The Ridiculously Adorable, Feminist History of Kewpie Dolls
Ridiculous History
iHeartPodcasts
4.2 • 4.7K Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 34 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When illustrator and novelist Rose O'Neill first debuted the Kewpie cartoons in 1909, these loveable little characters took the world by storm. Yet O'Neill didn't stop there. In today's episode, Ben, Noel and Max learn the surprisingly inspiring and feminist story of the Kewpie doll as a crucial aspect of women's rights in the United States.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Ridiculous History is a production of IHeart Radio. Welcome back to the show, fellow ridiculous historians. |
| 0:29.4 | Thank you, as always so much for tuning in. |
| 0:32.3 | Let's hear it for the man, the myth, the legendary super producer, Max, the cutest Coupie Williams. |
| 0:38.9 | Guys remember Muppet Babies? |
| 0:41.2 | Did you ever watch Muppet Babies? |
| 0:43.0 | I am aware of the social phenomena of Muffet Babies, but not to sound like Egon Spangler here, Noel. |
| 0:50.8 | You're Noel Brown, I'm Ben Bullen. |
| 0:52.7 | I have not, I missed that part. |
| 0:56.5 | Yeah, it was the exact right age for it, for whatever reason. |
| 1:00.7 | It may have been on originally, or it may have been reruns on Nickelodeon, but it's all of your favorite |
| 1:05.5 | Muppets, but they're babies, and they are overseen or watched over by a faceless character just named Nanny and you only ever see your legs. |
| 1:15.7 | Oh, old school cartoon style. |
| 1:17.6 | Yeah, it's pretty great. |
| 1:18.7 | It's pretty great. |
| 1:19.8 | The opening theme song lives rent-free in my head much of the time. |
| 1:24.3 | I'm not going to. |
| 1:24.7 | Can you admit for it? |
| 1:25.5 | I'll do a little bit of it. |
| 1:26.5 | It's like, when your room looks kind of weird and you wish that |
| 1:29.8 | you weren't there, just close your eyes and make believe and you can be any way or... |
| 1:37.3 | And there were a lot of... I think it was owned by Stephen Spielberg's company maybe, because it was... |
| 1:41.8 | There were a lot of references to like you know they're they're |
... |
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