Bobo the Bear
| Bobo the Bear | |
|---|---|
| Muppets Tonight character | |
 | |
| First appearance |
The Muppets Take Manhattan (original puppet) Muppets Tonight (current puppet) |
| Portrayed by | Bill Barretta |
| Information | |
| Species | Muppet bear |
| Gender | Male |
Bobo the Bear is a fictional character in The Muppets series. He first appeared in The Muppets Take Manhattan (performed by Jerry Nelson), but as a different puppet from the current one. Bobo is now performed by Bill Barretta.
Appearance and Personality
He is notable as a more realistic (but still anthropomorphic) portrayal of the animal on which he is based, compared to the stylized appearance of Muppet mainstay Fozzie Bear. He is easily amused yet often dry, sarcastic, and slightly befuddled.
Role
Bobo has been in several Muppet films as a major character and others as just a background character. One of his appearances was on Muppets Tonight as the security guard, where he had an encounter with Prince, who at the time was using his symbol moniker as a name. Prince lacked the proper identification to get into the theatre, and when he referred to himself as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince", Bobo refers to himself as "The Bear Currently Known as Not Amused". Bobo has a seemingly clever and lovable character, with his tagline of "Have a good day, sir!". His character in Muppets from Space was named Renfro. The character appeared in the television special A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa, appearing alongside Nathan Lane as a pair of airport security personnel.
In the 2011 film The Muppets, Bobo appears as a henchman of oil tycoon Tex Richman (Chris Cooper), who wants to demolish the Muppet Theater and drill for oil on the site. Along with fellow henchman Uncle Deadly, Bobo is not fully aware of the scheme which Richman is doing at one point, turning to the other of Richman's henchmen and asking, "Hey... you think we're with the bad guys?".