Fraggle Rock - Back to the Rock

The Big Picture

• Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock brings all your favorite Fraggles together for epic adventures and tons of singing and dancing.
• This interview with Mokey and Red reveals insights into their Fraggle lives, friendship with Gorgs, and love for each other.
• Fraggles support each other through scary moments; Red reflects on growth during the Twisty-Turny-Thon adventure.

The original Fraggle Rock TV series debuted in the 1980s, introducing the world to the Fraggle gang made up of Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober and Red – lovers of radishes, friends of the Trash Heap, and always up for a good song over a day of work. They have fun and zany adventures while dancing their cares away, lifting each other up and enjoying Uncle Travelling Matt’s stories of the silly creatures (aka, humans) in Outer Space (aka, life outside of Fraggle Rock).

Even though it took until 2022 to make its return with Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock at Apple TV+, the Fraggles are as vibrant and lovable as ever, updated just enough to feel modern, but still familiar enough to feel like hanging out with old friends. With a second season and 13 more episodes of epic adventures, tiny Doozers, gigantic Gorgs, and some celebrity guest stars, the Fraggles took some time away from eating radishes and singing catchy tunes to talk to some silly creatures, myself included.

Fraggle Rock: Back To The Rock

In a whimsical series, a vibrant community of creatures lives in a network of magical caves, exploring the mysteries of their world and learning valuable lessons about friendship, understanding, and the environment. The Fraggles, Doozers, and Gorgs all play a part in these delightful adventures.

Normally, my job includes doing interviews for Collider, where I talk to the folks in front of and behind the camera that are responsible for making movies and TV series that they’re promoting to raise awareness and get audiences interested. We often dig deep into the process an actor goes through to find a character, or the challenges a filmmaker overcomes to finish a project. But when it comes to the Fraggles, they’re just living their Fraggle lives in the Great Hall of Fraggle Rock, chatting with a silly creature like me through a Doozer tube.

During this interview, it was my absolute pleasure to talk to best friends and roommates Mokey, who’s known for her love of art and meditation, and Red, who’s known for her love of adventure but especially when she can have them with her Fraggle friends. We discussed what makes them feel most like their Fraggley selves, their love of singing and dancing, their newfound friendship with the Gorgs, whether they prefer radishes or strawberries, how important support from their fellow Fraggles is, whether they’d ever want to venture into Outer Space with Uncle Travelling Matt, and what they love most about each other.

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While it was delightful to chat with two of the Fraggles that I’ve loved since the original series debuted, knowing the work that the puppeteers put into the Fraggle performances is quite remarkable. Because they are so good at what they do, they blend with the character in a way that makes the experience all the more magical. You can watch the video above and read the transcript of the interview below:

Fraggles Love Radishes, Even When It's Just a Name

Collider: Hi, Mokey. Hi, Red. I am a silly creature named Christina and I’m happy to be talking to you guys.

MOKEY: Is this the famous Christina Radish?!

It is, yes!

MOKEY: We’re not worthy! You invented the radish. Your name’s amazing.

RED: We’re talking to a radish?!

MOKEY: We owe everything to you. We’re such fans of your work.

I am happy to be representing radishes. I know how much you guys like them.

MOKEY: Yes, we do.

RED: Oh, yeah!

What makes each of you feel most like your Fraggley selves? What is the thing that is being a Fraggle to you guys?

MOKEY: That’s a deep question, Christina. I like it!

RED: For me, as we discovered, what made me not feel myself was when Mokey, bless her heart, tried to teach me how to meditate.

MOKEY: That did not go well.

RED: But she helped me realize that I feel most like myself and discover my own kind of meditation when I’m swimming.

MOKEY: I meditate by sitting in the calm and the quiet, but that’s not Red.

RED: Oh, no.

MOKEY: That’s what I do. Red feels most like Red and like Red’s most Fraggley self when she’s swimming. And for me, I feel most like my Fraggley self when I’m connecting with others, whether it’s through my art, or just through a conversation, or sometimes just sitting with someone, like now.

RED: It’s her superpower.

MOKEY: Thank you!

Fraggles Believe Singing and Dancing Always Go Together in Fraggle Rock

Fraggles do a lot of singing and dancing. Do each of you prefer one over the other. or do you like it best when you get to do them together?

MOKEY: Oh, wow, that’s hard.

RED: I think together. I like doing everything, all at once. So, together, singing and dancing.

MOKEY: How do you have one without the other? Do silly creatures actually do that? I don’t know that we do that in Fraggle Rock. They’re always together.

RED: Would a whole bunch of silly creatures just sit around quietly and listen to music? How does that work?

MOKEY: No idea.

RED: We’ve gotta dance. If there’s music, we’ve gotta dance.

I love to dance too, so I would dance with you if I was in Fraggle Rock.

