Successful Muppet recreations

[Ryan]

You have great talent! I loooove your puppets!!!! Amazing work! Would you mind telling all of us how you got started in doing a local TV show?

 

[MUPPETMONKEY]

Thank you Scooter I really appreciate your comment!

Many Years ago, In a City Far away....

A friend and I made a pilot for a TV show starring only puppets with the illusion of selling it right away. Of course...that was a Hollywood dream. But that's what dreams are made of.
At the same time I was self publishing a comic book and I needed all kind of advertising in order to sell it.
A year later I went to a radio station for a live interview about the comic book and the host happened to star in a Noon Tv Show also. I showed him the demo and he loved it.
He asked us to perform the puppets in his show and if the audience's reaction was good, then he will hire us to do spots on the program.
The audience's laugh was like a long awaited dream coming true.
4 years passed after that moment and I'm still doing some spots on that show but also a TV Show starring all the puppets from that program emerged from the popularity of the characters.
The comic book? I had to stop drawing it, but you can find my work in the Looney Tunes comics.
The puppets? We are producing a Christmas TV special right now with them. I'll post some pictures of it soon.

Don't ever stop dreaming.

David Alvarez
(MuppetMonkey)

 

[Tom Morrow]

Hi all,

I've done a bunch of different puppets and more than a few recreations of Muppets when i started... most were pretty so-so but a few came out better than i'd ever hoped. A lot were just patterned foam and hot glue, but the more recent ones are a bit better.

Here's a gallery of many of my characters. Newer guys are towards the top and older ones at the bottom. Scroll to the bottom of this page for pics of my LINK, RIZZO, STATLER, WALDORF and CHEF

http://homepage.mac.com/bluesnal/PhotoAlbum1.html


Statler and Waldorf are heads only and were sculpted by me and then cast in latex rubber. I had planned on doing them in foam so i could make them into puppets to heckle at my bud's wedding (long story!) but had a bad batch of plaster and BOTH molds went south (longer story!)

The chef is carved foam (but not flocked) and Rizzo is terrycloth painted to look like his fur. Link is also carved foam.

I made Link and Rizzo over 10 years ago... the chef and old guys are a bit more recent... tho not much. Back in the 80's when i was just starting to build puppets, i did as we all seem to do and built lots of Muppet repros. I found trying to mimic certain details gave me the skills to create many of my original characters.

maybe someday i'll scan in those old pics of all my other muppet replicas i made in jr high!
tom

 

[ToasterBoy]

All these pages are great. Tanks for posting them. It's giving me a lot of ideas on how to go about my puppet. Tom, it's also nice to see a fellow Mac user.

Okay, so, eyes. You guys put the eyes directly over the fur? Or do you attatch the fur around the eyes and attatch the eyes to the foam?

Thanks


Grant

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I do it eyes to fur, trimming out the area DIRECTLY under the eyes, unless it's like half a ping pong ball, then I leave the fur alone. Just depends on the kind of eye you're making, actually.

 

[ToasterBoy]

Originally posted by Fozzie Bear
I do it eyes to fur, trimming out the area DIRECTLY under the eyes, unless it's like half a ping pong ball, then I leave the fur alone. Just depends on the kind of eye you're making, actually.

i will probably go with half a ping pong ball. I also have two small craft eyes, but I think thay look too small. I'm not sure.

Here's another question....I got some LONG fur for my dog puppet (I'm making a Pomeranian) and can that long 1 1/2" - 2" fur be trimmed nicely? This dog I'm patterning the puppet after has short hair on her face, then long on the sides of the head. I thought I'd cover the whole thing with the fur, then trim it (and toothbrush in a little grey, it's an older dog).


Pictures soon!

Grant

 

[BlueFrackle]

Guys,

I have pictures of the Puppets i made too, Take a look and tell me what you think -

http://www.angelfire.com/space/wozza/index.html


And the puppets ive seen so far are great !!


See ya

 

[Sir Didymus]

Tom,
I really liked your page! You have great talent! I really liked the Yoda you made and the Wompa! Great job!

Jake

 

[Tom Morrow]

Thanks Jake (and others) for the kind words...

the Yoda was just a bit of a re-do i did to an Illusive concepts yoda. The head was done by Mario Chiodo, so the sculpt was great but the finish work was done very badly. A little paint, new eyes, hand punched hair, new fingernails, a nice weathered up robe and new cane and he was much happier (as was i )

the Wampa was a fun one... first time i used National Fiber Tech hair. Stupid expensive, but OH BOY that fur is some good stuff!
tom

 

[monkeymuppet]

Holy crap Tom, that's some cool stuff. You are now officially my new hero, sorry Jimmy Fallon . Did you learn how to make all that stuff somewhere, or did you just experiment?