Character design changes

[Dane]

I remember that over at the old forum, their was a thread called "kermits collar." People were giving their descriptions of different puppets for each character over the years, and how the designs of the characters changed. I cant seem to find that thread anymore, and it was a very interesting subject. Could someone give descriptions of all the different versions of the characters over the years? Thanks!!

 

[Skeeter Muppet]

I only know three...kinda...

Well I know that in the first season of TMS, Gonzo's eyelids didn't move so he always had this eternally sad look to him. Between seasons Dave Goelz worked on creating a new Gonzo puppet with the moving eyelids. But other than that I can't think of any other changes Gonzo's undergone.

Piggy has DEFINATELY evolved, if you watch episodes from the first and second seasons of TMS compared to the later seasons and later the movies. More detail was added to her face, I think, but don't quote me on that.

The only other one I can think of is Scooter, and as far as I've seen he's only undergone wardrobe changes. The yellow turtleneck and light green satin jacket with the Muppet Show logo on the back for TMS, the same turtleneck with a darker green, logo-less jacket for the first three movies and the 'Celebrate Jim Henson' special and then a white, blue-and-red striped baseball jersey and a brown vest with his yellow turtleneck for MFS.

-Kim *wondering where the heck the green jacket went*

 

[Dane]

Whenever I watch a skit, i can tell what season its from just by looking at Piggy.

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Well, Janice started out with an upper row of teeth (not like monster-ish fangy teeth, just a li'l white bar goin' across right under her mouth), then they ditched that and she looked better, then in MTM she cut her hair and put it in a ponytail on the side of her head, her lower jaw looked a li'l different, and her lips changed sometime in the late '80s or 1990.

Fozzie looked different in season 1, too. His mouth was wider and kinda "clumsier", and he also got better in season 2.

Then of course there are the fraggles, all of whom evolved in season 1---some major, some minor, and a few more minor changes in later seasons.

 

[Daffyfan4ever]

Reply

One thing that sort of interests me is that some Muppets used to be different colors: (Ex: Fozzie used to be darker brown; Oscar the Grouch used to be orange) I was wondering, did they have to rebuild the Muppets to change their colors or did they just use some kind of spraypaint or something? Also, in The Muppets Take Manhattan, Miss Piggy had really curly hair. I didn't care for that look to much. I think she looked too much like Annie Sue pig who she really dislikes.

 

[Drtooth]

Also, Ernie and Bert have changed quite a bit over the years. In the begining, they were much odder looking than today! They were pretty ugly looking!

 

[DarthGonzo]

In "Sex and Violence" Dr Teeth didnt have "live" hands. He had wires attached to his arms. That's really the only big difference.

Floyd had different eyes early on, and he was skinnier.

Gonzo came a long way during the 5 years the Muppet Show was on. He's still evolving, but not in a way people are fond of. His nose is a lighter peach-ish color, his eyes have no personality and his neck is WAY too long. Somone really needs to re-evalute the look of the character as soon as possible.

To think: Rowlf has been around the longest (aside from Kermie) and he's probably gone through the least amount of change.

But you wanna talk about the most drastic change...two words:

Big

Bird

YIKES!!!!

 

[Beauregard]

Originally posted by Janice & Mokey's Man
Well, Janice started out with an upper row of teeth (not like monster-ish fangy teeth, just a li'l white bar goin' across right under her mouth), then they ditched that and she looked better, then in MTM she cut her hair and put it in a ponytail on the side of her head, her lower jaw looked a li'l different, and her lips changed sometime in the late '80s or 1990.

Janice was origanly a boy at one point wasn't she/he?

 

[Crazy Harry]

There are some very early consept sketches of Janice as a male character, but the puppet itself has always been a woman.

 

[baby sinclair]

Gobo changed he used to not have eye lids and he wore a red sweater and i did not see the point for eye lids they never moved i think