Fraggle Rock Test McDonald's Happy Meal: Dismissed Doozers

In April 1987, McDonald's Test Marketed a Fraggle Rock Happy Meal in the Charleston-Huntington and Bluefield Beckley areas of West Virginia.  Limited Test Market and Regional Happy Meal toys were a thing in the late Eighties and early Nineties.  I first became aware of this phenomenon reading Tomart's Price Guide to McDonald's Happy Meal Collectibles by Meredith Williams (from 1992).

Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock debuted on HBO in 1983.  The McDonald's Happy Meal is actually tied to the 1987 animated series that premiered on NBC in the Fall of 1987.  FYI, the animated Fraggle Rock was, like Muppet Babies, produced by Marvel Animation.

The Fraggle Rock Test McDonald's Happy Meal is rather fascinating.  There were four toys in the set.  Two are familiar to people who know about the Fraggle Rock McDonald's toys that were released nationally in March of 1988.

Gobo Fraggle was the first character released.  The carrot car in the Test had wobbling wheels.  The wobbling was eliminated on the Gobo and Red cars when the Fraggle Rock Happy Meal went National in 1988.  It should be pointed out that the Fraggles did not, to my knowledge, drive vegetable cars.

The Test Fraggle Rock Happy Meal was half Fraggle toys, half Doozers (the mechanically amazing construction guy creatures from the series).  Bulldoozer and Friends was the second toy in the set.  On the shows, the Doozers appeared to all be identical, until they took off their construction hats, revealing their individual appearances and personalities.

The Doozers are a natural fit for toy vehicles.  However, they did not make it to the National McDonald's Happy Meal.  Why?  Well, I imagine some folks were mighty disappointed that the only Fraggles in the Fraggle Rock Happy Meal were Gobo and Red.  You just know that the McDonald's toy designer folks LOVED the Doozers.

There was a special Doozer McDonald's Happy Meal box designed that did not even make it to the Test.  A prototype of the Doozer box was made, but never produced in large quantities.

The fact that the Doozers were dropped from the Happy Meal toy line is a crime against Muppets.  The Doozers actually freaking walked on the show in 1983.  I also love the fact that the comparatively larger Fraggles EAT the Doozer constructions.  Brilliant!

Cotterpin Doozer and Friends was Set 4.

Cotterpin was the red-haired, rebellious girl Doozer (performed, like Mokey Fraggle, by Kathryn Mullen).

When the Fraggle Rock McDonald's Happy Meal went National in 1988, Mokey and Wembley (with Boober) replaced the two Doozer toys.  Here we can see Cotterpin for a size comparison.  I should point out that the toys pictured are NOT mine.  I've never even seen the Test toys in person and they are extremely expensive.  The Cotterpin toy shown here is actually missing the front piece of the forklift.

As a fan of the Fraggles, I can understand how people were probably disappointed at the lack of all 5 main Fraggles in the Test.  The vegetable cars are pretty cute.  But dang, those Doozer vehicles are pretty Rev (Doozer speak for "cool").

Re-watching Fraggle Rock, the Doozers are my favorite part of the show.  They are actually inspired by bees and termites.  My favorites are Wrench and Turbo from the episode "Doozer Is As Doozer Does."

The Doozers may have had the last laugh.  The hard working, hard-hatted little guys got their own computer animated spin-off show called The Doozers in 2013.

Fraggle Rock Construction Zone (Doozers Welcome)

If you ever wanted to make your own stuffed versions of Red and Gobo Fraggle, just look for Butterick Fraggle Rock Patterns!  It may be tough to find them, because they were released in 1986 (with a 1985 copyright).  These actually look much better than the plush toys released by Tomy in the 1980s.  What's nice is that Red and Gobo are not clones here.  They do have different facial features, in addition to different costumes.

So what will you need to build these?

Styrofoam Balls to use for the construction of the eyes?  This does not sound very durable to me.  I guess these Fraggles are really meant to be decorations, not toys.  When I saw this pattern as a kid, I thought they'd suggest Ping Pong balls for the eyes.  I do like that "Ostrich-Like Feather Plumes" are to be used to make the hair.

Wow, this looks really complicated and frustrating.  If you can make something like this, I have great respect for you.

Butterick also made Sprocket the dog.  He also really looks fantastic!  I wonder what you need to build him?

Ooooh, more Ostrich feathers!  Nice!  Sadly, it looks like Butterick does not have the patience to teach us how to make a collar for Sprocket, as they instruct us to go and buy one at the store.  Is that laziness, or are they just realistic?

I wonder how many hours (or days, or months) it would take to make Sprocket?

I've never tried to make these, and don't know anyone that has.  It looks like it takes some serious sewing skills and quite a bit of patience!

The Muppets Take Indianapolis

In 1985, I got to visit a special Jim Henson exhibit at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  This was presented on the ground floor, and I believe it required separate admission.  There were all sorts of puppets on display, as well as documentaries, models, puppet materials, interactive exhibits, and a store!

The Muppet Babies from the 1984 film, The Muppets Take Manhattan, were some of the newer characters on display.

Here I am with Junior Gorg from Fraggle Rock.  This show was especially interesting to me.  During its initial run, Fraggle Rock was exclusive to HBO, which we did not have.  A visit to Indianapolis meant a visit to my grandparents, and they had HBO!  So this particular trip to Indiana was really great.

The Fraggles themselves could be seen here, too!  Here's Wembley, Gobo, Boober, Red and Mokey.  The songs for Fraggle Rock (written and composed by Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee) were simply brilliant.  I still have my Fraggle Rock album, but no record player (you can find the songs on iTunes).

A touch of a button activated motion in a Doozer construction site behind glass.  The Doozers were a technical marvel, utilizing radio-control puppetry.  In Fraggle Rock, the Doozers were constantly building their towers, which the Fraggles enjoyed knocking down and eating.

Another interactive display featured characters from the 1977 TV special, Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas.  This was also shown on HBO, and I remember watching this at my grandparents' house.  Visitors could press a button to make Emmet Otter and his Ma row their boat.  In 2008, Goodspeed Opera House adapted this special into a live musical, mixing costumed actors and puppets (it looked very impressive).  Seen in the background of this photo are puppets from Jim Henson's first TV series, Sam and Friends, which aired from 1955 to 1961 out of Washington D.C.

Seen here are Emmet's rivals from the Riverbottom Nightmare Band.  One of my favorite characters is the Catfish (seen here in a bucket on skis).  This puppet was manipulated immersed in water, and often spit on other characters.

I got Fraggle Rock PVC figurines from the Muppet Store at the Museum.  Pictured here are Pa Gorg, Ma Gorg, Red, Wembley, Gobo, Mokey and Boober.  These figures were made by a company called Schleich.  Junior Gorg was also part of this set (as was a Doozer) but the store did not have any to sell.  Schleich also produced PVC toys of the Muppets and the Smurfs many years ago.

I was very excited to visit this exhibit (I want to tell younger me to smile for the camera)!  There were also puppets on display from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street (Big Bird is huge!) and Saturday Night Live.  I felt really lucky to get to see this.  Get it?  Muppets?  Felt?  Wocka-wocka!