Next Muppet Replicas: Gonzo, Animal

[Marky]

To me actual puppets would be a bad idea. Sure it soundsl ike a great idea for fans, but now imagine Kermit showing up EVERYWHERE beingu sed for parody and stuff. Anyone could put opn a muppet show at anytime with no ties to anything official. It would be a really really bad idea. At least now it takes time to make a puppet replica of a muppet character, but if official replica puppets came out there would be nothing stopping Kermit from showing up at a local mall opening, some horrid street show, a bad local tv commercial, or anywhere else.

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I'm not convinced. There's nothing stopping people from doing this now, and hollowing out these Kermits for puppeting purposes isn't rocket science.
There are Kermit puppets out there. People do do things with them, whether it be tasteless silliness, or attempts at 'real' appearances.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

I'm not convinced. There's nothing stopping people from doing this now, and hollowing out these Kermits for puppeting purposes isn't rocket science.
There are Kermit puppets out there. People do do things with them, whether it be tasteless silliness, or attempts at 'real' appearances.

I agree with you, Marky. If people want to do bad things with Kermit, they can do them now, by either using a toy or making their own. Selling replica puppets wouldn't make the problem any worse. There have been Shari Lewis Lamb Chop puppets that look so good, on camera you wouldn't be able to tell them from the real thing, but you don't see lots of Lamb Chop porn out there. And even if you did find something tasteless, no one would mistake it for the real thing, no matter how good the puppet looked.

I think this is a bogus argument.

 

[Mistersuperstar]

We could however turn the conversation around to how Jim Henson felt about merchadising. Someone else mentioned that Jim wasn't in favour of a company releasing Muppet puppets in general.

 

[Punch'n'Judy]

We could however turn the conversation around to how Jim Henson felt about merchadising. Someone else mentioned that Jim wasn't in favour of a company releasing Muppet puppets in general.

Jim generally thought of merchandising as a means to an end.

Merchandising = money = higher production standards

 

[CoOKiE]

Imagin how big Fozzie would be... eekz... lol

I'll be pickin up Gonzo as long as he looks more like the Naked Gonzo shots we've seen... not sayin i'll get him if hes naked, just THAT verion looked better then the severed Gonzo.

And about Animal... i dont think i'll be picking him up at all. Not because of those photos, but because with the prices of Kermit and Gonzo, i just can't keep up with another one unless its Fozzie... depending.

 

[MWoO]

I agree with you, Marky. If people want to do bad things with Kermit, they can do them now, by either using a toy or making their own. Selling replica puppets wouldn't make the problem any worse. There have been Shari Lewis Lamb Chop puppets that look so good, on camera you wouldn't be able to tell them from the real thing, but you don't see lots of Lamb Chop porn out there. And even if you did find something tasteless, no one would mistake it for the real thing, no matter how good the puppet looked.

I think this is a bogus argument.

Well my argument is not that people would do tasteless things as much it is that people could use a kermit puppet in their commercials, local shows, and so on with out any connection to Disney. Perhaps if the JHC still owned the muppets this would seem more like an issue. While there are Kermit toy puppets out there, no one is going to think it's the real thing. You put a replica puppet put there and you have the potential for KErmit popping up everywhere with any one performing him.

Marky, it is not easy to turn the poser into a puppet. It's full of armature. Sure it could be done if you felt like taking apart he entire ting stich by stich, ripping the armature out of it, and then rebuilding the puppet from scratch but that takes a lot more work and know how than buying a puppet and putting it on your hand.

 

[Marky]

Well my argument is not that people would do tasteless things as much it is that people could use a kermit puppet in their commercials, local shows, and so on with out any connection to Disney. Perhaps if the JHC still owned the muppets this would seem more like an issue. While there are Kermit toy puppets out there, no one is going to think it's the real thing. You put a replica puppet put there and you have the potential for KErmit popping up everywhere with any one performing him.

Marky, it is not easy to turn the poser into a puppet. It's full of armature. Sure it could be done if you felt like taking apart he entire ting stich by stich, ripping the armature out of it, and then rebuilding the puppet from scratch but that takes a lot more work and know how than buying a puppet and putting it on your hand.

No one would try to pawn off a realistic kermit as 'genuine' in a television advertisement. That's a silly argument.

 

[Was Once Ernie]

No one would try to pawn off a realistic kermit as 'genuine' in a television advertisement. That's a silly argument.

I agree again. And Disney has plenty of copyright police out there. They even go after pre-schools that paint their characters on the sides of buildings, so I'm certain they could catch someone making TV commercials or personal appearances with a Kermit replica.



P.S. I know there are still people making replicas and selling them on e-Bay, but we don't know that the corporate wheels aren't turning and they're going after those people right now. If they keep it up long enough, Disney is sure to catch up to them.

 

[Marky]

I agree again. And Disney has plenty of copyright police out there. They even go after pre-schools that paint their characters on the sides of buildings, so I'm certain they could catch someone making TV commercials or personal appearances with a Kermit replica.



P.S. I know there are still people making replicas and selling them on e-Bay, but we don't know that the corporate wheels aren't turning and they're going after those people right now. If they keep it up long enough, Disney is sure to catch up to them.

Ex-act-ly.

People in the television industry aren't stupid enough to even try it.
I added Was Once Ernie to my buddy list!

... they go after preschools for painting the characters???

And people wonder why I used to use a dollar sign in the word Di$ney!

 

[MWoO]

No one would try to pawn off a realistic kermit as 'genuine' in a television advertisement. That's a silly argument.

Local comercials could do it easily and slide under the radar. I think it's possible. Not to mention all the you tube videos that would show up.