Halloween 2011's Raw it was revealed Beaker is related to Sheamus after he stopped Christian from bullying Beaker and told Beaker that he wouldn't be able to make the family reunion.
Beaker is a featured character in the new 2011 Muppet movie, The Muppets.