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{{character
{{character|image=Gonzo.jpg|performer={{w|Dave Goelz}}|appear=''[[The Great Santa Claus Switch]]'' (as Snarl)<br>''[[w:c:muppet:The Muppets productions|The Muppets]]''}}
 
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|image=Gonzo as Dickens.jpg
'''The Great Gonzo''' is one of the major characters from the television series ''[[w:c:muppet:The Muppet Show|The Muppet Show]]''. He is an odd-looking, unidentifiable alien creature with blue fur and a long crooked nose. He takes pride in his uniqueness and enjoys everything that he does, no matter how painful or ill-advised it may be. As one of the main characters from the show, he appeared in almost every [[Christmas]] special featuring the Muppets since the late 1970s.
 
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|performer=[[Dave Goelz]] {{small|(live-action)}}<br />{{W|Ben Diskin}} <small>({{W|Muppet Babies (2018 series)|''Muppet Babies'' 2018 series}})</small>
 
|appear=''[[The Great Santa Claus Switch]]'' (as Snarl)<br>''[[w:c:muppet:The Muppets productions|The Muppets]]''}}
 
'''The Great Gonzo''' is one of the major characters from the television series ''[[w:c:muppet:The Muppet Show|The Muppet Show]]''. He is an odd-looking, unidentifiable creature with blue fur and a long crooked nose, who has been described as a "whatever", a "weirdo", or a "thing" (in the movie ''{{W|Muppets from Space}}'', it was revealed that he was part of an alien species, but this idea has since been abandoned, with the official status being that the film's events were "just a movie"). Gonzo is the Muppets' resident daredevil performance artist, who takes pride in his uniqueness and enjoys everything that he does, no matter how painful or ill-advised it may be. As one of the franchise's main characters, Gonzo has appeared in almost every [[Christmas]] special featuring the Muppets since the late 1970s.
   
 
==Appearances in Christmas specials==
 
==Appearances in Christmas specials==
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===''The Muppets''===
 
===''The Muppets''===
   
[[File:GonzoSingGoodKingWenceslas.jpg|thumb|300px|Gonzo singing "[[Good King Wenceslas]]" in ''A Muppet Family Christmas''.]]
 
 
In ''[[John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together]]'', Gonzo sings along in the chorus of most of the songs, including "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas]]", with his line of course being "Three French Hens". He also has a close call with the volatile [[Miss Piggy]] during "[[We Wish You a Merry Christmas]]" when the porcine-correct diva mistakes his request for figgy pudding as "piggy pudding".
 
In ''[[John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together]]'', Gonzo sings along in the chorus of most of the songs, including "[[The Twelve Days of Christmas]]", with his line of course being "Three French Hens". He also has a close call with the volatile [[Miss Piggy]] during "[[We Wish You a Merry Christmas]]" when the porcine-correct diva mistakes his request for figgy pudding as "piggy pudding".
   
 
[[File:GonzoSingGoodKingWenceslas.jpg|thumb|250px|Gonzo singing "[[Good King Wenceslas]]" in ''A Muppet Family Christmas''.]]
In ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]'', Gonzo must keep his beloved chicken [[w:c:muppet:Camilla the Chicken|Camilla]] from the clutches of the smooth-talking Christmas Turkey. The Turkey ends up making Gonzo so mad, he happily lets [[the Swedish Chef]] deal with him. In the caroling medley at the end of the special, Gonzo leads the group in singing "[[Good King Wenceslas]]".
 
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In ''[[A Muppet Family Christmas]]'', Gonzo meets a Christmas Turkey that [[the Swedish Chef]] invited over with the intention of cooking for dinner. Gonzo warns the Turkey that he should leave while he still can because he's not safe around the Chef. However, when the smooth-talking Turkey later starts flirting with Gonzo's beloved chicken girlfriend [[w:c:muppet:Camilla the Chicken|Camilla]], he makes Gonzo so mad that he happily lets the Swedish Chef deal with him. In the caroling medley at the end of the special, Gonzo, having apparently made amends with the Turkey, leads the Muppets in singing "[[Good King Wenceslas]]".
   
[[File:MCC-Screengrabs-GR-a.jpg|thumb|300px|left|Gonzo as [[Charles Dickens]] in ''The Muppet Christmas Carol''.]]
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[[File:MCC-Screengrabs-GR-a.jpg|thumb|250px|Gonzo as [[Charles Dickens]] in ''The Muppet Christmas Carol''.]]
''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]'' marked Gonzo's most prominent role in the Muppets' Christmas productions. Here, he is the story's "omniscient" narrator, claiming to be none other than [[Charles Dickens]] himself, a claim that his friend [[Rizzo the Rat]] finds dubious, to say the least. He and Rizzo are often on the set while the action is taking place, sometimes getting the worst of it, especially Rizzo. In one instance, Gonzo actively corrects a flubbed line from [[Sam the Eagle]], who, in his patriotic fervor, forgot that the story takes place in Britain. Gonzo and Rizzo decide to wait out the sequence featuring [[the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come]] as it gets too scary, but promptly return after Scrooge wakes up Christmas morning.
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Gonzo had a prominent role in ''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]''. Here, he is the story's "omniscient" narrator, claiming to be none other than [[Charles Dickens]] himself, a statement that his friend [[Rizzo the Rat]] finds dubious, to say the least. He and Rizzo are often on the set while the action is taking place, sometimes getting the worst of it, especially Rizzo. In one instance, Gonzo actively corrects a flubbed line from [[Sam the Eagle]], who, in his patriotic fervor, forgot that the story takes place in Britain. Gonzo and Rizzo decide to wait out the sequence featuring [[the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come]] as it gets too scary, but promptly return after Scrooge wakes up Christmas morning.
   
