Your Animal Replica Pictures

[TheJimHensonHour]

WHAT? His mouth does not close? Are you joking? The mouth is key to making the many animal expressions. Now i know I don;'t want him, Certainly not at 400. The mouth is a main point of expressions on any character.

You're not alone I don't like this thing at all either. It reminds me more of gridle gorilla from the great space coaster (i'm being sarcastic) than it does animal. blah the body is fine but the head the key part is missing just to much for me to even want to consider plopping down that kind of money.

 

[frogboy4]

Looks to me like there are no shackles on him at all. I know that sometimes Animal went without, but really it would have been nice to have them. So many things about the final product just bug me.

That might warrant an inquiry. The price, even for a fan, is very steep. I know it's justified, but leaving out at least his signature collar does upset me. I look at MR as being more customer friendly than that.

On the likeness side - I spent a bit of time studying Animal's likeness for figure revision. My task was mostly geared toward leg and knee joints, but I was always disappointed in the action figure eyes. It really is a tough thing to get right. They do seem to look different in multiple shots. That's partly why companies like to create approximations that cherrypick the best visual characteristics to lump together.

We all remember the Muppets in different ways. We have our favorite looks, our favorite puppets. Nostalgia often blinds the fan too, me included. That particular area you are talking about between the eye shapes is a practical design challenge - especially to mass produce. I think it's pretty close.

 

[MWoO]

I don't see how you can think it is close. I'm sorry, I just don't. The eyes are just plan off. I mean this isn't something like the shape of Fozzie's head that has changed over the years. The eyes have always been right up next to each other, at the very least they were like that from the first puppet into the early 90's with a slight gap in more modern animals. This gap is SO much wider on the replica. I mean, go find a picture of Animal right now and put it next to the replica pic. It's so much more pronounced and I see no reason why they wouldn't have gotten it right when the solution is put them next to each other.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

We all remember the Muppets in different ways. We have our favorite looks, our favorite puppets. Nostalgia often blinds the fan too, me included. That particular area you are talking about between the eye shapes is a practical design challenge - especially to mass produce. I think it's pretty close.

That is so true! I haven't liked any Ernie or Cookie Monsters since the originals (see my avatar above). Although, the most recent Cookie Monsters have gotten back pretty close to the original.

Ernie has never been the same again. I may have posted this somewhere else in some other thread, but it bears repeating. I actually asked Jim about why the puppets changed looks and his answer was that the look of the puppets wasn't important, it was all in the performance. So, there you go. That's why they never needed to rebuild them precisely, if that was even possible, Jim didn't care.

 

[MuppetCaper]

I guess we can wait and see next year what we get for accessory packs for these posers. I notice the more I work with Animal, the better he looks.

 

[frogboy4]

I don't see how you can think it is close...I mean, go find a picture of Animal right now and put it next to the replica pic.

I know it is unfair to create a digital alteration after the fact, but I just want to see if this is in the ballbark of what you are talking about. I did mess with more than just the eyes to make it the way I'd style it in my mind. Much of this can likely be achieved with posing, however you can't push the eyes closer together as in this alteration. I stilll give this replica a 98%.

Click Here For An Animal Comparison​

I credited Lab Rat for listing a portion of his graphic. Hope that's okay. Again, it's easier to be a backseat driver on this than go through all the paces of desgning, approving, producing and distributing a product.

I also agree with you, Was Once Ernie. There is a life that these can never have without the performer. I remember another member going so far as to say replicas were a bad idea for that reason, but I like these. The spark in these is all about the posing. When I first got my corpse like Kermit in the box I was not pleased. A few minutes later he came to life in the way I wanted.

 

[MWoO]

You hit the nail on the head there. That is much closer to how his eyes should be.

 

[Bear Man]

Looks pretty good to me - I'm not concerneed with the eye spacing, I think it's pretty close to what I remember (but then, Animal has never been a huge favourite of mine, so I can't say as I have aever taken a LOT of notice). My main issue is with the eyebrows - they're just a little too "slug-like" for me, where they need to be a bit more wild. I'm sure taht that can be achieved through some judicioius styling though.

I didn't pre-order him and I'm not rushing out to get him, I'm much more concerned with having the cash to invest in Fozzie and, perhaps, Gonzo. But on the basisi of these photos I'm not ruling out getting him sometime in the future, which was never really the plan.

All in all - good job, MR!

 

[TheJimHensonHour]

So, there you go. That's why they never needed to rebuild them precisely, if that was even possible, Jim didn't care.

That's funny he's contradicting himself there then because in another quote he says the eyes are the most important part of a muppet and if something is off the entire character looks wrong and said it's very important.

 

[TheJimHensonHour]

I know it is unfair to create a digital alteration after the fact, but I just want to see if this is in the ballbark of what you are talking about. I did mess with more than just the eyes to make it the way I'd style it in my mind. Much of this can likely be achieved with posing, however you can't push the eyes closer together as in this alteration. I stilll give this replica a 98%.

Click Here For An Animal Comparison​

I credited Lab Rat for listing a portion of his graphic. Hope that's okay. Again, it's easier to be a backseat driver on this than go through all the paces of desgning, approving, producing and distributing a product.

I also agree with you, Was Once Ernie. There is a life that these can never have without the performer. I remember another member going so far as to say replicas were a bad idea for that reason, but I like these. The spark in these is all about the posing. When I first got my corpse like Kermit in the box I was not pleased. A few minutes later he came to life in the way I wanted.

That animal edit is perfect now that I'd plop money down for.