Retired characters

[MuppetSpot]

Yeah but I heard some characters like benny bunny turn into a reject Muppets for other countries.

 

[superboober]

Has Placido Flamingo been seen lately? He was a guilty pleasure back in the day.

 

[Drtooth]

Nope. Retired due to death of the performer and hasn't been recast.

 

[MuppetSpot]

Or puppet isn't in useable condition.

 

[FraggleFrick]

Herbert Birdsfoot? Tough EDDIE? HARVEY Kneeslapper? Lefty the Salesman? Sonny Friendly?

 

[Pig'sSaysAdios]

Herbert Birdsfoot? Tough EDDIE? HARVEY Kneeslapper? Lefty the Salesman? Sonny Friendly?

What about them?

 

[MuppetSpot]

And wasn't Tough Eddie a oneshot.

 

[FraggleFrick]

What about them?

I am saying they are retired

 

[minor muppetz]

And wasn't Tough Eddie a oneshot.

I know he's made at least three appearances. Aside from the beach segment with Ernie and Bert, there was a season three episode where he and Oscar get into an argument, then tells Oscar that he has something to say to him when he comes back (I hope that one surfaces soon so I can know how it ends, though I suspect what he has to say is something like "I'm sorry"), and I've read that there's an early 1980s episode that he appeared in (and was performed by Richard Hunt instead of Jerry Nelson).

 

[jobi71]

Long-unseen characters made from Anything Muppets can easily be brought back for cameos or background appearances, since even if the puppets are no longer usuable, they still have the Anything Muppet bases. They don't have to build a full puppet. And the majority of non-animal characters are Anything Muppets. If characters like Aristotle, Deena and Pearl, Colambo, Dexter, Sam the Robot, and others are no longer i useable condition (and I don't know whether they are or not, though the Deena and Pearl puppets have been reused for later characters over the years), we probably won't see them in anything new again.

Though is it just me, or does it seem like furry characters last longer? There's been a number of times when Caroll Spinney claimed that the Oscar puppet being used is the same from the early 1970s, even though he's a major character, but there have been Oscar's that clearly looked different (he was a bit shaggier throughout the early 1970s, but I can't tell any difference in the Oscar puppets from 1978-2006). Or maybe it's just Caroll saying that the original eyebrows continue to be used (so do they have multiple Oscar puppets and take the eyebrows off whenever one is used? Also, it seems like the first orange Oscar had different eyebrows, with the third orange one having the eyebrows he would have). Recently it was revealed that the puppets built in the 1960s for The Musical Monsters of Turkey Hallow are still around, but had to be refurbished a little, mainly replacing the foam inside the furry bodies. And it has been revealed recently that the current Rowlf puppet has been around since the 1980s (have there been other Rowlf puppets built in recent years as well?). And in a Tough Pigs article by someone who was at the shooting locations for Letters to Santa, it was said that the same Sweetums head has been used since 2008, which surprised me at first, but in years since I've noticed that the fur looks like it's been rotting.

I've often wondered about regular characters who have been made from Anything Muppets. Somebody who worked for either Henson or Sesame Workshop in the past noted at Muppet Wiki that when Anything Muppet characters start to get used more, they build a more permanent version of that character. I wonder how many characters are not done that way (I could see them not doing that for Little Jerry and the Monotones, or the Busby Twins, or Leslie Mostly). Surely they made permanent versions of The Count at least, and it seems they have for Guy Smiley. But in one of the interviews with Jim Henson on the Sesame Street: 40 Years of Sunny Days DVD, he refers to The Count as an Anything Muppet as if they were still only making The Count in the Anything Muppet way (meaning they only decorate the blank Anything Muppet and dress him up when the character is needed).

I am sure The Count is his own puppet by now. I have not seen the Henson interview you mention but maybe Jim was speaking more about the usefulness and creative template the Anything Muppets provide. Meaning they can be one spot characters, supporting or even main characters like The Count. I would also guess (and just a guess) that Prairie Dawn, Guy Smiley, Mr. Johnson and (in his day) Roosevelt Franklin had their own puppets. They were/are used often enough that I would think it would be easier to have them on hand. As for other AM's. I suspect in the first years there was only one of each model? Maybe two? I would think that today there are probably two always ready to go, one older one on reserve and one available to designers creating new characters. Now I am wondering if any of the astute Sesame watchers have a thought, guess or opinion on which Anything Muppet design led to the most recurring characters (6+ appearances say over at least 2-3 years).

My very quick review makes me think that more recurring characters came from the Purple Live Hand (including the Count) and Fat Blue and that more one off characters came from Green or Pumpkin. I could be totally off. Curious what others might think.