The Voice of a Turbulent Time; Mahna Mahna and Snowths, Feature Toy, July 2015

In the Fall of 1969, eight days before President Nixon withdrew troops from Vietnam and declared that the war was coming to a "conclusion as a result of the plan that we have instituted", a recently formed company called Muppets Inc. was about to preform on the Ed Sullivan Show.

As the skit began, a wild haired character named Mahna Mahna began singing.  He adhered to the rhythmic structure of the song, for a time, and then disorder began.  Despite the best efforts of his backup singers, the Snowths, he went crazy with skatalicious vocal styling that broke the boundaries of the the songs framework.  Occasionally the sideways glances of the Snowths seem to bring the lead singer back into order, but, in the end, it proved futile.

In a way, Nixon's efforts to lay a foundation of structure in Vietnam, where South Vietnamese forces would take the mantle of enforcing order, were similarly futile to the Snowths efforts to establish musical control of their vocal lead.  

To say Nixon's 1969 declaration was premature, would be an understatement.  Mahna Mahana-esque chaos continued in Vietnam, and, in April of 1970, Nixon ordered U.S. and South Vietnamese troops to attack Communist strongholds in Cambodia.  This action unleashed an entirely new level of discontent as anti-war protests exploded across the country.  Ultimately the war would continue until 1975 when Saigon fell to communism.  

Just one year later Mahna Mahna and the Snowths, who enjoyed increasing popularity from various appearances on variety shows, would be featured on the premier episode of an entirely new program which broke the mold of typical variety shows.  That program was simply called "The Muppet Show." You can check out that original performance on this YouTube video.

In a playful way, these characters embodied the dance between chaos and order.  They resonated across generations.  They were known by Baby-boomers.  Generation-X grew up on them.  They debuted during a time which has disturbing parallels to the middle eastern conflicts of present day.  Maybe that's why the alternative rock band Cake created a cover of Mahna Mahna in 2004 and why today we get to enjoy these limited edition vinyl toys.

These special edition POP! vinyl toys from Funco were released at San Diego Comic Con in 2012.  They differ from the standard edition because of the snazzy metallic finish and now, they are The Toy of the Week.  As our feature toy for July 2015 you can peruse all the Muppetey goodness, right here, in our gallery. Mahna Mahna!