RIP Russi Taylor (1944 - 2019)

Russi Taylor, the voice of Baby Gonzo on the original Muppet Babies, has died.

In addition to Baby Gonzo, Taylor's other Henson connection is voicing Duchess the Cat and The Pink Poodle in Babe and Babe: Pig in the City. 

During her career she voiced hundreds of other famous characters including Donald Duck's nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie as well as Webby on the original DuckTales, Strawberry Shortcake, Kissyfur's Miss Emmy Lou, Beehonie, Toot, Cackle Sister, Donna, My Little Pony's Rosedust, Cupcake, Morning Glory, and Pebbles Flintstone as well characters on 

TV shows such as Heathcliff,The Smurfs, Pac-Man, Widget the World Watcher, Capitol Critters, Bonkers, The Critic, Quack Pack, The Wild Thornberrys, Disney's House of Mouse, Kim Possible, Teen Titans, Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Sofia the First, The Lion Guard, and Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure, and feature films Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Jetsons: The Movie, and The Rescuers Down Under.

She also voiced Martin Prince and twins Sherri and Terri on The Simpsons, but her most famous role was voicing Minnie Mouse since the mid-1980s. 

Taylor was married to Wayne Allwine, who was the voice of Mickey Mouse from 1977 until his death in 2009.

You can take a look at the myriad of characters she inhabited below, 

But she'll always be Baby Gonzo to us. 

Russi Taylor was 75.

Muppet Babies Come to Disney Stores!

They make their dreams come true, and now they're at a Disney Store near you!

Plush dolls based on the new Muppet Babies reboot are now available and all the major characters are included, sans Nanny's legs. 

Baby Kermit comes in his blue and white frog embroidered shirt and shorts combo.

Baby Piggy comes in her pink jumper and bow.

Baby Gonzo is wearing red overalls over a yellow chili pepper shirt.

Baby Fozzie has his yellow and red outfit, compete with a plush (non-spinning) propeller hat.

Animal comes with a camo hoodie and "ripped" jeans. Interestingly, the jeans aren't actually ripped. The ripped area is actually sewn on!

Finally, the newest member of the Muppet Babies Summer Penguin who comes in her blue, sun emblazoned, turtle-neck sweater skirt.

All are fairly well made, though like past Disney Store Muppet plush each is slightly
different, so you may have to find the one that looks just right. 

These had just arrived at my closest Disney Store, and were behind on one of the unused registers. No Muppet Babies signs or any of other items. The tags, are a slight disappointment, as they're basic Disney Store tags and don't have any not Muppet Babies branding or the character's names.  

Hopefully the Muppets will someday warrant an official section inside Disney Stores, like Star Wars, but until then we'll have to make our dreams come true with these plush. 

Each is $14.95, but they are currently on sale for $12 when you buy 2 or more. 

They're unfortunately not available online yet, but you can search for the closest Disney store to you here.

Thanks to Sebastiano Ricci for the head's up!