Snarl, the Cigar Box Frackle, appeared in the 1970 Christmas special The Great Santa Claus Switch as one of Cosmo Scam's henchmen. In one scene, he pops out of a cigar box to hand Cosmo Scam his cigar. Later, he appears in Santa's workshop as one of the Frackles who take the Elves' place. Snarl is the only Frackle who asks Santa for a present during the special at the beginning: A baseball mitt.

In a rare turn as a puppet builder since the days of Sam and Friends, Jim Henson snipped the puppet out of a block of foam with scissors in only a few hours.[1][2] Snarl was reused intermittently in the early 1970s, most notably in the special Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass; as the object of affection of a lovelorn Beautiful Day Monster, who sings "Five Minutes More." The puppet can also be glimpsed in brief appearances in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence and the Muppet Meeting Film "Just a Few Announcements."

In 1976, the puppet rose from the ranks and became a character in his own right. He was reworked and renamed Gonzo, and the rest is history.