Boober Fraggle is a fictional puppet character from the television series ''

Fraggle Rock ''Fraggle Rock'' (also known as ''Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock'' or ''Fraggle Rock with Jim Henson's Muppets'') is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim He ...

''. He was created by

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) an ...

. He is performed and voiced by

Dave Goelz David Charles Goelz (; born July 16, 1946) is an American puppeteer and puppet builder known for his work with the Muppets. As part of the Muppets' performing cast, Goelz performs Gonzo the Great, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf (af ...

in both the original series and its 2022 reboot '' Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock'', with

Frank Meschkuleit Frank Meschkuleit (born 1962) is a Canadian voice actor, puppeteer and comedian known for his role as Toopy on the Canadian television series ''Toopy and Binoo''. Meschkuleit began his performing career as a mime, and broke into puppeteering wit ...

providing the puppetry in the latter. In

the animated series ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, he was voiced by

Rob Paulsen Robert Frederick Paulsen III (born March 11, 1956) is an American voice actor, known for his roles in numerous animated television series and films. He received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program and three Anni ...

. In both iterations of the show, Boober is one of the five main characters, alongside

Gobo Gobo may refer to: Places * Gobō, Wakayama, a city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan ** Gobō Station, a railway station in the city * Gobo, Cameroon, a commune in Cameroon Plants * Gobō ''Arctium lappa'', commonly called greater burd ...

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

Mokey ''Mokey'' is a 1942 comedy-drama film released by MGM, directed by Wells Root and starring Donna Reed, Dan Dailey, and Robert Blake. Plot Cast * Dan Dailey as Herbert Delano * Donna Reed as Athena Delano * Robert Blake as Daniel "Mokey" Del ...

, and

Red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

. Boober is a misanthropic, depressed, and superstitious Fraggle. He lives alone in a small cave, and spends much of his time worrying about death and disease. His occupation is doing laundry for all the Fraggles in Fraggle Rock, and he also enjoys cooking, particularly with

radishes The radish (''Raphanus raphanistrum'' subsp. ''sativus'') is an Eating, edible root vegetable of the family Brassicaceae that was domesticated in Asia prior to Roman Empire, Roman times. Radishes are grown and consumed throughout the world, be ...

. He has an alter ego named Sidebottom, who represents the more extroverted side of Boober's personality. In ''Back to the Rock'', it is revealed that Boober's baloobius (the tip of his tail) glows when he feels most at ease with himself, something that happens to other Fraggles as well.

Development

Boober Fraggle was designed by

Michael K. Frith Michael Kingsbury Frith (born 8 July 1941) is a British artist and television producer. He is the former Executive Vice-President and Creative Director of The Jim Henson Company. His contributions to Muppet projects have been extensive and var ...

, and built by Leslee Asch. Allegedly, his name came from an angry cow encountered by one of Jim Henson's daughters in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. According to an interview included in the ''Fraggle Rock: The Complete First Season'' DVD box set,

Jerry Nelson Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ...

originally wanted to play Boober, but Henson instead wanted Nelson to play Gobo, a role he would end up taking. The role of Boober went to Dave Goelz, who has played him ever since. Boober stemmed from something Goelz had said while working on the first season of ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two television pilot, pilot episodes produced by Henson for American Broadcasting Company, ABC in 1974 and 1975. ...

'', that he was so busy on the show that the only things he had time to worry about were death and laundry.

Behind the scenes

Boober is a rod puppet, meaning that his arms are controlled by rods attached to the puppet's hands, which the puppeteer controls with his left hand while moving the puppet's mouth with his right. For the 2020 short-form series '' Fraggle Rock: Rock On!'' on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

, Goelz reprised his role of Boober vocally, as well as his other role of Uncle Traveling Matt, while Boober was physically performed by

John Tartaglia John Nicholas Tartaglia (; born February 16, 1978) is an American actor, singer, and puppeteer. Early life Tartaglia was born in Maple Shade Township, New Jersey, and graduated from Upper Dublin High School in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, in ...

. On the ongoing reboot series '' Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock'', Boober is performed by Frank Meschkuleit (who also voices Pa Gorg on the new series), with Goelz providing the voice.

References

Fraggle Rock characters Television characters introduced in 1983 Male characters in television {{character-stub