Are we given any indication about the nature of Fozzie Bear's sexuality?

January 15, 2013 12:56 PM

In The Muppets Take Manhattan, there's a scene where a lady bear snuggles up to Fozzie, and he appears visibly panicked, calling for Kermit in a way that suggests he doesn't know how to navigate the situation. Have there ever been any Muppet appearances where Fozzie has romantic interactions with anyone, of any gender? If so, who? Has any Muppet media ever implied that Fozzie Bear is heterosexual?
posted by Greg Nog to media & arts (25 answers total)

It's been years, but I always thought the gag with Fozzie is that the bear is an honest to god bear, and Fozzie is a weird chimera. He's not human, for sure, but he's not a bear. He's a muppet, no more comfortable with bears than a child would be.

I don't remember him having a GF though.
posted by Admiral Haddock at 1:01 PM on January 15 [13 favorites]

Fozzie has never had a girlfriend, but I agree with Admiral Haddock about the intent behind that scene. Fozzie's not a bear's bear. He doesn't hibernate. He doesn't eat fish...and he wears a hat and a necktie. So he didn't fit in with the "real" bears.

The closest Fozzie has come to having a girlfriend is the events of the recent run of Muppet Show comic books. In issue #7 of the "Family Reunion" arc, Skeeter agrees to pose as Fozzie's girlfriend because he is concerned that his mother Emily Bear will set him up with a girl he grew up with and he doesn't know anything about her now. But it turns out that she's very pretty and she says she hopes to see him soon.
posted by inturnaround at 1:08 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

Other than Kermit and Miss Piggy, I don't recall any of them having any hint of sexuality.
posted by QueerAngel28 at 1:11 PM on January 15

Other than Kermit and Miss Piggy, I don't recall any of them having any hint of sexuality.

Gonzo has a girlfriend, Camilla, who is a chicken.
posted by girlmightlive at 1:13 PM on January 15 [18 favorites]

Other than Kermit and Miss Piggy, I don't recall any of them having any hint of sexuality.

Not to get completely off track, but there have been other pairings - like Gonzo and his love Camilla, who is a chicken.
posted by Tomorrowful at 1:14 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

Gonzo oozes sexuality, but it's directed at chickens.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:14 PM on January 15 [16 favorites]

I also agree with Admiral Haddock re: the scene's intent.

This is a little backward, but if Fozzie had had a girlfriend, I'd bet MuppetWiki would have it on his page (and they don't).


On preview: There are other romances and Muppet Wiki has them covered.
posted by Flamingo at 1:15 PM on January 15

Even beyond the established couples, there are occasionally little throwaway references to the Muppets as capable of eros; see, for example, Rowlf talking about his problems with ladies in I Hope That Somethin' Better Comes Along. If there's anything like that for Fozzie -- "I once dated a penguin from Kalamazoo!" or something -- I'd be interested in hearing it.

So far, inturnaround's answer seems the closest to what I'm looking for. For the sake of this question, let's consider all non-bootleg Muppet-related media to be canon, not merely filmed appearances.
posted by Greg Nog at 1:38 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

"Kermit: It's too bad the dancing girls are on vacation; this crowd's getting ugly. Fozzie: Huh. If you think this crowd's ugly, you should see the dancing girls." - The Muppet Movie (1979).

Hmmmmm.
posted by ND¢ at 1:57 PM on January 15 [7 favorites]

It's always seemed that Gonzo and Rizzo had something of a bromance.

As a kid, I thought that maybe Janice and the other members of the Electric Mayhem had something going on together. I never realized how weird that seemed until I sat down to actually type it out.

