The Swedish Chef
From Muppet Wiki
The Swedish Chef is the incomprehensible preparer of foodstuffs from The Muppet Show. A rather literal variation of the Live-Hand Muppet concept, the Swedish Chef is a humanoid character, with human hands rather than gloves. On The Muppet Show, Frank Oz performed the character's hands. The chef first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975, with Chinese subtitles for his dialogue, and Richard Hunt performing the hands. Only in poser puppets used specifically for photo shoots does the Swedish Chef have standard Muppet hands.
According to Brian Henson in one of his introductions for The Muppet Show, "Jim Henson had this tape that he used to play which was "How to Speak Mock Swedish". And he used to drive to work and I used to ride with him a lot. And he would drive to work trying to make a chicken sandwich in Mock Swedish or make a turkey casserole in Mock Swedish. It was the most ridiculous thing you had ever seen. And people at traffic lights used to stop and sort of look at him a little crazy. But that was the roots of the character that would eventually become the Swedish Chef."
Nearly all Swedish Chef sketches begin with him in a kitchen, waving some utensils while singing his signature song in a trademark mock Swedish, a semi-comprehensible gibberish which parodies the characteristic vowel sounds of Swedish. The opening song usually sounds something like: "Yorn desh born, der ritt de gitt der gue, Orn desh, dee born desh, de umn børk! børk! børk!" but in fact changes subtly in every episode. The last line of the song is always "Børk! Børk! Børk!" and is punctuated by the Chef throwing the utensils over his shoulder to crash into the crockery behind him. (Although the letter "ø" does not exist in Swedish — it is a Danish/Norwegian letter whose Swedish equivalent is "ö" - the Chef's trademark word is nearly universally spelled as "Børk.") However, in The Muppets at Walt Disney World, his closing line is "Ole!"
After this introduction, the Chef continues to speak gibberish while preparing a particular recipe. His commentary is spiced with the occasional English word to clue the viewer in to what he is attempting. These clues are necessary as he frequently uses unorthodox culinary equipment (firearms, tennis rackets, etc.) to prepare his dishes. The sketch typically degenerates into a slapstick finale, and he often winds up in pitched battle with his ingredients, from Lobster Banditos to a Japanese Cake. The Swedish Chef has also appeared, at least briefly, in every Muppet film to date. He was put in charge of running the film projector in The Muppet Movie and Muppet*Vision 3D. In A Muppet Family Christmas, he attempts to cook the Christmas turkey, then sets his sights on Big Bird instead.
The Swedish Chef's popularity led to his own cereal, Cröonchy Stars, in 1988. Commercials for the product featured the Chef, up to his usual antics. In the 1990s, the Swedish Chef appeared regularly on Donna's Day starting in the second season.
In Episode 316, Danny Kaye, portraying the chef's uncle in a sketch, claims that the Swedish Chef's first name was Tom. However, since Kaye was not a blood relative in reality, this information may be considered apocryphal.
Contents |
Casting History
- Jim Henson - from The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence (1975) to The Muppets at Walt Disney World (1990)
- Steve Whitmire - I Love Lucy Screen Test (Movie Mania)
- David Rudman - The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
- Bill Barretta - from Muppet Treasure Island (1996) to Present
- Dave Goelz - Muppets from Space (1999)
- Victor Yerrid - From the Balcony: Episode 26 (2006)
Trivia
- The Chef's gibberish gained a life of its own with the creation of a Unix filter capable of converting standard English to Chefspeak in 1992. The filter quickly became a staple of hacker culture and eventually spread to the mainstream with Swedish Chef translators on several Web sites such as Google. In 2003, Opera Software published a special Bork version of its internet browser that turned the MSN Web site into mock Swedish. Mozilla Firefox also contains a popular add-on called Bork Bork Bork! that allows the selective translation of text from Web pages of the user's choice. It is also a display language there.
- As a one-note joke, it is revealed by Jean Stapleton (who speaks mock Swedish) in episode 306 of The Muppet Show, that the Swedish Chef's native language is mock Japanese.
- In episode 319 of Fraggle Rock, Sprocket does an impersonation of the Swedish Chef.
- There was a Swedish Chef sketch that was taped but not broadcast, in which the Chef prepared ratatouille.[1]
- In A Muppet Family Christmas he manages to say "Merry Christmas" in Swedish, "God Jul".
