Rizzo the Rat

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Template:Short description Template:Short description Script error: No such module "Infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Rizzo the Rat is a Muppet character from the sketch comedy television series The Muppet Show, created and originally performed by Steve Whitmire until 2016.

He is a fictional rat who appeared on The Muppet Show and numerous films, with a starring role in the 1992 film The Muppet Christmas Carol.

The character is particularly associated with Gonzo the Great, with the two sharing a double act since 1992. Whitmire based the character on Ratso Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy.

Character

Rizzo is a streetwise and sarcastic rat with a New Jersey accent.[1] He is a self-proclaimed acrophobe.[2] His humor can be risqué, as in the TV series The Muppets where he was given the line, "Is ABC going to be OK with 'Mother Teresa on a stick'?" To avoid potential difficulty with real-life censors, alternative lines were filmed.[3]

Rizzo's family has been mentioned in Muppet media. He has 1,274 brothers and sisters, as told to Gonzo in The Muppet Christmas Carol. Disney stated that Rizzo came from a family of pizza makers as part of the backstory of the former PizzeRizzo restaurant at Disney's Hollywood Studios.[4][5][6]

History

File:Steve Whitmire 2014.jpg
Steve Whitmire created Rizzo and was his original performer.

Rizzo's name is derived from Dustin Hoffman's Ratso Rizzo character in Midnight Cowboy.[7] Steve Whitmire created the character,[8] based on rats he had previously made out of bottles.[7]

Rizzo first appeared in a 1980 episode of The Muppet Show guest-starring Christopher Reeve, as one of many rats following Reeve backstage.[7] Rizzo can be seen mugging and reacting to practically every line of dialogue. He remained a scene-stealing background figure through the final season, occasionally performing with Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem.[7] By the time of The Muppet Christmas Carol, Whitmire had been performing Rizzo for around 12 years.[8]

After the series, he appeared in The Great Muppet Caper as a bellboy in a fleabag London hotel. He has appeared in most later Muppet projects, including The Muppets Take Manhattan[9] and Muppets Tonight. In The Muppet Christmas Carol, he developed a double act with Gonzo,[10] with director Brian Henson and the crew envisioning Rizzo as "pain-in-the-neck sidekick."[8] The characters narrate, break the fourth wall, and Rizzo challenges Gonzo's claims to be Charles Dickens.[11] The Gonzo and Rizzo partnership was continued in Muppet Treasure Island[12] and Muppets from Space. Along with Kermit and Gonzo, Rizzo gave an audio commentary for the Muppets from Space DVD.[13]

Rizzo appears as a background character in the 2011 film The Muppets, without a spoken dialogue, although he is seen singing along during the finale, as well as the scene in which Kermit the Frog addresses a large crowd of Muppets. In Muppets Most Wanted (2014), and the short feature Rizzo's Biggest Fan on the Blu-ray release, the character calls for more screentime.[14] Rizzo returned to prominence in the TV series The Muppets, where he was on a writing crew with Gonzo and Pepe the King Prawn.[15]

Following Whitmire's dismissal by The Muppets Studio in 2016,[16][17] Rizzo did not have any speaking roles until 2025 when Bradley Freeman Jr. was announced to have taken over the role.[18]

Benjamin Diskin voiced baby Rizzo in the animated series Muppet Babies (2018–2022).[19]

Appearances

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References

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  8. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links

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de:Die Muppet Show#Rizzo

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