Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories facts for kids

Jim Henson's Mother Goose Stories is a children's television show hosted by Mother Goose, who tells her three goslings the stories behind well-known nursery rhymes.

Production

The show featured child actors and elaborate puppets created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The show featured puppeteers Mike Quinn, Mak Wilson, and Karen Prell as various characters, along with Angie Passmore as the titular Mother Goose.

Fourteen of the episodes were based on stories in L. Frank Baum's 1897 book Mother Goose in Prose, while the others were original tales written for the show. The general look of the characters was based on the work of Maxfield Parrish, the artist who illustrated Baum's book.

The series was originally conceived as a co-production between the Jim Henson Company and Television South West for British television and was first broadcast on Children's ITV in the UK in 1988. A pilot episode, the story of "Humpty Dumpty", was produced in 1987 along with other episodes. The series was considered for a network slot in 1987, but was passed on. The first release of the series came in 1988 through a home video release as part of Jim Henson's Play-Along Video series. The video featured three episodes of the show, "Little Miss Muffet", "A Song of Sixpence" and "Boy Blue", plus original linking footage between each story.

The series finally found a home as a broadcast series on The Disney Channel starting on August 25, 1990, and was the company's first new television series to debut after the death of Jim Henson. Mother Goose Stories had three production seasons, spawning thirty-nine eight-minute episodes. For airing on The Disney Channel, the 39 independently produced episodes were grouped into 13 broadcast episodes to fit the half-hour time slot. Each of these broadcast episodes was composed of three separate stories (with individual opening titles and closing credits attached to each one). The show continued to air on The Disney Channel until 1993.

The first and third seasons of Mother Goose Stories were directed by Brian Henson, in one of his earliest directorial efforts for The Jim Henson Company, while Michael Kerrigan directed the episodes in the second season. Henson and Kerrigan received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children's Program for their work on the show.

A video of the series was also released by CEL Home Video in Australia along with several other films and TV shows from The Jim Henson Company.

Plot

Mother Goose tells her three goslings the stories behind well-known nursery rhymes and fairy tales; examples include "Old King Cole," "Eeiny Meeiny Miny Moe," and "The Magic Nut Tree."

Episodes

Season 1 (1990)

1. Humpty Dumpty
2. Baa Baa Black Sheep
3. Mary, Mary
4. The Prince and the Beggars
5. Tommy Tucker
6. Little Bo Peep
7. Hickory Dickory Dock
8. Little Jack Horner
9. Little Miss Muffet
10. A Song of Sixpence
11. Boy Blue
12. Old King Cole
13. Hey, Diddle Diddle

Season 2 (1991)

1. Eenie Meenie
2. Dicky Birds
3. The Crooked Man
4. Mother Hubbard
5. Eensy Weensy Spider
6. Hector Protector
7. Mary's Little Lamb
8. Duke of York
9. Pat-a-Cake
10. Jack Be Nimble
11. Willie Winkie
12. Man in the Moon
13. Jack & Jill

Season 3 (1992)

1. The Queen of Hearts
2. Hickety Pickety
3. Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat
4. Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater
5. Ride a Cock Horse to Banbury Cross
6. It's Raining, It's Pouring
7. The Giant
8. Tommy Tittlemouse
9. Little Nut Tree
10. Little Girl with a Curl
11. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
12. Margery Daw
13. Rub a Dub Dub

Cast

Puppeteers

• Angie Passmore - Mother Goose
• Karen Prell - Yellow Gosling, Cat (ep. 5), Cow (ep. 11), Little Boy Blue's Mother (ep. 11), Peter the Dicky Bird (ep. 15), Topiary Peacock (ep. 15), Old Mother Hubbard (ep. 17), Peter's Wife (ep. 30)
• Mike Quinn - Brown Gosling, Humpty Dumpty (ep. 1), Sheep (ep. 11), Paul the Dicky Bird (ep. 15), Barkley the Dog (ep. 17)
• Mak Wilson - Gold Gosling, Coutchie-Coulou (ep. 1), King (ep. 1), Speckled Hen (ep. 1), Squire (ep. 11), Royal Gardener (ep. 15), Butcher (ep. 17), Sherlock Hubbard (ep. 17), Man in the Moon (ep. 25)

Guest stars

• Victoria Shalet - Dorothy (The Giant)
• J.J. Flynn - (Pat a Cake)
• Sam Preston - (It's Raining, It's Pouring)

Awards

Daytime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series (Brian Henson, Michael Kerrigan)
• Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design (Mark Storey, Jacqueline Mills, Jill Thraves)