Questions for Fraggle's Terry Angus

[Frogster]

Terry, do you have any special memories of Jim Henson?

 

[MuppetDude]

I recall that Trish Leeper was Tosh and John Pattison was Henchy, but I don't know if that answers your question per se.

Not exactly. Those were just examples. I was wondering if there were other Fraggles like Morris that the performers had altered (like the bald pink Fraggle w/ purple hair, or the tan one with a moustache and sleepy eyes).

 

[MeepBorkMeep]

Hi. I'm new but I've been reading this post since it started, and I've been wanting to ask, in addition to Frogster's question, What is yer favorite Richard Hunt memory? Thank you /so/ much for taking the time to answer our questions.

 

[ButchCat]

Hi all,

OK! Finally I am back to answer some more of your questions. Sorry this took too long but it could not be helped. First we start with Fighbird which is more of a request for something to be put into the next Fraggle Rock DVD box set. Which maybe a good idea.

I know of some original behind-the-scenes material, that very few fans have ever seen.

In the mid-80s, a german TV-show for kids were fulfilling children's dreams as first prizes (like taking a lucky kid on a real hot-air baloon ride or steering a real train -- stuff like that), and one of the kids wanted to visit Fraggle Rock. I remember being jealous as heck, as they showed footage of Jim guiding the kid around the elevated sets. Although a short segment (AFAIR; it's been 20 years), it could possibly be a fun bonus.
Don't know if anyone cares, but I thouhgt I'd mention it just the same.

Ok Fighbird I remember a couple of times that we had contest winners. Anyway I don’t really know who you would send that in to except HIT and they may have an e-mail or web site number on the package for you to ask that. Thanks for sharing that and I’ll answer your other question down a bit further.

Next one comes from DB(Donald Barrie

We met over 20 years ago when you visited Sunny View Public School in Toronto, a school for children with disabilities. You might remember me as the kid who brought his Kermit and Fozzie hand puppets for the occasion! I have remained a Muppets fan throughout the years, and I am wondering what you are doing to promote the Fraggle Rock DVDs?

We had a photo taken during your visit, and I intend to upload it to my computer soon to share with everyone here.

Great to see you in the forum!

DB (Donald Barrie)

Thanks for your letter Donald and I hope that you are doing well these days. I do indeed remember going to that school and talking with you guys and I remember I had a good time there. For any of you guys who didn’t know it I have Cerebral Palsy it’s a mild case but there. It was to inspire them. I asked the Henson Company if I could borrow Morris to taken into the school along with some of my own puppets at the time and they gave me their blessing to take him. I was lucky enough to have some pictures taken of me with the kids. All in all it went well. One of these days I’ll have to scan the pictures and find a place to post them. Again thanks Donald.

Our old friend David Ebersole who asked:

Yet she did get involved in Blizzard Island. How did so many FR alums come to work on that show? Is it just a small community among folks in Canadian children's entertainment, or was it the same people organizing things?

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

Ok David here’s how all of that happened. The first person to get on Blizzard Island was BP Nichole and that was because I asked for him to be the head writer. This was because I got along with BP so well. The same with Tim Gosley, I asked for him to play the character Rog. For the Director I had originally asked for Terry Maskell(Check Spelling) but the producer Andrew Cochran (Not the Andrew Cochran from a show called Switchback) wanted George Bloomfield and that was based on what he saw from a few Fraggle Rock episodes. The other writers for the show where all picked by BP as he knew them better than I did. Thanks again David.

Muppetdude
In the above quote you mentioned that the Canadian Muppeteers were allowed to create their own characters, giving birth to Morris. Were there any other Fraggle characters like this (Tosh and Henchy come to mind.)? If you remember, who performed which puppet?

Hi Muppetdude, I see that David has answered a little bit of your question and he is right although Henchy was created by who ever wrote his first episode with the World’s Oldest Fraggle. Henchy was based on another Fraggle that John did as a Background and he too was green although John called him Chancy Fraggle and the things John did with his Fraggle where very funny. Rob Mills had a Pink Fraggle named Fred but he never caught on. Rumple Fraggle was another pink Fraggle with a vest and an aviator hat on, he was done by Gordon Robertson and I remember that Rumple got lines in four episodes. I remember that Myra Fried had created a Fraggle that was head of the Fraggle Gazette that Morris was a reporter for but she was never used. If you check out “Marooned” you’ll see that she is stand right next to Morris as they pull out Red and Boober from the cave in. I think I turn Morris’s head toward her as I made him afraid to look. I can’t remember what the other Canadian performers came up with. Well it’s not much but it’s better than nothing. Thanks Muppetdude.