(Can I just say how much I LOVE any AskMe involving the Muppets? Good grief, my day has been officially made!)
posted by BrianJ at 1:58 PM on January 15 [6 favorites]

I always figured Fozzie was the "Chandler" of the Muppets - always cracking jokes but not so smooth/confident with the ladies (hence the joke-making).
posted by littlesq at 2:02 PM on January 15

Fozzie is kind of like the Jughead of muppets.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:18 PM on January 15 [3 favorites]

Women being actively amorous or affectionate unexpectedly can be anxiety-inducing for straight men-- that's when misunderstandings occur. Furthermore you've got to hide that erection-- but that's probably not Fozzie's problem. An amorous wild beast? Serious anxiety.
posted by Sunburnt at 2:25 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

I was going to say that Fozziwig is married in The Muppet Christmas Carol, but he isn't; "Mrs. Fozziwig" is his mother. The plot thickens.
posted by Snarl Furillo at 2:44 PM on January 15 [1 favorite]

He's struck dumb by Raquel Welch, but who wouldn't be?
posted by The corpse in the library at 3:11 PM on January 15 [5 favorites]

There was some muppet-show related thing that I couldn't quite remember, so I did a little searching on "Fozzie Bear gay"...and those are officially the weirdest Google results I've ever gotten. Ever.
posted by like_a_friend at 4:52 PM on January 15 [7 favorites]

Fozzie: There was this sailor that was SO fat
Sailor: How fat was he?
Fozzie: Uh ... He was so fat that everybody liked him, and there was nothing funny about him at all.

- There exists a sailor, X
- X is male
- X is fat
- X is liked by everyone
- Fozzie is someone

QED, Fozzie likes a fat male sailor.
posted by zippy at 5:55 PM on January 15 [4 favorites]

There's an argument Fozzie doesn't hibernate, and so is not a real bear, and is shocked because he was approached by a bear who is real.

But this evidence from canon suggests that Fozzie is, if not a hibernating bear himself, familiar with bears who do.

Kermit: Gee. A Studebaker. Where did you get it?
Fozzie: Oh, my uncle left it to me.
Kermit: Huh, is he dead?
Fozzie: No, he's hibernating.

And also that bears can simultaneously possess wild traits (hibernate) and human ones (own a Studebaker.)
posted by zippy at 6:02 PM on January 15 [2 favorites]

It's sort of like the Goofy vs Pluto argument: if Pluto and Goofy are both dogs, why doesn't Pluto wear any pants (or at least white gloves)? This is pertinent to this discussion because Pluto, Jughead and Goofy are similar in that they all avoid girls.
posted by KokuRyu at 6:48 PM on January 15 [5 favorites]

This used to be a fairly common archetype in movies, a de-sexualized comic male sidekick who is disinterested/frightened about women.

The ones which jump to mind instantly are Van Johnson's character in Brigadoon (Johnson really was gay), Danny Kaye's character in White Christmas (rumors persist that he was gay or bisexual, but he insisted he was not), and Donald O'Connor in Singin' in the Rain.

It makes sense for Fozzie considering the vaudeville milieu.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 7:52 PM on January 15 [11 favorites]

[Fun topic, but we need to stick to answering the question and not expand to discussions of other cartoon characters (unless it's actually pertinent), or stray into general chat. Thanks.]
posted by taz at 12:44 AM on January 16

Fozzie is kind of like the Jughead of muppets.
...
Pluto, Jughead and Goofy are similar in that they all avoid girls.

Jughead has had a lot of romantic entanglements, though. The comparison is not apt.
posted by Greg Nog at 8:25 AM on January 16

I think it is, if you use canonical Jughead, who is very Fozzie-like.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:55 PM on January 16

Kermit and Fozzie interviewed on thecomedynetwork.ca. Fozzie says he doesn't have much of a love life.

Emma Hunter: How are your guys' love lives?
Kermit: What? I'm sorry, could you speak up? I have no ears.
Emma [enunciating]: Love. Lives.
Kermit: Love lives.
Fozzie: Love lives.
Emma: You know, this Miss Piggy thing? I don't know if you're seeing anyone ...
Kermit: Uh, yeah [to Fozzie] do you mind taking that question?
Fozzie: Well ah ... not so much.
Kermit: And a little too much.
Fozzie: [points at Kermit] Oh for him? He's ... He has it goin' all the time!

Also, on the bear question,

Fozzie: everyone in my family is a bear.



are these interviews canon?
posted by zippy at 3:57 PM on January 16 [1 favorite]

Also, Fozzie uses the phrase "in the closet" in the previous clip.

He and Kermit are talking at the same time, but I think Fozzie is answering the interviewer's question "Are there any Canadian muppets" with "they'd have to be in the closet."
posted by zippy at 4:02 PM on January 16