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For those not in the know, Fred was a special effects guy for the Henson company. I recently sent him an email asking what were the most fun /challenging Henson projects he's ever worked on and I thought you'd be interested in hearing his reply:
"The most difficult effect I worked on was in the MuppetVision 3-D film shown in the Disney theme parks. Jim wanted Bean Bunny to blow bubbles toward camera. In the theater real bubbles were released at the same time. Bean had to dip a wand into a container of Bubble Fluid and bring it up to his mouth to blow bubbles. There was a mechanical arm rigged to do the dipping and I had a tube through being bunnies mouth I was blowing through. We were shooting in duel 70 millimeter and due to the required light the studio is extremely hot. The bubbles would pop as soon as they reached the hot studio air. It took many takes over two days to get the simple effect on film. I was really sweating under tremendous pressure."
"The sequence I am most proud of is in Muppet Christmas Carol. Gonzo and Rizzo are working as lamplighter’s. Gonzo sets Rizzo‘s tale on fire. Rizzo falls through a layer of ice and into a bucket. He comes up as a frozen ratsickle, Gonzo smashes him down and the ice surrounding his body flies off. It’s a great sequence."
"The most difficult effect I worked on was in the MuppetVision 3-D film shown in the Disney theme parks. Jim wanted Bean Bunny to blow bubbles toward camera. In the theater real bubbles were released at the same time. Bean had to dip a wand into a container of Bubble Fluid and bring it up to his mouth to blow bubbles. There was a mechanical arm rigged to do the dipping and I had a tube through being bunnies mouth I was blowing through. We were shooting in duel 70 millimeter and due to the required light the studio is extremely hot. The bubbles would pop as soon as they reached the hot studio air. It took many takes over two days to get the simple effect on film. I was really sweating under tremendous pressure."
"The sequence I am most proud of is in Muppet Christmas Carol. Gonzo and Rizzo are working as lamplighter’s. Gonzo sets Rizzo‘s tale on fire. Rizzo falls through a layer of ice and into a bucket. He comes up as a frozen ratsickle, Gonzo smashes him down and the ice surrounding his body flies off. It’s a great sequence."
