Frank in FTB

[D'Snowth]

I wasn't sure if I asked this before - I can't find any thread at that would indicate that I had.

Anyway, I'm curious if for FTB, Frank looped the dialogue for his characters like he did in other Muppet movies prior to Eric taking over his characters? It seems to make sense, considering FTB was around the time his directing career began to bloom, which would probably limit any involvement he would have had with FTB, and Grover's voice in the original trailer is clearly not that of Frank's.

 

[antsamthompson9]

I'm pretty sure Frank did most of the puppetry for the movie. Terry Angus said Frank did either Bert or Grover in the map plan scene, which is why he did Cookie there. Noel MacNeal said that Frank and Jim were actually in the airplane for Upside-Down World. I think @Oscarfan would have an answer for you. He's good at telling when things are dubbed or lip-synced.

 

[dwayne1115]

I'm pretty sure Frank did most of the puppetry for the movie. Terry Angus said Frank did either Bert or Grover in the map plan scene, which is why he did Cookie there. Noel MacNeal said that Frank and Jim were actually in the airplane for Upside-Down World. I think @Oscarfan would have an answer for you. He's good at telling when things are dubbed or lip-synced.

There is a trailer where Grover sounds very off. It is where he says "did you say Big Bird?" Which I think Frank dubbed later.

 

[antsamthompson9]

There is a trailer where Grover sounds very off. It is where he says "did you say Big Bird?" Which I think Frank dubbed later.

I'm aware of that.

 

[minor muppetz]

Somebody at Tough Pigs speculated that Grover's voice in the trailer was dubbed for the trailer to make the line faster or something. It was said there that sometimes in trailers lines might be dubbed to make a line shorter or quicker for the sake of a trailer. Not sure if that's actually the case there (I think the person who said that didn't think it sounded like any Muppet performers we're familiar with).

Somebody once said that in the gas station scene, they could tell Bert was being performed by someone else because he's nodding as if he's agreeing with Ernie, when his line is a disagreement. But Cookie Monster also had a line in that take, so Frank was probably performing Cookie Monster there.

I believe FTB was filmed in 1984, and Little Shop of Horrors was shot in either 1984 or 1985 (being released in 1986). There was an interview with Frank where he said that he was hesitant to direct that movie until he got an idea while "doing something in Toronto', FTB would have been filmed there at the time.

It's a shame that this movie rarely gets brought up in retrospectives on Jim Henson or Sesame Street, and Brian Jay Jones said that Jim's Red Book doesn't note anything about the movie (so we won't be seeing anything about it on the Red Book site anytime soon). I'd like to see behind-the-scenes photos (the Street Gang site had a photo that's obviously from the movie, of Snuffy in Big Bird's nest).

 

[Oscarfan]

Just watched the film. Here's the scenes I'm pretty sure Frank was there to do:

• Grover and Cookie's goodbyes
• Cookie Monster in the VW as everyone leaves the street
• Upside Down World
• Super Grover's flying/landing in the VW
• Bert in that 360 shot near the end
• The yellow monster at the end shouting "Big Bird's home!"

 

[D'Snowth]

I think @Oscarfan would have an answer for you. He's good at telling when things are dubbed or lip-synced.

He's got the answer for everything, 'cause he da guru!

Somebody once said that in the gas station scene, they could tell Bert was being performed by someone else because he's nodding as if he's agreeing with Ernie, when his line is a disagreement.

I noticed that too. I also noticed something was really wrong with Oscar when the convoy is first pulling out of Sesame Street.

I'd like to see behind-the-scenes photos (the Street Gang site had a photo that's obviously from the movie, of Snuffy in Big Bird's nest).

I AM BIG BIRD seems to have a number of behind-the-scenes photos and videos, so maybe we'll get to see those in due time.

 

[cahuenga]

And for Elmo in grouchland? was Frank on the studio performing or did he just looped his characters?

 

[minor muppetz]

I AM BIG BIRD seems to have a number of behind-the-scenes photos and videos, so maybe we'll get to see those in due time.

I can't believe I forgot about that.

And for Elmo in grouchland? was Frank on the studio performing or did he just looped his characters?

I've wondered the same thing, especially since he mainly looped dialogue in Muppets from Space (also released that year). I'd like to think that he at least performed Bert (since all of his scenes could have easily been shot in a 30-minute session) and Grover (who only got one scene in the whole movie). Cookie Monster's the only one of his characters who is really involved in the plot, and even then it seems he doesn't get that much dialogue (especially compared to FTB, where he practically steals the show along with Oscar).

 

[D'Snowth]

I've wondered the same thing, especially since he mainly looped dialogue in Muppets from Space (also released that year).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he also loop dialogue in MTI as well?