Realised something about Kermit

practicecactus

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I was thinking about how you operate a puppet and realised something about Kermit.
For some reason it hit me like a ton of bricks..Whenever I saw footage of Jim Henson holding his hand up in place of a puppet, he had his fingers curved, in a relaxed way.Not flat out like 'The Duck' ya tend to make, and I never realised..Kermit's head doesn't have the padding between his fingers and the top of his head, it's underneathe. Between his fingers and the mouth plate.
I feel like such an idiot.
I'm not sure if this has ever been brought up before.

I was bored one day and made a little puppet using that 'plush kermit pattern' and as soon as I put my hand in, realised it needed a peice of foam in the head or something cause the kermit face scrunch didn't look right, but now it makes so much sense.
It was obvious Kermit's head had something inside to give it shape, I just never thought the fingers were curved. It's so much more comfortable.

And if you even wanna get philosophical about it, you can say Jim was relaxed in his manner and the way he performed, which translates to Kermit and his character.

It's the simplist of things yet I never realised the subtlety of it.
 

Buck-Beaver

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That's very true. I think that it's really important in puppetry that your hand is relaxed and free of tension. Ideally, if your arm and hand is properly relaxed there should be a graceful curve that flows upwards from the arm, through your wrist in to your hand and fingers. If your hand is stiff or if your wrist is at a sharp angle it creates tension, which prevents your hand from being able to act and respond naturally.
 

gfarkwort

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yea...if you're stiff, you stiffle the performance...and it's uncomfortable
 

ravagefrackle

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practicecactus said:
I was thinking about how you operate a puppet and realised something about Kermit.
For some reason it hit me like a ton of bricks..Whenever I saw footage of Jim Henson holding his hand up in place of a puppet, he had his fingers curved, in a relaxed way.Not flat out like 'The Duck' ya tend to make, and I never realised..Kermit's head doesn't have the padding between his fingers and the top of his head, it's underneathe. Between his fingers and the mouth plate.
I feel like such an idiot.
I'm not sure if this has ever been brought up before.
First a great and important thing to notice, thier is no need to over stress your hand by holding it so stiff, relaxed hand is a great way to go

however , their is no foam or anything else in Kermits head , it was all Jim's hand, (he had quite large hands), it was also the Fleece used on Kermit, it was not your typical antron, but one with a much stiffer backing , the shape was a combination of Jim's hand, and the stiffer material that helped kermit , look and move the way kermit did,
the only time any foam is in Kermits head is when a puppeteer with a smaller hand is performing him, and then that foam is pretty much being used to make up for the size difference(some puppeteers will just were a glove on the performing hand if the size difference is not that obvious.

practicecactus said:
I was bored one day and made a little puppet using that 'plush kermit pattern' and as soon as I put my hand in, realised it needed a peice of foam in the head or something cause the kermit face scrunch didn't look right, but now it makes so much sense.
It was obvious Kermit's head had something inside to give it shape, I just never thought the fingers were curved. It's so much more comfortable.
this is a great way to build though , i have done one or two Kermit like puppets were i used foam on the mouth plate to help bulk up the head and snout areas a bit more.works great and a fun thing to experiment with
 

Tim

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Yeah, it was really weird putting my hand in the "real" Kermit's head, and finding nothing at all. I had to try to find the shape we are all familiar with, but of course that puppet was taylored for Jim, and my hands are much smaller. Still, I managed a couple of known expressions, and realized the rest was just "Jim".

Creepy though.
 

ravagefrackle

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a helpful photo for most puppets , but kermit is devoid of any of that , he really is a very stream lined character , just the basics, a mouth plate and a skin, no grips, no foam, all hand
 

ravagefrackle

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no, Steve has a large hand as well(although not as big as Jim's), I do belive they took in the pattern a tiny bit once he took on the role,(not enough for any one to ever notice)
 
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