Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Cotterpin Doozer

Today's Weekly Muppet Wednesday spotlight is written by Lisa Alexander, your faithful (and now well-rested) intern.


COTTERPIN DOOZER

Performed by…

Kathryn Mullen

 

First Appearance…

Episode 119: The Great Radish Famine (1983)

Most Recent Appearance…

Episode 513: Change of Address (1987)

Best Known Role…

Apprentice Architect

Memorable Quotes…

“I’ve got the smartest toes in Doozerdom!”

“I don’t wanna be a Doozer. I’d rather be a Fraggle!”

WHO IS COTTERPIN DOOZER?

Cotterpin is the rebellious little Doozer who doesn’t want to build. She loves to draw and, unlike most Doozers, is a great admirer of Fraggles. She envies the way they laugh and sing and play all the time instead of always doing boring work. For this reason, she befriends the Fraggles and doesn’t hesitate to turn to them for help or to occasionally join them on their adventures.

Cotterpin does not like, under any circumstances, being bossed around. Determined to go the way she has to go, she is quick to ignore the Architect’s orders and to walk away from a situation where she feels she is being controlled, such as when she is pressured to take the helmet and build or when she is very much the subordinate member of Red’s Helping Club. With a very strong sense of self, Cotterpin is also very insistent about being addressed by her name; she is not just “a Doozer,” but a very specific person, thank you very much. While most of the Doozers are happy to be one of the collective whole, Cotterpin is determined to be an individual.

Cotterpin is a rather sassy Doozer; playful and always well-intentioned, she can also be quite the critic and has a talent for manipulating others when she needs to, such as when she convinces Gobo to help her find the Cavern of Lost Dreams by yawning and suggesting that he’s really only a second-rate explorer. But she is also a loyal friend, ambitious and—in her own way—a hard-working Doozer.

COTTERPIN DOOZER SONGS

Like all the characters in Fraggle Rock, Cotterpin loves to sing. Here are some of her more memorable songs: 

• “The Way I’ve Got to Go” 
• “I’m On My Own” 
• “Eye to Eye” (With Crusty and Yeaster Doozer) 
• “Children of Tomorrow” (With Wembley Fraggle)

WHY DOES FRAGGLE ROCK NEED COTTERPIN DOOZER?

Cotterpin is the bridge between the Fraggles and the Doozers—probably the only character in the show who can fully appreciate both lifestyles. She’s a friend of the Fraggles and loves to do some Fraggle things, but she is still a Doozer through and through, making her an essential link in bringing the Rock to a world of Perfect Harmony.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier