Recent Muppet Puppet Revisions

[frogboy4]

We've all witnessed the myriad of different Piggy designs recently. Some good, some...well...nothing to write home about.

We've also heard that Disney is in the process of revising some of the character puppets during this new push. That information was recently shared by EFX in their release of the beautiful Rizzo replica. I've often felt they should key up the colors on the rat so he doesn't get muddy or lost among the other brighter Muppets. This doesn't mean day glow colorization, rather, a bit of a punch to make him pop.

At yesterday's Disney appearance it appears that other characters are going back to formula. The beautiful Gonzo design is even going back to a more classic look, but with these pop colors. Pepe's eye focus is now nudged inward a little more too. I don't know how I feel about it. Thoughts out there?

 

[theprawncracker]

I thought the Gonzo puppet from D23 looked a little weird... but I didn't notice it with Pepe. I think they're all looking incredible. Especially the Band, Scooter, and (lately) Piggy. I do wish they'd just pick ONE Piggy puppet and stick with it, though. *shrug* But I like what I've seen!

 

[Oscarfan]

Yeah, the Gonzo puppet looked odd (like his bottom jaw was too big for his mouth).

 

[LamangoNumber2]

I hate how Gonzo has his eyelids floating over his eyes... did they fix it to be like season 2 Gonzo?

 

[dwmckim]

I thought Gonzo looked strange too (of course Gonzo should always look strange but that's beside the point). Of course my first impression was in a wider shot. It looked like he recently adopted the same diet plan Bunson's apparently been on! Then i saw closer shots of him and i liked it because he looked more classic. Gonzo (over the last ten years) has gotten much more bare bones and simpler in his look (and has had eyelid issues for awhile now!) and this latest puppet is making him look less like a caricature and more like...well...Gonzo. We've gotten so used to seeing assembly line streamed-down Gonzo that the change will look odd to all of us at first. But i like the update. We've all here noticed how fabulous Piggy has been looking. I think this is marvelous that Disney wants to be sure the puppets are looking their best since they're soon going to be ready for their closeup, Mr. DeMille.

(Hopefully they do some much needed work with Animal next! Floyd's design has looked wonky for quite some time as well...and maybe they can finally getting Statler and Waldorf looking right for the first time in decades).

BTW...is EFX still using an MR for their D23 display or is this actually an EFX prototype now? I was thinking the latest photos look much better than any pix of MR Kermit i've ever seen.

 

[ohtherain]

Something not too many people notice: Fozzie gets redone all of the time. You may want to look up on the wiki "Fozzie Bear Through the Years" and from the 1970s through today he has had many makeovers. Today he looks most like the original Season 2-4 Fozzie instead of looking like the 80s one with the fatter head (I prefer skinny head). Love the new Gonzo, Bunsen, Piggy from AGT and D23, and especially the new Sam!
Yes, Pepe's eye focus is different. Also eFX is now using their own prototype for Reporter Kermit, who looks fantastic!

 

[LamangoNumber2]

No one seems to mention Animal's head seems much more like his original design. And zoot's mouth seems off...

 

[dwmckim]

After some video footage from D23 has been working its way onto the web, it's really becoming a lot clearer how great a lot of the new design changes are...it's much more noticable in video footage than odd still photos (especially with Sam because the way he was lit makes him look odd in some of the first still photos that came out because of the way shadows were falling on his face/eyes...the puppet itself really is looking good!)

It also looks like they HAVE did some retooling of Floyd as well...he looks much better than he has in quite some time. One of the big problems with Floyd since the early 90's is that it seems like his eye shape/focus was getting a bit crushed from the hat (and long periods of being in storage with little activity!) and it messed up the whole look - since Floyd's eye focus/shape was so brilliantly expressive during TMS (especially the later half). Looks like they started to get that back on track.

I didn't notice much a change in Animal aside from the change we've seen for awhile now (back when the new puppet debuted on - of all places - America's Got Talent when they showed up with Terry Fator). On the one hand i appreciated what they were trying to do making it more shaggier, but they really went overboard - Animal's hair had NEVER been that incredibly long at the bottom of the face before and makes him look really odd.

Zoot's mouth always looks "off" but that's one of the things that is actually neat about the puppet. It's like between him often having a saxophone in it, and Zoot's naturally quirky out-there personality, his odd mouth shape throughout the character's history has always made Zoot look so great. To me there's something that just makes those odd little design quirks look more classic in that it's not so perfect and streamlined like the Muppets came off an assembly line. I feel a classic Muppet look has an element of weirdness/roughness - the kind of stuff that Roger Langridge overemphasises and caricatures in his drawings!

One thing i will say about the new Gonzo though...while i'm digging the fuller face and the much improved eyelids, the nose is a bit fatter and the shape more "clean". I think this is what is making the pupils look smaller in comparison...when looking just at the overall eyes themselves, the pupils look fine to me. (You want to see a REALLY bad Gonzo puppet? Look at some of the clips of the French Muppets Tv project! Eep! That was what the regular Gonzo was in danger of becoming without the new changes.)

As for Fozzie, his redesign/newer puppet has been seen for awhile now (as opposed to making a D23 debut), and while not the all-time best, he is looking better than he has in a long time. Fozzie looked his all time best starting with Muppet Movie rebuild and throughout the rest of TMS run. I did actually really like the Fozzie puppet that was shortlived that appeared right after GMC (used in Muppets Go to the Movies and Rocky Mountain Holiday)...there was something kind of "teddy bearish" about it and i just really dug the overall look of the puppet. However the Poser Fozzie that was being used during that era (the beginnings of Muppet Magazine) was one of the worst posers of any Muppet i've ever seen - and they got a lot of milage out of that one too! I think that negatively impacted the puppet of Fozzie for a long time after that and they're now starting to get it back on track.

 

[Luke]

(You want to see a REALLY bad Gonzo puppet? Look at some of the clips of the French Muppets Tv project! Eep! That was what the regular Gonzo was in danger of becoming without the new changes.)

I agree, but the same people built both puppets, lol. I think the changes have been more and more about the puppet makers skills improving than them wanting to make conscious changes to the Muppets. It is quite interesting though that the changes that have been made are more in line with the TMS years.

The one great thing about that French TV project was that they gave the Muppets a chance weekly on saturday night TV in a variety format, live (as far as i'm aware) or if not recorded "as live", and they did some pretty cool stuff. Could do with some American or British industry faith in them like that!

 

[LamangoNumber2]

Let see...

Kermit still looks the same...

Piggy looks the same...

Gonzo's more like his season two self, which in my opinion, is the best one, he could move his eyelids back so fast it was great. Now if only he wore his purple tux more!

Fozzie, the pear shape head is getting lame...Bring back season three Fozzie's head!

Pepe's abit bigger, and his eyes are more inward facing now...

Animal's shaggier, and I like it. He looks alot like season 1-2 Animal, wonder if his tongue is flappy.

Zoot, god...I dunno if it was the puppet or the puppeteer, but Zoot seems REALLY off. It doesn't even look like he's moving his mouth.

Janice is looking more like her season 3 self I see...

Floyd, oh god, thank god they fixed him... I was sick of the 'new floyd' thing. His hat shouldn't even be that close to the 'eyes!'.

Bunsen is bigger, of course. Put on weight, have you, Mellon-head?

Beaker, eh, his design never changes really...

Scooter looks ok...Glasses are to big though.

Rizzo's abit bigger now...

Dr.Teeth, put him in his original suit, dang it!

Lew Zealand, why is he there? Why not rowlf?

Robin is abit bigger too...


And, if I had the chance, I'd put Swedish Chef, Rowlf, Sam, Beau, Statler and Waldorf somewhere on that boat.

Sweetums is looking bulkier as well...