- In The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence, the name of his program is "Järnvägskorsning" (Railway Crossings).
- While The Swedish Chef normally has live human hands, he also occasionally has Muppet hands. Examples include:
- The Muppet Show episode 218: following The Swedish Chef's sketch.
- Muppets Tonight episode 101: During the meeting at the beginning of the show.
Sketches
The Muppet Show Season 1 | |||
| Picture | Title | Episode | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Meatballs | | The Swedish Chef prepares meatballs, which bounce when dropped. He then grabs a badminton raquet and serves it. Statler vollies it back with a racquet of his own. "Fifteen, love!" says Waldorf.
|
 | Flapjacks | | The Chef prepares pancakes, which wind up stuck on the ceiling. He then grabs a gun and shoots them down. |
 | Spaghetti | | The spaghetti comes to life and attacks The Swedish Chef.
|
 | Doughnuts | | The Swedish Chef shoots a hole through an English muffin to make a doughnut.
|
 | Spicy Sauce | | The Swedish Chef's sauce is so spicy that his hat flies off, giving the audience a rare but brief glimpse of what the chef looks like without his hat.
|
 | Japanese Cake | | The Chef adds cream and fruit topping his a chocolate cake, but as he goes to cut it, the cake loudly objects...in Japanese! The cake is instead dispatched by a "cakenschmooscher" (baseball bat). |
The Muppet Show Season 2 | |||
| Picture | Title | Episode | Description |
 | Fishie Chowder | | The Swedish Chef attempts to make fish chowder using a live fish. |
 | Salad, Brussells Sprouts, and Coconut | | In a two-part sketch, The Swedish Chef shoots lettuce with a gun, first creating a salad and then Brussells sprouts. Later, he tries to shoot a coconut, but instead shoots a rubber chicken and gets hit by a coconut. |
| | Lobsters | | The Swedish Chef tries to boil a lobster, but is attacked by a group of lobster banditos, who rescue their comrade from the pot. |
 | Bomb Egg | | The Swedish Chef wants eggs for his dish, but his chicken lays a bomb. |
 | Ping Pong Ball Eggs | | The Swedish Chef prepares "egg der chef," but his chicken only lays ping pong balls. |
 | Frog Legs | | Since Kermit rushes the Swedish Chef onstage (when he's not ready), the Chef takes Robin and tries to prepare frog legs. |
 | Salad | | The Swedish Chef makes a salad while Cleo Laine sings "You're Just in Love." |
 | Cow | | The Chef paints on a real live cow to demarcate the different cuts of beef. |
 | Coconut | | The Chef hammers and saws a coconut, trying to crack it. When he finally gets it open, he discovers a bomb inside it. |
 | Chocolate Moose | | Mickey Moose helps the Chef make "chocolate moose". Kermit interrupts this play on words. |
 | Pressed Duck | | The Swedish Chef tries to use the iron to press Ronald Duck, who grabs it and then drops it on him and flies away. |
 | Popcorn | | The Swedish Pig makes popcorn.
|
The Muppet Show Season 3 | |||
| Picture | Title | Episode | Description |
 | Living Dough | | The Swedish Chef is attacked by living dough, which hits him with his own rolling pin. Note: This is the last Swedish Chef sketch to take place in the original kitchen set. |
 | Patient Swedish Chef | | What starts as a Swedish Chef sketch finishes with Veterinarian's Hospital, as the hospital staff discover the chef has a rare case of in-grown coffee pot. |
 | Chicken in the Basket | | The Swedish Chef throws a chicken through a basketball hoop.
|
| | Banana Split | | While preparing a banana split, the Swedish Chef is continuously interrupted by Spanish dancers. |
 | The Chef and his Uncle | | The Swedish Chef is joined by his uncle (played by Danny Kaye), and they make a turkey.
|
The Muppet Show Season 4 | |||
| Picture | Title | Episode | Description |
| | Squirrel Stew | | The Chef is out in the woods, trying to make squirrel stew. |
| | Hot Dogs | | The Chef prepares hot dogs. Miss Piggy, who is looking for Foo Foo, comes on-stage, asking the chef if he has seen her dog. The Swedish Chef, assuming the query is about the wieners, says that the dog is in the pot, causing Piggy to think that the chef is cooking Foo Foo.
