Disney Junior's Muppet Babies reboot is celebrating gender nonconformity in the sweetest way.
In the CGI show's latest episode, titled "Gonzo-rella," the already-unique little blue alien Gonzo gets to celebrate being exactly who he wants to be. And turns out, who he wants to be is, simply, a princess.
In the episode, Miss Piggy and her friend Summer are planning a royal ball and asking everyone to dress up for it. While looking in a catalog, Gonzo sees a picture of some princesses and exclaims, "Wow! Get a load of that dress! I'd love to wear a dress like that to your royal ball!"
That's when Summer explains that she and Miss Piggy are the ones who get to wear dresses: "According to the royal handbook, the girls come as princesses, and the boys come as knights."
Thankfully, Rizzo — the Fairy RatFather, of course — can see that baby Gonzo is disappointed and gives him a magical gown and a mask so he can attend the ball the way he wants to.
Later in the episode, Gonzo reveals his true identity, Gonzorella. When Miss Piggy asks why he wore a disguise, he confesses: "You all expected me to look a certain way. I don't want you to be upset with me, but I don't want to do things because that's the way they've always been done either. I want to be me."
In my eyes, the Muppets represent the ability to be accepting and loving of others, even if they may be a little different. To embrace those who others may shun.
I'm glad to see that philosophy is still going strong. pic.twitter.com/9mnKBdCsIT [1]— Muppet History (@HistoryMuppet) July 24, 2021 [2]
It's a beautiful message about gender identity and inclusion in a way for even the littlest viewers to understand.
In fact, in an interview with Disney fan-club blog D23 [3], Muppet Babies executive producer Tom Warburton explained how he always planned for Gonzo to celebrate his authentic self and shared his intent behind the episode's storyline.
"Very early on, we wanted to do an episode where Gonzo just showed up to the Playroom wearing a skirt," he said. "And it was no big deal. No one cared or questioned it because Gonzo is always 200% Gonzo 347% of the time." But Warburton said that story editor and coproducer Robyn Brown and her team went a step further by adding the Cinderella concept.
"And it was just SO wonderfully Gonzo," he said. "We hope he inspires kids watching to be 347% of themselves in their own way, too."