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I find the art direction very interesting. They've purposely embraced an almost "cheesy" or deliberately low budget look. Its not the typical slick, totally buttoned down Henson Muppet look. But then again, the Henson Company is trying all manner of things recently to differentiate their new...

The fashion in which creative artists do business is wide and varied. I run a special effects studio and prop shop (for 20 years) and we usually don't get paid beyond the initial cost of the prop. You can be "work for hire"... meaning whatever you do belongs to the employer. Or you can...

On a side note: I had to "dig into" one of my older puppets made from the original antron fleece the other day... having worked with the new stuff pretty extensively in the recent past, I gotta say the old stuff was VASTLY superior to the new. But I'm still committed to the product. Even the...

Wow... I never thought it would be so impossible to get antron fleece! I tried several searches online and just about everybody is OUT of antron fleece. And you know how it is... when you need it you NEED it. I'm tempted to buy a whole bolt just to have the stuff on hand! But the...

Thanks! :) -G

Hey everyone, A while back, there was a video on the net featuring a puppet of William Shatner lip synching to some of 'the Shat's' poetry or singing or something. Can anybody tell me who did that? Because, frankly, the puppet was tremendous and I'd like to find out if the owner/builder...

That was LOVELY. It seems Steve is making good on his promise to guide the Muppets back to a good place. Both Rizzo and Bobo were EXACTLY the characters we need them to be in order to not ring hollow. Perhaps that has to do with the writing and setting the performers loose to "be" their...

I am pretty certain nobody is talking about the rings. Unless, of course, someone has developed a NEW mouth palette design! ;)

I've always been partial to Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit on Captain Kangaroo (performed by Cosmo Allegretti) -Gordon

I agree.. those were pretty awesome! -Gordon

The last time I bought rubber toilet gasket was at a small hardware store (ACE Hardware). That may not be too helpful for folks outside of the US as I do not know if ACE is international... doubt it. The smaller hardware stores tend to be independently owned and so might carry things outside...

Well, the cereal box palettes don't stand up to a ton of abuse, but then again, I don't do live shows and we treat the puppets as gently as possible in performance. I like how light the material is. It takes contact cement really well. And when its sandwiched between two pieces of fabric, it...

Polar fleece can make hiding seams tricky. But if you're doing live shows, the whole seam thing can be a non-issue. The main reason to hide seams is for TV work. The camera gets a lot closer to your puppets than an audience does. Usually. Can't make a definitive statement there, but...

That is a very professionally rendered Kermit. Nice work on that all around. According to American law, it is illegal to replicate (for sale or not) someone else's intellectual property without permission. In this case, Kermit the Frog is a property that is owned by The Walt Disney Company...

Gasket rubber is a good choice, especially for a kermit-like mouth. I tend to use cereal boxes for the palette. Its cheap, light, plentiful, and usually lasts just fine as long as you're not using it for the actual mouth hinge. I let the fabric do that job. -Gordon

This looks like a great idea! Good resource for starters! ****, I'm looking forward to seeing how YOU do the palette! -Gordon

Its fortuitous timing... G4 network's "Attack of the Show" had a spot that featured Kickstarter.com and our fundraising effort for the TVTV Halloween Special got some crazy exposure! I even got my ugly mug on there...

I agree, but then again, I have issues with the idea of "professional grade materials". I've seen handkerchief marionettes in a show that would tear your heart out. And I've seen extremely expensive puppets act like crap. Context is key. I guess. -G

I use nothing but coat hanger wire. Its essentially free, it works just fine for my applications, and you don't bust a brain blood vessel trying to cut it with a wire nipper like you do with hardened steel rod. I actually LIKE it's bendability when we're trying to get a hand to move a certain...

Building a puppet can be insidiously simple or vexingly complex. The variations for every mechanism, type, style, material, fit, adhesive, stitch and construction technique are so varied as to be impossible to completely catalog. Puppeteers have been concocting different answers to the same...