|
| | Home-Cooked Meal | | The Chef plans a home-cooked meal, but the turkey refuses to be skewered, the pig busts him in the face, and the "beef" stampedes over him. Even the vegetable stew is unsuccessful. Eventually, the Chef unveils his dinner -- vitamin pills.
|
| | No Bananas | | The Chef sings "Yes, We Have No Bananas" with the Singing Food. |
| | Meat Loafers | | The chef puts meat into a shoe. The owner of the shoe, a pig, demands to have his shoe back, and puts it on, despite the fact that there is meat in it. He then gets chased by dogs.
|
The Muppet Show Season 5 | |||
| Picture | Title | Episode | Description |
| | Swedish Lump Bread Puppetry | | The Swedish Chef makes a puppet using his hands and some bread dough as he sings "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" in his native tongue. |
| | Spring Chickens | | The Chef makes spring chickens.
Note: This is the only Swedish Chef sketch where The Announcer introduces the act. |
| | Soup | | The Swedish Chef prepares soup, but gets interrupted by multiple Beakers. |
| | Soufflé | | The Swedish Chef prepares a lighter than air soufflé. |
| | Champagne | | The Chef goes flying when he pops a bottle of champagne.
|
Additional Sketches (Non-Muppet Show) | |||
| Picture | Title | Episode | Description |
   | Sandwich | | In a three-part sketch, the Swedish Chef makes a sandwich, using many unusual ingredients. Eventually, the sandwich sprouts wings and flies away, but the chef shoots it down with a gun. |
| | Cake | Episode 107: Health and Fitness | The Swedish Chef attempts to make a cake, but is interrupted by Jaques Roach, who explains that roaches are indestructable because of their eating habits. This is proven when the chef unsuccessfully tries to get rid of jaques by kitting him, dropping a refridgerator on him, and even blow him up. |
 | Tacos | | The Chef prepares a taco for Bunsen and Beaker, which is so hot that it blows the pail that has been stuck on Beaker's head clear off... and back on again. |
 | | Chef and Wyclef Jean perform on stage at the Europe MTV Music Awards on November 16, 2000 in Stockholm, Sweden. | |
 | Daisy Dukes | Episode 4 | The Swedish Chef makes Daisy Dukes. |
 | "Nachos Libre" | Episode 26 | The Swedish Chef makes "Nachos Libre" with nachos, black pepper, a mask, a bell, eggs, and flour. It punches him afterwards. |
Filmography
- The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence
- The Muppet Show
- Episode 102: Connie Stevens
- Episode 105: Rita Moreno
- Episode 111: Lena Horne
- Episode 114: Sandy Duncan
- Episode 115: Candice Bergen
- Episode 120: Valerie Harper
- Episode 201: Don Knotts
- Episode 205: Judy Collins
- Episode 208: Steve Martin
- Episode 209: Madeline Kahn
- Episode 212: Bernadette Peters
- Episode 214: Elton John
- Episode 306: Jean Stapleton
- Episode 310: Marisa Berensen
- Episode 316: Danny Kaye
- Episode 401: John Denver
- Episode 414: Liza Minnelli
- Episode 416: Jonathan Winters
- Episode 423: Carol Channing
- Episode 501: Gene Kelly
- Episode 512: Melissa Manchester
- Episode 514: Mac Davis
- Episode 518: Marty Feldman
- Episode 520: Wally Boag
- Episode 522: Buddy Rich
- Episode 523: Linda Ronstadt
- Episode 524: Roger Moore
- The Muppets Go Hollywood
- The Muppet Movie
- The Muppets Go to the Movies
- The Great Muppet Caper
- The Muppets Take Manhattan
- The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years
- A Muppet Family Christmas
- Cröonchy Stars commercials
- The Jim Henson Hour
- The Muppets at Walt Disney World
- The Muppet Christmas Carol
- "Kokomo" music video
- Muppet Treasure Island
- Muppets Tonight
- Muppets from Space
- Movie Mania
- Donna's Day
- "Keep Fishin'" music video
- It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
- From the Balcony
- Episode 4
- The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
- A Green and Red Christmas
- Disney Xtreme Digital
- Studio DC: Almost Live!