Fighbird
Can you tell us a bit about working on "Follow that bird" -- which scenes/character you were involved with, what the people/performers were like to work with, and how much it differed (if at all) from the Fraggle production in terms of people involved/settings/characters?
Thank you in advance!

PS: Lila and Humphrey monster sends their love to you, Terry!

Hi Fighbird, now if you are wondering Lila and Humphrey where two Monster puppets on ebay that Fighbird bought from me. “Follow That Bird” was very different from Fraggle Rock and that’s because “Follow That Bird” is a film and it takes way longer to shoot a movie then a TV series. It takes forever just to light a scene. I remember that I was puppeteering Biff in the opening scene where Big Bird is roller-skating in but I am very small in the scene. I was Cookie Monster in Hooper’s store when they are trying planning to go out and rescue Big Bird. Here’s a story for you. I was sitting on the floor with Cookie Monster and my back was against a table on that table was a jar of Smarties so in between takes I would reach up and grab some Smarties and eat them. I did that maybe three times before someone came over the PA and asked. “Would somebody stop eating the props!” “Me Sorry but no cookies so me eat smarties.” I played one of the Honkers in the scene where Maria was explaining that Big Bird had all of these friends. That’s all I remember doing. I didn’t get to be on the location shots. I remember that the Human performers where very nice and I had a nice chat with Susan. Thanks for your question Fighbird.

Hi Terry ,
Tell me please, does Murray the Minstrel have a tail? (I'd posted in FR section a thread about it before, simply because didn't know about this thread...sah-ree...) I want to draw him, but have to ask about it to do it properly.
~Eff

Hi Eff, to answer your question No Murray the Minstrel did not have a tail. I like this one quick and to the point thanks Eff. That’s it for now I’ll be back again some time to answer Frogster and MeepBorkMeep’s questions.

Thanks everyone and take care.

Terry Angus

 

[MuppetDude]

A short but nice answer, Terry. Hit the nail right on the head. I was asking because of this:

http://www.wherearemytoys.com/pandj/legacy/html/fr_things.htm

And forum member "The Count" has been compiling an extended list of Muppet characters and people who exist in the Muppet universe (we fans are nuts):

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=18234

As for Murray, this thread features a picture of Murray with what looks like a tail:

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=22367&highlight=Murray+tail

But based on your answer, that must be a flower or a plant.

I thought one of the honkers looked a bit funny in "Follow That Bird"; there's a shot of a group of honkers in front of Bob and Maria, and one of them was right-handed (but the glove was built for a left hand, so the hand looked a bit odd.) It was the sea green one with glasses.

Anyway, I've got another question: Who played Balsam the Minstrel (the armadillo-looking one)? None of the Muppet sites have a performer listed for him.

 

[MGov]

Hey Terry, thanks for answering the questions.

When you were putting the Blizzard Island project together, what were some of the obstacles you faced and what, in hindsight, would you do differently?

Thanks again!

 

[Gorgon Heap]

Gonna try for a simple one.

What's your favorite episode of The Muppet Show, if you have a favorite?

David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

 

[Convincing John]

I have a question

Hi,

After reading about Dave Goelz's nose getting itchy while holding up two puppets (from the TMS Season 1 "Muppet Morsels"), I wondered:

Due to ostrich feather tufts detaching from Fraggle heads (or tails), were any re-takes done due to sneezing Muppeteers?

I could just see a FR scene being taped:

Boober: "Good morning Gobo. How are you?"

(From below): ACHOO!

Boober: "Was that you?"

Gobo: "No, it was that Silly Creature down there with the beard that follows me around." (Looks down) "Bless you."

Jerry Nelson: "Thanks!"

Convincing John

 

[ButchCat]

Ok everyone I am finally back to answer more of your questions. Boy I have been gone for a long while this time. Let’s get started with Frogster’s question.

Terry, do you have any special memories of Jim Henson?

Jim was for the most part a quite guy so it was always a surprise to see him run a character. The first time that any of us Canadians at Fraggle seen Jim Henson perform was when he did the Convincing John number and suddenly Jim became a dynamo. This man was all over the place with that puppet yet when you looked at the monitor it looked great. I remember being in aw of him at that moment.

The first time that we all seen him perform Kermit for the first time was a magical moment too. Jim was doing a promo with Kermit in the Gorgs Garden and I think I remember most of us going in the studio and like a bunch of children sitting on the floor watching Jim Henson performing Kermit. That will always remain in my memory for a long time.