[[File:Gonzo_and_Rizzo_Gift_of_the_Magi.jpg|thumb|300px|Gonzo and Rizzo exchange gifts at the beginning of ''It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie''.]]
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[[File:Gonzo_and_Rizzo_Gift_of_the_Magi.jpg|thumb|250px|Gonzo and Rizzo exchange gifts at the beginning of ''It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie''.]]
 
At the beginning of ''[[It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'', Gonzo is seen exchanging gifts with Rizzo at the Muppet Theater's Christmas party. In a reference to ''[[The Gift of the Magi]]'', Rizzo reveals that he sold his collection of rare cheese to buy a crystal petri dish for Gonzo's mold collection, but Gonzo sold his mold collection to buy Rizzo a diamond-tipped cheese slicer. Later in the movie, Gonzo is among those whose lives are shown to be worse off in the alternate world where [[Kermit the Frog|Kermit]] was never born. In this alternate reality, Gonzo would have become a depressed street performer who plays guitar accompaniment for a dancing brick (which ironically does not dance at all).
Gonzo and [http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/Rizzo_the_Rat Rizzo the Rat] introduced the Cratchit Family [http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/Bob_Cratchit Bob Cratchit] (Kermit), [http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/Emily_Cratchit Emily Cratchit] (Piggy) and [http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/Tiny_Tim_Cratchit Tiny Tim Cratchit] (Robin) sing [http://christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/It_Feels_Like_Christmas It Feels Like Christmas] in the 1992 [christmas-specials.wikia.com/wiki/Holiday_Greetings_from_the_Ed_Sullivan_Show Holiday Greetings from The Ed Sullivan Show].
 
 
At the beginning of ''[[It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'', Gonzo is seen exchanging gifts with Rizzo at the Muppet Theater's Christmas party. In a reference to ''[[The Gift of the Magi]]'', Rizzo reveals that he sold his collection of rare cheese to buy a crystal petri dish for Gonzo's mold collection, but Gonzo sold his mold collection to buy Rizzo a diamond-tipped cheese slicer. Later in the movie, Gonzo is shown to be among those whose lives are worse off in the alternate world where [[Kermit the Frog|Kermit]] had never been born. In the alternate reality, it is shown that Gonzo would have ended up becoming a depressed street performer who plays guitar accompaniment for a dancing brick (which ironically does not dance at all).
 
   
 
Gonzo plays another major role in ''[[A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa]]''. Here, his mistake in not sending the letters and his determination to make it right drive much of the plot. Accompanied by Kermit, [[Fozzie Bear|Fozzie]], Rizzo, and [[Pepe the King Prawn|Pepe]], Gonzo travels to the North Pole in an attempt to deliver the letters to [[Santa Claus]].
 
Gonzo plays another major role in ''[[A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa]]''. Here, his mistake in not sending the letters and his determination to make it right drive much of the plot. Accompanied by Kermit, [[Fozzie Bear|Fozzie]], Rizzo, and [[Pepe the King Prawn|Pepe]], Gonzo travels to the North Pole in an attempt to deliver the letters to [[Santa Claus]].
   
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In ''[[Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular]]'', Gonzo and his fellow Muppets perform alongside Lady Gaga as she sings songs from her newly-released album, ''ARTPOP''. Outside of the songs, Gonzo also auditions his Amazing Hypto-stare to Kermit and [[Scooter]], and later suggests that Gaga feature chickens in the show's finale. In the show's commercial segues, Gonzo also talks about his past holiday memories, and he and Kristen Bell also discuss what the holiday means to them.
Gonzo's most recent appearance in a Christmas special was ''[[Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular]]''.
 
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Gonzo's next Christmas-related appearance was in "[[Single All the Way]]", the Christmas episode of ''[[w:c:muppet:The Muppets (2015)|The Muppets]]''.
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Since the infant version of Gonzo is one of the main characters in ''{{W|Muppet Babies (2018 series)|Muppet Babies}}'', he naturally makes an appearance in the 2018 series' Christmas episode, "[[A Very Muppet Babies Christmas]]".
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===Other Christmas productions===
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In ''[[Holiday Greetings from the Ed Sullivan Show]]'', Gonzo and Rizzo appeared to introduced the Cratchit family as they sang "[[It Feels Like Christmas]]" to promote the release of ''The Muppet Christmas Carol''.
   
