Weekly Muppet Wednesdays: Mad Monty

Written by Ryan Dosier.

MAD MONTY

Performed by...
Jerry Nelson

First appearance...
Muppet Treasure Island (1996)

Most recent appearance...
Muppet Treasure Island (Muppet Sing Alongs) (1996)

Best known role...
Violent, volatile green monster pirate; part of Long John Silver's crew; cohort of Polly Lobster and Clueless Morgan


Memorable quote...
"But I ordered shrimp scampi!!"


WHO IS MAD MONTY?
Mad Monty is one of the hapless members of the pirate crew aboard the S.S. Hispaniola in Muppet Treasure Island. Mad Monty is a close conspirator of Long John Silver and part of a nefarious trio with Polly Lobster and Clueless Morgan. With Polly and Clueless, Mad Monty sang about his plans to "Hang 'em high and watch their little feet try to walk in the air, while their faces turn blue" and got thrown in the ship's brig where he lamented the sorry state of the food, asserting that he ordered the shrimp scampi.

Unfortunately, after Muppet Treasure Island, Mad Monty was only seen on screen on one more occasion when he appeared in the Muppet Sing Alongs tape featuring songs from the film. Again, Mad Monty appears with Clueless Morgan and Polly Lobster, joining Kermit on the ship for a rollicking romp of pirate songs.

Although he never appeared on screen again, Mad Monty did appear as a PVC toy with Polly Lobster for promotion of the film. Mad Monty's final appearance in any medium to date was an illustrated cameo in 2010's comic book Muppet Snow White where he again, you guessed it, appeared alongside Polly Lobster and Clueless Morgan.

WHY DO THE MUPPETS NEED MAD MONTY?
This question is difficult to answer, since even Mad Monty's performer Jerry Nelson once said in an interview with ToughPigs that he thought the character didn't work. I think that Monty's goofy voice and mannerisms make him a relatively funny character, and he did work well with Clueless Morgan and Polly Lobster. Unfortunately, they also work just as well as a duo (see: Muppets Tonight), so again, Monty is not really needed. Perhaps someday Monty will return and he'll take off as a character.

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