One other memory that I have of Jim was the last time that I ever saw him and that was when I was doing a live show with him in Washington DC called “From The Heart; Very Special Arts” This was a show that showcased people with special challenges that had talent in the arts. For that show I performed a Robin like frog character called Kerm 2 singing “It’s Not Easy being Green” with Jim and Kermit. I can’t remember if we had finished our skit or if we where about go on or if it was during rehearsal. Anyway Jim asked me how Blizzard Island was doing and I told him it was canceled by the CBC. Jim put his arm on my shoulder and said “They canceled me too.” He was talking about “The Jim Henson Hour”. After the show was over Jim had to catch his flight we said our good byes. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would ever see him again.

MeepBorkMeep
Hi. I'm new but I've been reading this post since it started, and I've been wanting to ask, in addition to Frogster's question, What is yer favorite Richard Hunt memory?

Like Jim Henson I had more than one favorite memory of Richard Hunt. I always use to enjoy the Fraggle Rock Christmas and wrap parties especially when Richard was performing as MC. He was very funny and very good. You could tell that Richard loved to perform.

There was one day on the Fraggle set I believe it was after one of the Monday morning read-throughs that I was showing Richard a puppet of Beaker that I had built for him and Richard knew that I could do pretty good impersonations of a few of the Muppets and he asked if I could do Beaker. I gulped and tried but Beaker was one character I could not really do. Richard had informed me that he didn’t just Meep, meeped him. He told me that he performed Beaker inhaling and showed me.

I remembered the time that I introduced my then future wife Cheryl to Richard. Richard would sometimes jokingly call me Skosh because I was from Nova Scotia. So Richard strolled in and greeted me with a big “Hey Skosh!” “Richard I would like you to meet my girlfriend Cheryl.” “Ah! A Skoshette” Richard was on his way to do something but he was kind enough to take a bit of time to chat with her.

The thing that will always stick out in my mind was my first audition for Fraggle. I don’t think I could ever tell it as well as tribute that I did on Richard for Muppet Central.
http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/tributes/hunt/fanarticle1.shtmlThanks MeepBorkMeep

MuppetDude, I apologize. I am very wrong and this is a bad case of having egg in my face. I was going by memory and I didn’t remember seeing Murry with a tail and non of my photos with Murry shows him with a tail that I could see but then again none of my photos views Murry from the back just the front. However I looked around for the my copy of that photo that you have a link to and sure enough that is a tail. So I went to my photo album and rechecked the photos and there is one picture of Dave Goelz performing Murry while Steve did Wembley for that scene. I took a closer look at that picture and there is indeed a tail there. It’s barely visible but there. I will never trust my own memory again! Thanks for setting me strait MuppetDude. Oh and I think you are right about which Honker I did. You see although I write with my right hand I puppeteer with my left hand. Now I remember that hand feeling odd.

What's your favorite episode of The Muppet Show, if you have a favorite?
David "Gorgon Heap" Ebersole

Hey there David, you would think that it would be an easy question to ask until you stop and realize that there where way more than one that I like of the Muppet Show. So I give you three of my favorites. I loved the Mac Davis episode where Beaker got copied. Good music and lots of good funny moments. I loved the scene where Mac Davis thinks that all the beakers are his new back up singers and he shows them how to a number and they all faint. I liked the Elton John episode again lots of good songs and bits. The Alice Cooper episode was good and I just have to mention one more I can’t forget the Harry Belafonte Episode. The banana boat song with Fozzie just not getting it right was hilarious. So that’s a small sample of my favorite Muppet Show episodes.

After reading about Dave Goelz's nose getting itchy while holding up two puppets (from the TMS Season 1 "Muppet Morsels"), I wondered:

Due to ostrich feather tufts detaching from Fraggle heads (or tails), were any re-takes done due to sneezing Muppeteers?
Convincing John

I loved the little story there Convincing John. I know what Dave Goelz was talking about. When I was performing two Fraggles at once I remember at one time or another having to itch my nose but I would wait till the scene was done then I used the side of the puppet body to itch the problem. I use to hate doing two puppets at once because it was harder to keep your head out of the shot. As for retakes done due to sneezing? I really can’t remember that happening except I blew a lot of takes when I was sick with a cold. One episode my nose was so plugged up it made it very hard to breath. I had to walk from point “A” to point “B” then deliver my line. I had such a hard time breathing that I was out of breath by the time I stopped to do the line and I couldn’t do the line. So what they ended up doing was stopping tape and we did the line on another angle. I was really unhappy with myself on that day. Thanks Convincing John.

Well that’s it for now. I know I didn’t answer MGov’s Blizzard Island question but it’s one that I am really got to put a bit of thought on. So I’ll answer that one next time around. Take care all and thanks.

Terry Angus

 

[MeepBorkMeep]

Thanks Terry for taking the time to answer our questions. I'll have to try that Beaker thing. Hang on.....Wow! That really does help! I've tried it before while exhaling, and it came out sounding all hollow, now I know why. Thank you so much.