MOKEY: Come on down.

RED: Yeah, come on down. I think we’ve got room in the Great Hall here.

MOKEY: Yeah, we’ll do a little excavating and get you in here.

Gobo Fraggle & Mokey Fraggle on ‘Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock’ and the Best Advice They’ve Ever Gotten from the Trash Heap

They also reveal the best thing about being a Fraggle and the importance of meditation and yoga.

Mokey, as a Fraggle that loves when things are in harmony, what’s it like to actually be friends with Gorgs now?

MOKEY: You know, it’s amazing, Christina. It is really, really something. We’ve learned so much.

RED: It’s big fun!

MOKEY: It’s big fun. We’ve learned totally new games, new foods, new ways they have of expressing themselves. It’s really been a pleasure. Mama Gorg is great. And Junior is so wonderful.

RED: Who would have thought they’d be our friends, and be such wonderful friends.

MOKEY: Not even the world’s oldest Fraggle remembers a time when Fraggles and Gorgs were friends.

Which Is Better To a Fraggle, a Radish or a Strawberry?

Uncle Travelling Matt has introduced you all to what I, as a silly creature, know is a strawberry, but to what you guys also know as sweet radishes. Do you like sweet radishes? How do they compare to regular radishes?

MOKEY: They were very controversial when they first appeared. People felt the need to take sides. I didn’t because I didn’t want to offend neither the radish nor the strawberry.

RED: I like strawberries. But we learned that having new favorites does not replace your old favorites. They just add to the things you can enjoy in life. Once we all appreciated that, we had double the things to enjoy.

MOKEY: That’s right, being open to new experiences is so important.

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But can he compete with Mokey's strawberries?

We know that sometimes something scary can happen in Fraggle Rock, like the wild windstorm that you guys experienced, but Fraggles support each other and get through things together. What does it mean to know that your Fraggle friends are always there to support you, especially when you get scared?

MOKEY: It’s everything. It was really scary, Christina. That windstorm, nothing like that had ever happened in Fraggle Rock before.

RED: It was so scary. I was trying to block it off and control it, and that just didn’t work. When I stopped and just accepted it and had my friends help figure out how to deal with it, it didn’t solve it, but it helped us get through it and look for ways that we could solve the problem eventually.

MOKEY: Yes, together.

RED: Together.

Red, what did you enjoy about getting to participate in the Twisty-Turny-Thon? How was that to experience, and what was it like to experience with Wembley?

RED: I thought it was gonna go one way, because I’m used to competing and I’ve got my way to make it work, and Wembley just wanted to do things differently. I got annoyed and upset, and I just couldn’t deal with doing things differently.

MOKEY: Yes, that’s very challenging for Red.

RED: Yeah. But once I opened myself up to Wembley’s point of view, we made some amazing discoveries. The biggest discovery was that I didn’t have to win to have it be an awesome experience. Who’d have thought?!

MOKEY: And I wasn’t planning on winning, but I won.

RED: I know!

MOKEY: And Red was actually happy for me.

RED: I was!

MOKEY: I was proud of you. Such growth.

Fraggles Are Not Interested in the Work Week of Silly Creatures

With all the stories that Uncle Travelling Matt tells you and all the gadgets he brings back, would either of you ever want to visit Outer Space with him? Have you ever considered it? Is it something that you would want to do?

MOKEY: Oh, well, we hear you have a big work week. Our work week is about 30 minutes long per week. That’s something we’d have to discuss.

RED: I would want to see if things in Outer Space are as weird as Uncle Matt says they are. I think he’s making up some stuff. Is Outer Space as weird as Uncle Matt says it is?

It has its moments, yes. Red, what would you say the best thing is about Mokey? And Mokey, what is the best thing about Red?

MOKEY: Red, is a Fraggle of action.

RED: Oh, yes! I love making it happen.

MOKEY: Red is so strong and so active and just always on the go, go, go. I’m really inspired by that, Red.

RED: And I love how Mokey is so artistic and creative and insightful and focused. Oh, my gosh! She can find the tiniest things and see how beautiful they are, even Lanford.

MOKEY: Oh, Lanford. My leafy love Lanford.

RED: It was a good thing. I’m so glad you discovered Lanford because he became a hero. He really helped us all out.

MOKEY: Yes, he was very important. My hero.

RED: So, we have our differences, but we work well together.

MOKEY: Yes, we do.

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Thank you guys. If I ever make my way to Fraggle Rock, I hope to do so while you guys are having the Great Ratish Ball, so that I can join you there. Thank you so much for talking to me.

MOKEY: Thank you, Christina Radish. We love your work!

RED: Yes! Keep radishing!

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is available to stream at Apple TV+. Check out the trailer:

Watch on Apple TV+

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