Skeeter From The Muppets Disappeared And No One Knows Why

While you’re unlikely to read about this in the news, and the police have yet to arrest a single furry googly-eyed creature, there is a mysterious disappearance you should all be aware of: Skeeter the Muppet. 

Back in the ‘80s, people were so Muppet-crazed, they even cared about what those loveable anarchists got up to when they were literal infants. Which is why Jim Henson and Marvel (yup, that Marvel) teamed-up to give us the Saturday morning cartoon Muppet Babies. 

In retrospect, the beloved kid’s series just made the already confusing Muppet continuity borderline incomprehensible, starting with the fact that they were all raised in a nondescript home by a “Nanny” who is never seen from the neck up. Judging from her Muppet Wiki photo, this is because she was really some kind of headless monstrosity straight from the bowels of hell itself. 

Muppet Babies also introduced the character of Skeeter, twin sister of Scooter, who later showed up in … not a single Muppet movie or TV show. 

Yeah, despite the fact that she was a part of the Muppet gang when they were toddlers, apparently something happened to her following the events of Muppet Babies – possibly something terrible. Over the years, a handful of Muppet creators have been asked about this, and no one seems to have offered a conclusive answer. 

Muppet Babies storyboard director Scott Shaw claimed that Skeeter became a “famous explorer” who was “never seen again after an expedition to the jungles of the Amazon.” Which is kind of a huge bummer, Scott. There’s a reason why the folks behind Care Bears never confessed that Share Bear later starved to death offscreen. Potentially even more upsetting, Muppet writer Jim Lewis jokingly suggested “contacting the Federal Witness Protection Program for more info.”

Meanwhile Scooter’s official Twitter account (which apparently is a thing) stated that Skeeter is studying “overseas” and “if she ever reaches dry land, she'll come visit.” So … we’re all definitely sure Scooter murdered his sister, right?

This mystery has become so beguiling, a few Muppet fans even launched a true crime-esque podcast devoted to cracking the case, appropriately titled Skeeter-ial.

Now, Skeeter was brought back as a living adult in the Muppet Show comic book series, which boldly proclaimed that “fan-favorite” Skeeter was back!

But even that storyline just raises more questions; the comic begins with two God-like entities, who resemble Statler and Waldorf, playing chess with the Muppets, and attempting to throw “maximum chaos” into their lives by adding a “new piece”

​​According to the comic’s writer Roger Langridge, this was at the request of Jim Lewis, who wanted to keep it a “little bit ambiguous as to whether Skeeter’s return was happening ‘in continuity’ or not.” Hence why Skeeter’s reappearance became the act of meddling celestial beings, forcing the audience to question “is it real or isn’t it?” Wow. The Muppets haven’t played mind games with their audience quite like this since the time Kermit and Miss Piggy devoured her relatives in order to shill for Denny’s. 

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Top Image: Jim Henson Productions