Moving Muppet Faces

[BEAR]

Maybe this has been brought up before but I don't remember. So many of the Muppet characters have other movable facial features other than their mouths. Some have moving eyelids, eyebrows and other things. How are they operated? Is there a special mechanism inside the Muppet head that manipulates these features? I have always wondered but never thought to ask here.
Here is a list of the characters that this applies to:
Big Bird (eyes)
Snuffy (eyes)
Telly Monster (eyes)
Bert (eyebrows)
Oscar (eyebrows)
Elmo (eyes)
Beauregard (eyebrows)
Gonzo (eyes)
Dr. Teeth (eyes)
Floyd (eyes)
Animal (eyes)
Sam Eagle (eyes)
Fozzie Bear (ears)
I think some of the Fraggles have animated facial features too.

How does the puppeteer operate all these things at once? Thanks.

 

[theprawncracker]

Another to add to the list is Uncle Traveling Matt, he can look like he's sniffing. I'd like to know how this works too...

 

[Lab Rat]

i would say all the characters you mentioned are operated manually by the puppeteer either by the hand in the head or the hand holding the arm rods bean bunnys eyes are able to blink using a little lever on the arm rod handle.

 

[furryfriends]

elmo can move his eyes

 

[BEAR]

elmo can move his eyes

Yes, I know. He's on that list.

 

[MuppetfraggleEX]

Ha Ha, Do Cookie Monsters eyes count? LOL Can't Pops move his eyebrows or something?

 

[BEAR]

Ha Ha, Do Cookie Monsters eyes count? LOL Can't Pops move his eyebrows or something?

Haha! No, Cookie's eyes don't count. As for Pops, I'm not sure. I don't think they do.

 

[Xela]

I think some of the Fraggles have animated facial features too.

Mokey's eyes move! They get bigger when she's surprised. And in "Marooned", I remember Red's hair went down slowly when she started to worry...unless I totally imagined it. Which, could have happened.

 

[BEAR]

Mokey's eyes move! They get bigger when she's surprised. And in "Marooned", I remember Red's hair went down slowly when she started to worry...unless I totally imagined it. Which, could have happened.

That's right! I forgot about Red's hair. I remember wondering about that when I first saw it. Her and Mokey get added to that list.

I think we could add Beaker to the list as well because his eyes do funky things sometimes. Are they made out of lightbulbs because in GMC they lit up when he got electricuted?

 

[Xela]

That's right! I forgot about Red's hair. I remember wondering about that when I first saw it. Her and Mokey get added to that list.

I think we could add Beaker to the list as well because his eyes do funky things sometimes. Are they made out of lightbulbs because in GMC they lit up when he got electricuted?

Yeah, and also Gonzo's eyes did that at one time...but I don't really remember where. I'm assuming it's done with some kind of lightbulbs though...