My thoughts on Wembley's amazing eyes

[TopperFraggle]

Forgive me if this has been satisfactorily answered before. I've seen the question of Wembleys eyes before, and while I don't have a definitive answer, my suspicion is that there was more than one mechanism involved. What it looks like is that one mech rotated the actual orb of the eye, perhaps side to side(or theoretically in a straight diagonal) like a standard vent dummy. Then there was a second mech, that rotated the black disc of the eye, the pupil, on the eyeball. In other words, imagine that the pupil was like Cookie Monsters, a googly eye, but instead of being free moving, the puppeteer could control the pupils rotation. A synchronized movement of these two mechs could possibly give the illusion of the eyes having unlimited mobility. The pupils couldn't really look any direction, but they could trick you into thinking that they weren't fixed by normal puppet eye restrictions. What does everyone think?

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Certainly possible, but I suspect not. It would be a hassle for the puppeteer to design a puppet that way. My guess is that there was one mech (possibly one that permitted multi-axis rotation) and most of the eye "movement" people think they are seeing is created by careful eye focus with the puppet.

Sometimes, the human hand is a remarkable special effect!

 

[TopperFraggle]

it would definately be unwieldly for one puppeteer but perhaps one or both of the motions was something that could be semi remotely controlled?

 

[puppetsmith]

My guess is even more simple. Each eye rotates on one axis. The pupil of the eye, however is not lined up directly on the one axis. As the eye spins the pupils rotate in a small circle - more of an eye roll than a back and forth and up and down movement.

Think of the earth as Wembly's eye and New York City as his pupil. As the earth rotates on it's axis through the North and South Poles, NYC makes a small circle. 360 degrees later it's back in the same place (which would be the default position of Wembly's pupil).

My guess too is that his eye roll is done with a servo or electric motor. It seems too smooth to be manually operated. I also think it would be easy enough to build a control either inside the head or attached to an arm rod to allow the puppeteer (Steve) to control the eye movement as opposed to another person operating the eyes off stage.

Just my thoughts.

 

[Metacritter]

Each eye rotates on one axis. The pupil of the eye, however is not lined up directly on the one axis. As the eye spins the pupils rotate in a small circle - more of an eye roll than a back and forth and up and down movement.

After watching 'A Friend in Need' yesterday, I think you're right. Wembly does a lot of eye-rolling when he thinks Gobo's been eaten, which provides a great opportunity to watch the mechanics.

 

[ILuVERNIE]

what?! im confused... i just know that wembley is the only one that can move his eyes... o and mokey can, i think!!