Am I the only one who hates what they've done to the Fozzie puppet?

[D'Snowth]

A long and drawn out one for sure. There is indeed nothing to compare them to previously, and everything that can be said is clearly in hindsight. However, that hindsight gives a nice history of how the puppets were perfected over the years. Clearly, classic AM's were sloppier out of necessity because they indeed had to stick the eyes and stuff on for every performance. Plus, first season. So yeah.

I love seeing early AM inserts: some of those Season 1 inserts, with the out-of-focus eyes that make them look dead were pretty bad, yes, but from Season 2 and throughout the 70s, they're great. There was a particular lavendar AM in the early 70s that had highly visible seams (think Howie the bunny that Cookie Monster ate, or the alphabet alien): I love those inserts where the AMs are semi-blank like that, it brings to mind Kermit Love's mindset that less is more (and I agree), those inserts really put that into perspective.

I still think the one that bugs me is how stiff and inexpressive Gonzo looks. I get the feeling he's not that comfortable for Dave to puppeteer either, leading to stiffness of movement.

For sure, anytime a puppet is too stiff, too heavy, too cumbersome, that's going to affect the overall performance: it's like how the first Gary Gnu puppet on THE GREAT SPACE COASTER had too small a mouth and wasn't very expressive.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Yeah the designs really don't bother me in the slightest. While Gonzo and Fozzie's newer designs took awhile to get used to I'm really okay with them now. The rest of the redesigns like The Newsman,Kermit,Miss Piggy,Crazy Harry,Lew Zealand,and the Electric Mayhem etc are totally spot on.

 

[D'Snowth]

I actually felt Crazy Harry perhaps suffered the most from having that "too perfect/too pristine" look, but that could be just me.

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

I actually felt Crazy Harry perhaps suffered the most from having that "too perfect/too pristine" look, but that could be just me.

Well actually you may be right,his skin is a bit too smooth and his head is too tall.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Post-2008 Gonzo has never sat well with me for the reasons mentioned by others - too stiff and probably uncomfortable for Dave to perform. I'm no expert, but even I can tell when something is off about a puppet.

 

[Drtooth]

The eyes are also a bit too small. If they were the slightest bit bigger, they'd be a bit more expressive. He kinda looks either dead-eyed or deadpan, whichever fits the case. And his nose is a little too perfect. I want to say it looks a little thick too but A) there's no way to say that without it coming out wrong and B) maybe it's in the eyes. You know, drawing Gonzo I could never get that nose shape right.

As for the new Fozzie design, I've checked out the Time line on Muppet Wiki. I'd say the best looking one was near the turn of the 90's. Seems that they've been completely inconsistent with the jaw line for years after that, and I never really liked the rounded jaw look they used. Funny thing is, the Fozzie poser at the end of the list looks better than the actual puppet they're using now, at least as far as head shape is concerned.

 

[Mo Frackle]

Well, no. It was supposed to be a big secret, but since it's out in the open now, I was speaking with Terry Angus once, and he did mention that certain fabrics for certain characters are no longer made or no longer available - this is actually the real reason why we're seeing considerably less of Rizzo and the other rats, the fur they used for them is no longer available either.

Interesting. Would that explain why we see less of Rowlf, as well? Or does he have different fur?

 

[D'Snowth]

It even seems like all of the post-2002 Elmos we've had have also had a really combed-down look to him; I personally prefer the Elmo of 1998-2002, when they gave him smaller eyes and a rounder head, but still had just a slight shagginess to his fur.

Interesting. Would that explain why we see less of Rowlf, as well? Or does he have different fur?

I think the main reason we see less of Rowlf is because he's just now starting to be utilized a little more since being retired all of those years out of respect to Jim.

 

[123Sunny]

I wouldn't say I HATE it, but I definitely prefer the old one, he's just so much cuter! I love Fozzie though, and maybe between seasons they will update it. I'm sure they know that fans don't like this and work on a change. The mouth on the old one just looks better, in my opinion

 

[muppetlover123]

Fozzie does look to new, but after a while you just get used to it