Classic Muppet Monsters - Before the PC Brigade

Muppet Monsters are those that are not styled to resemble humans or animals. Jim Henson first created muppets for TV and showcased them on Sesame Street and the Muppet Show. Some of these muppets have gotten criticism from the PC brigade for influencing children in the wrong manner.

Here are some classic Muppet Monsters from the 1970s and early 80s - in the days before home computers, mobile phones, padding under playgrounds and when children spent hours playing outside and walked themselves to school. Obese children were a rarity in this era.

Cookie Monster was a blue monster on Sesame Street with big googly eyes and pupils that twirled around to make him cross-eyed.

He'd say, 'hmmm....cookies' and stuffed his mouth with cookies (I think of the chocolate chip variety), with crumbs flying everywhere.

Cookie Monster was arrested by the politically correct (PC) brigade and made to renounce 'unhealthy' foods for occasional eating and forced to eat vegetables. He was blamed for contributing to childhood obesity. His 'C for Cookies song' was replaced with 'Cookies are a sometimes food'.

Elmo is a red, furry monster from Sesame Street - aged 3 and mostly talks in the third person without pronouns: 'Elmo has a question.' He has a pet goldfish, Dorothy and likes being tickled. He originally was just a puppet lying around for occasional use, until he took off in the 80s.

Elmo hogs the spot-light these days, and has been referred to as a 'little red menace'. They also think that Elmo talking in the third person teaches children to talk incorrectly. Elmo has been taught exercises by a political figure.

Oscar is a green, furry monster with dark eyebrows that lived in a trash-can and was always grumpy. He'd sing 'I Love Trash.' The initial character was orange with a monobrow.

Oscar isn't seen these days in his trash can, although he has appeared out of a man-hole (or do the PC crowd insist on people-hole?). Hmm, how is a man-hole safer than a trash can?

Animal is the unruly, red monster from The Muppet Show. He has long, shaggy fur, black hairy-caterpillar eyebrows and a row of pointy bottom teeth. He wears a chain and grunts while playing the drums and lives for drumming, eating and women. He's prone to losing his temper

I haven't seen any comments about a new PC Animal, but I imagine it wouldn't involve chasing women and he would be sent to time out for any temper tantrums. Maybe they point out that his top teeth fell out because he didn't brush them with fluoride toothpaste? Maybe he talks more these days, instead of guttural grunts?

Grover is a dark blue, furry monster with a pink nose, long gangly arms and a toothless smile. He was originally called Fuzzyface and was green with an orange nose. Grover has had various 'jobs', including a waiter, taxi driver and Super Grover (a superhero). He made frequent mistakes, which were used to teach the difference between hot and cold, following directions and abcs.

More recently, Grover has appeared as a political diplomat, to present to children the message of Israeli-Arab harmony. While filming scenes in Israel, Grover stopped his scenes during Muslim prayers and ringing of church bells.

Not a classic Muppet, but a modern antithesis to political correctness - Trekkie Monster. Trekkie Monster is a brown, shaggy puppet with magneta hair and fangs. He appears in the hit adult musical Avenue Q, singing, 'The Internet is for P@rn!' His speech patterns resemble those of Cookie Monster. He turns out to be filthy rich, after investing in p@rn.