The Birth of Rowlf
Rowlf
Later in June of 1962, at the age of 25, the same month that Jim filmed the Tales of the Tinkerdee pilot, he was named the youngest-ever president of the Puppeteers of America, an amazing indication of how much respect he had already begun to gain for his puppeteering, which was only gaining more and more visibility in the public eye. Over the course of the rest of the year, the Muppets were booked as regular guests on a variety show called Mad, Mad World that unfortunately never made it past a pilot, as well as on NBC’s Today Show.
And then in late 1962, Muppets, Inc. was hired by Purina Dog Chow to make commercials for them, and in response, Jim created what would be one of his most iconic characters in the early years of the Muppets, namely Rowlf the Dog, along with a small hound sidekick called Baskerville, who had big, alert eyes that at the time were actually spectacles with pupils drawn in the center, a la Scooter, but who when he later appeared on The Muppet Show would no longer have the stems of the glasses attached to the sides. Rowlf has the distinction of being the first Muppet (or at the very least prominent Muppet) to be built by puppet builder, Don Sahlin (who was soon after to become Jim’s chief puppet builder) based on Jim’s sketches and designs, rather than by Jim himself.
Rowlf and Baskerville
He’s also the first Muppet to have deliberately been designed to be a specific animal, rather than an abstract, undefinable being, in addition to being the first Muppet to gain true national stardom not long after these initial commercials. Even in the ads, however, you can see why Jim and the others would have sensed something special about Rowlf. He manages to exude a matter-of-fact aura while at the same time being deeply silly underneath his deadpan exterior–not unlike Jim himself, who was always a quiet type whose zanier qualities came out through his characters.
At face value, these ads bear striking similarities with the Wilkins and Wontkins ads with a familiar set-up of one character, Rowlf, pitching the product, with another character, Baskerville, reluctant to partake. And like those ads, Jim performs both voices, Rowlf in his more gravelly, Harry the Hipster tone, and Baskerville in a voice that resembles a higher-pitched, “cuter” version of Kermit’s. The major difference, however, is that Rowlf has a more chill persona than Wilkins. He doesn’t comically abuse Baskerville. He simply thinks/knows the other guy’s wrong and sets out to explain why.
Rowlf directs Baskerville.
Meanwhile, Baskerville’s preference is intrinsically funny, as he continues to maintain that asparagus–which he pronounces as “a-spah-REE-gus”–is a better, more delicious option than meat-flavored dog food. It’s only at the end of the first ad I saw that Baskerville’s constant repetition of “a-spah-REE-gus” begins to irritate Rowlf to the point that he bops him on the head, and by that point, it feels well deserved! And in another clever spot, Rowlf argues that other dog food leaves you “flat,” which he demonstrates by turning a gag-Baskerville over to reveal that he is actually two-dimensional!
The best of the bunch, however, might be one that makes use of Jim’s love for meta humor about the television medium, with Rowlf acting as the director for a Purina Dog Chow commercial, ordering Baskerville to hide inside a large box of Purina and to jump out when he’s told to. However, as it turns out, Baskerville finally ends up enjoying the food inside the box so much, he refuses to come out. Instead, we simply see the box shaking as he moves around, devouring the food inside. Only at the very end of the ad does he actually stick his head out from the middle of the box, adding, “Your dog may like it better in a bowl!” You can watch these ads here.