Original Material

[D'Snowth]

I remember reading in Jim Henson: The Works, that they started building Muppets out of foam because they ran out of the material they used the build the Muppets, and that the material was no longer in stock. What material was this?

Oh, and this is my 400th post!

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I believe what actually happened was that the technique of carving puppet heads out of foam and flocking them started on The Muppet Musicians of Bremen because they ran out of a specific material they had been using for that production.

The Muppets had been using foam long before that.

 

[beforemyway]

hms... I know there are alot of materials that are amazing for puppets, that aren't on stock any more.. but I don'tknow about what you are speaking about pressently

 

[ToastCrumbs]

Carving and Flocking Foam Heads

I believe what happened is back then the sources for fleece were constantly changing, you'd buy from one place and six months later they were gone and you couldn't match it. Some one at Muppets must of had some prior knowledge to flocking and how it was used in the toy making field or miniature train hobby department, not sure but I think it could've been Bonnie Erickson.
Anyway the flocking process is much better for carved heads that have undercuts and complicated sculpts, because if you were to drape out a pattern for the fleece skin there would be much too many seams to deal with. It can be done but it probably drive most people nuts.

AS ALWAYS HAPPY PUPPET BUILDING TO ALL...

PS: Buck you were right it was on Muppet Musicians of Bremen, I'm almost 100% sure this was the first time flocking was used at Muppets.

 

[ScrapsFlippy]

I have been curious about this flocking technique for quite some time now. I have been a "sculptor" almost exclusively, and have been so frustrated in my attempts at covering a sculpted head with fabric. Maybe I should research it a bit.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but all of the Muppet pigs were flocked, right?

--Scraps

 

[King Jim]

I wonder why?

 

[ScrapsFlippy]

Maybe it's just because I watched Dodgeball the other night ("Dodgeball originated in 16th century China, but instead of rubber balls, they used severed human heads,") but I thought this was funny:

"Historians claim that flocking can be traced back to circa 1000 BC, when the Chinese used resin glue to bond natural fibers to fabrics. "

I found it on www.flocking.org.

Now imagine an opium den full of people flocking puppets.

Ahhhhh, comedy.

--Scraps

 

[ToastCrumbs]

All Muppet Show Pigs Were Flocked

All muppet show pigs were flocked, but there is a small chance that during the first season of Muppet Show or slightly before that during the 1st two pilots when all these puppets were being built that one of the builders may have covered a pig puppet with fleece or maybe even just dyed the foam the skin tone they needed to try it out. The reason I say this is because even though I know for certain that all the Pigs were flocked on the show, there is always a chance that an older puppet that pre-dated the show may have gotten tossed in the background.
In the beging everything was given a chance to see what worked best, I'm sure someone must of probably tried a fleece skin and also just tinting the foam with dyes, whether it was used is anyones guess.
The process of sculpting a puppet head has many steps to it, by the time your sculpted head is smooth and your ready to flock the head many puppets get dyed first a base color that matches the tone of the flock to be used. It's a good thing to do just so once the flock starts loosing it charge as it get older and falls away, you still have the same color there instead of a yellow exposed foam. This step of dying the foam before flocking it may have come during the buiding learning curve, because there were other Muppet Show characters that were just dyed foam or even dried brushed. So this is how these building techniques start to get formed over the years.

AS ALWAYS HAPPY PUPPET BUILDING TO ALL....

 

[ravagefrackle]

cant beat that reply, by Toastcrumbs,(how are ya buy the way i got your message )

and after reading thru this post i would say that Flocking wasnt meant as a replacement material, more likley it was meant to give the characters from "musicains of Bremen " a different look,

while fleece suppliers have changed over the years, by the time of sesame street and the muppet show, materials were ordered in bulk, buying large rolls of fabric to ensure that reproductions would not become to much of an issue early in the run of a show.

 

[ToastCrumbs]

Hope you're doing well, thanks for the call over the holidays, sorry I missed you. Give me a buzz some time soon and let me know what you are up to, if not I'll give you a call soon.


Be good