 
==External links==
 
==External links==
 
* {{interwiki|muppet|Muppet Wiki}}
* [http://disney.go.com/characters/#/characters/allcharacters/bios/gonzothegreat/ Gonzo's bio on Disney.com]
 
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* {{interwiki|disney|Disney Wiki}}
* [[w:c:muppet:Gonzo|Muppet Wiki: Gonzo]]
 
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Characters]]
 
[[Category:Disney characters]]
 
[[Category:Disney characters]]
 
[[Category:Narrators]]
 
[[Category:Narrators]]
 
[[Category:Muppet characters]]
 
[[Category:Muppet characters]]
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[[Category:Male characters]]

Revision as of 04:16, 19 November 2020

The Great Gonzo is one of the major characters from the television series The Muppet Show. He is an odd-looking, unidentifiable creature with blue fur and a long crooked nose, who has been described as a "whatever", a "weirdo", or a "thing" (in the movie Muppets from Space, it was revealed that he was part of an alien species, but this idea has since been abandoned, with the official status being that the film's events were "just a movie"). Gonzo is the Muppets' resident daredevil performance artist, who takes pride in his uniqueness and enjoys everything that he does, no matter how painful or ill-advised it may be. As one of the franchise's main characters, Gonzo has appeared in almost every Christmas special featuring the Muppets since the late 1970s.

Appearances in Christmas specials

The Great Santa Claus Switch

Long prior to The Muppet Show, Gonzo originated as Snarl, one of Cosmo Scam's henchmen in The Great Santa Claus Switch. In one scene, he pops out of a cigar box to hand Cosmo Scam his cigar. Later, he appears in Santa Claus's workshop as one of the Frackles who take the Elves' place. Snarl is the only Frackle who asks Santa for a present at the beginning of the special - a baseball mitt.

The Muppets

In John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together, Gonzo sings along in the chorus of most of the songs, including "The Twelve Days of Christmas", with his line of course being "Three French Hens". He also has a close call with the volatile Miss Piggy during "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" when the porcine-correct diva mistakes his request for figgy pudding as "piggy pudding".

GonzoSingGoodKingWenceslas

Gonzo singing "Good King Wenceslas" in A Muppet Family Christmas.

In A Muppet Family Christmas, Gonzo meets a Christmas Turkey that the Swedish Chef invited over with the intention of cooking for dinner. Gonzo warns the Turkey that he should leave while he still can because he's not safe around the Chef. However, when the smooth-talking Turkey later starts flirting with Gonzo's beloved chicken girlfriend Camilla, he makes Gonzo so mad that he happily lets the Swedish Chef deal with him. In the caroling medley at the end of the special, Gonzo, having apparently made amends with the Turkey, leads the Muppets in singing "Good King Wenceslas".

MCC-Screengrabs-GR-a

Gonzo as Charles Dickens in The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Gonzo had a prominent role in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Here, he is the story's "omniscient" narrator, claiming to be none other than Charles Dickens himself, a statement that his friend Rizzo the Rat finds dubious, to say the least. He and Rizzo are often on the set while the action is taking place, sometimes getting the worst of it, especially Rizzo. In one instance, Gonzo actively corrects a flubbed line from Sam the Eagle, who, in his patriotic fervor, forgot that the story takes place in Britain. Gonzo and Rizzo decide to wait out the sequence featuring the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come as it gets too scary, but promptly return after Scrooge wakes up Christmas morning.

Gonzo and Rizzo Gift of the Magi

Gonzo and Rizzo exchange gifts at the beginning of It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie.

At the beginning of It's A Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, Gonzo is seen exchanging gifts with Rizzo at the Muppet Theater's Christmas party. In a reference to The Gift of the Magi, Rizzo reveals that he sold his collection of rare cheese to buy a crystal petri dish for Gonzo's mold collection, but Gonzo sold his mold collection to buy Rizzo a diamond-tipped cheese slicer. Later in the movie, Gonzo is among those whose lives are shown to be worse off in the alternate world where Kermit was never born. In this alternate reality, Gonzo would have become a depressed street performer who plays guitar accompaniment for a dancing brick (which ironically does not dance at all).

Gonzo plays another major role in A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. Here, his mistake in not sending the letters and his determination to make it right drive much of the plot. Accompanied by Kermit, Fozzie, Rizzo, and Pepe, Gonzo travels to the North Pole in an attempt to deliver the letters to Santa Claus.

In Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular, Gonzo and his fellow Muppets perform alongside Lady Gaga as she sings songs from her newly-released album, ARTPOP. Outside of the songs, Gonzo also auditions his Amazing Hypto-stare to Kermit and Scooter, and later suggests that Gaga feature chickens in the show's finale. In the show's commercial segues, Gonzo also talks about his past holiday memories, and he and Kristen Bell also discuss what the holiday means to them.

Gonzo's next Christmas-related appearance was in "Single All the Way", the Christmas episode of The Muppets.

Since the infant version of Gonzo is one of the main characters in Muppet Babies, he naturally makes an appearance in the 2018 series' Christmas episode, "A Very Muppet Babies Christmas".

Other Christmas productions

In Holiday Greetings from the Ed Sullivan Show, Gonzo and Rizzo appeared to introduced the Cratchit family as they sang "It Feels Like Christmas" to promote the release of The Muppet Christmas Carol.

External links