Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Mokey Fraggle

MOKEY FRAGGLE

Performed by...
Kathryn Mullen

First appearance...
Fraggle Rock Episode 101: "Beginnings" (1983)

Most recent appearance...
The Muppet Celebrate Jim Henson (1990)

Best known role...
Sweet, poetic, artistic, caring, daring member of the Fraggle Five; Red Fraggle's roommate; Lanford's caretaker

WHO IS MOKEY FRAGGLE?
Mokey Fraggle is artistic, caring, and calm (almost to a fault). She enjoys painting, singing, creating, writing, reading, and loving her friends and her fellow living things. She has shown compassion for Doozers, Gorgs, piles of trash, vicious plants, and many other things. Mokey cares for everyone and everything, yet she is not without her faults. She has stopped war, started revolutions, ended revolutions, faked her own funeral, and attempted to join the Minstrels. Through it all, however, Mokey remains loyal and dedicated to her friends.

Mokey's relationship with Gobo Fraggle is interesting. At times she can act like his older sister, other times his babysitter, other times romantic sparks ignite between them. One thing is certain however, and that is that Mokey and Gobo share a passion for discovery. Mokey enjoys discovering new life and things to admire, while Gobo enjoys discovering new caves and paths. Their most prominent moments together occur in episodes such as "New Trash Heap in Town," where Gobo must bring Mokey back down to earth after becoming the new trash heap goes to her head. Mokey may not be the most prominent of Gobo's friends, but she is certainly one of the most valuable.

With Boober, Mokey shares a similar relationship like her relationship with Gobo. At times she appears to chide Boober forcefully, at other times she chides him lovingly, playfully even. An older sister role seems to be what Mokey shares with most of the Fraggles, but with Boober it seems to be a little more important. For instance, in the episode "Marooned," Mokey is completely mortified and worried for Red and Boober's safety when they are trapped under a rock. She is almost unable to function with her worry. Boober even travels back in time with Mokey in the episode "Mokey, Then and Now."

Wembley and Mokey have not really had many important story moments together. The most prominent was in "Mokey, Then and Now," when Wembley joined Boober and Mokey as they traveled back in time and visited the Fraggles of the past. Despite their small number of stories together, Mokey and Wembley appear together quite often, almost any time the other Fraggles are shown as a group. Even though they don't have many interactions, they are still very good friends.

Through it all, Mokey's best friend in Fraggle Rock is Red Fraggle. Not only are Red and Mokey roommates, but they share more important moments together than almost any other pair on the show. Their relationship first started to become interesting in the episode "I Want to Be You," where Red attempted to change her self to be like Mokey. This started their best friend relationship, which would last throughout the show. In "Fraggle Wars," Red attempted to save Mokey from the Fraggles in Fraggle Cave. In "A Cave of One's Own," Red and Mokey decide to move in together, finding it much more difficult to live together with their differences than they thought. Red often feuds with Mokey's pet plant Lanford, whom Mokey adores and Red despises. Despite all of their differences, they remain best friends, and make a great duo.

MOKEY FRAGGLE SONGS
Mokey has performed numerous songs throughout the course of Fraggle Rock. These are just some of her most popular and famous songs...

• "Lose Your Heart and It's Found" with The Minstrels
• "Blanket of Snow, Blanket of Woe" with Philo and Gunge
• "A Cave Our Own" with Red Fraggle
• "Thimble Beetle Song" with Red and Gobo
• "I'd Give My Soul"
• "Sunlight and Shadow"
• "Perfect Harmony" with Marjory the Trash Heap, Junior Gorg, and a Doozer
• "Sail Away" with the Fraggle Five
• "Ragtime Queen"
• "Helping Hand" with Gobo Fraggle
• "Time to Live as One" with the Fraggles
• "Why?"

MOKEY FRAGGLE EPISODES

• Episode 106: "The Preachification of Convincing John"
• Episode 119: "The Great Radish Famine"
• Episode 122: "Mokey's Funeral"
• Episode 124: "New Trash Heap in Town"
• Episode 207: "Mokey and the Minstrels"
• Episode 217: "Fraggle Wars"
• Episode 220: "A Cave of One's Own"
• Episode 305: "Blanket of Snow, Blanket of Woe"
• Episode 310: "The Secret Society of Poobahs"
• Episode 320: "The Incredible Shrinking Mokey"
• Episode 408: "A Brush with Jealousy"
• Episode 508: "Mokey, Then and Now"

WHY DOES FRAGGLE ROCK NEED MOKEY FRAGGLE? 
Mokey is a perfect member of the Fraggle Five. She acts as the oldest of the group, taking care of the others and just about everyone else--including Marjory the Trash Heap. Her friendship with all of the other Fraggles and her dedication to doing what's right, even when it isn't what's popular, are what make Mokey so essential. She paints, she writes, she sings, and she helps make Fraggle Rock a great place to live for every creature that lives there.

The Muppet Mindset by Ryan Dosier, muppetmindset@gmail.com