- "Nope-buh. I believ-buh ev-be-body."
- ―Mushmouth, when asked if he could tell when someone is lying in the episode Lying.
| Mushmouth | |
|---|---|
 | |
|
Name |
James "Mushmouth" Mush |
|
Voiced By |
Bill Cosby (classic series) |
|
Portrayed By |
Jermaine Williams (film) |
|
Birthday |
December 11, 1982 |
James "Mushmouth" Mush is a member of the Junkyard Gang. In the Junkyard Band, he plays a homemade skiffle-style guitar made from a woo box and a handle from an upright vacuum cleaner.
Personality[]
Mushmouth is very easy-going and friendly. However, similar to others in the gang, he can be responsible when necessary. He'll always lend a hand when the Gang is undertaking a project.
His most prominent characteristic is his speech impediment (caused by a slack jaw and no chin), adding '-buh' at the end of most of his words ("Hey-buh, man-buh"), comparable to speaking in "Ubbi-Dubbi". But despite Mushmouth's encumbrance, his strong personality tends to do him credit. Aside from the occasional input into a group conversation, Mushmouth usually keeps to himself.
In the film after coming to life, he meets a young girl at the park, and he is intrigued by her balloon. Then after she helps him pronounce the word balloon properly, he begins to speak perfectly and not in ubbi-dubbi. He is rejoiced to finally be able to speak properly and he also learns that he has a talent for singing. However, once he returns to the cartoon, he tried to speak perfectly again, but failed and spoke ubbi-dubbi again.
Appearance[]
Mushmouth wears a red knit cap, a blue scarf, an orange t-shirt, red pants (held by a black rope tied to his waist), and yellow sneakers with blue circles.
In the film, his appearance has several notable changes. Instead of his pants being held by a black rope, they are held up by vertical rainbow striped suspenders (that help to cover his ample stomach). His sneakers in the film are white and yellow.
Trivia[]
- The character of Mushmouth was inspired by trumpeter Johnny Coles. He was not only one of the musicians who took part in Herbie Hancock's score for the 1969 pilot special, but also spoke in a manner similar to Mushmouth himself. In fact, Cosby had asked Johnny to provide the voice of Mushmouth for the series, but eventually it didn't take off, so Cosby opted to do the voice instead.
- Coincidentally, even though Mushmouth doesn't appear in the 1969 special, the end credits have a Mushmouth-style scat performed over the music. Whether the scat in question is performed by Cosby or Coles is unknown.
- Both Mushmouth and Bucky are the only Cosby kids to not have their own episodes solely focused on them.
- In the 1984-85 syndicated season, depending on the episode, Mushmouth doesn't appear as frequently as the rest of the gang. (And in several episodes he does appear in, he gets the least amount of speaking lines.) This is a noticeable contrast to Bucky, who, ironically, didn't get as much focus or speaking lines during the 1975-82 seasons, but got slightly more focus during the 1984-85 syndicated episodes.
- In fact, "Hot Wheels" is the last episode where Mushmouth has any spoken dialogue.
- In most foreign-language dubs, Mushmouth's "ubbi-dubbi" speech impediment isn't present. In the French dub, he's even given three different-sounding voices by his dubber, Francis Lax, due to inconsistency.
- At one point in "Junk Food", Mushmouth erroneously speaks in Dumb Donald's voice. Conversely, the episode, “Animal Lover” has Donald speaking in Mushmouth’s voice at one point.
- In “Video Mania”, Mushmouth laughs similar to the Disney character, Goofy.
Gallery[]
