To build? Or not to build? That is the question.

[Robin]

Hey gang! I'm interested in bulding an authentic Gonzo.
I can't seem to find a puppet maker to do it for me.
Any Suggestions? Has anyone built one before? I can only settle
on something very close to perfection.

Thanks

 

[ToasterBoy]

Go for it!

I'd say go for it! I had a bunch of fun building my puppet and I can't wait to do another one.

A friend of mine who works for Henson said the tricky part about Gonzo is that they get one chance to do the mouth. One swipe with a razor blade and if it's not perfect, they have to get rid of it. So I'd imagine the head is carved from foam.

Grant

 

[ToastCrumbs]

Gonzo

Curious about what you think perfection might cost you. I know just the right person for the job. The puppet would be spot on in likeness. From his half wacky stack eyes to the exact fur and color. Believe me when I say that he would be exact... Although the price range would be the same as it would cost the muppet workshop to build.

 

[Robin]

That would be so cool. Could you please have your friend quote me on an approx' cost (my e-mail is provided on this site). I'm sure it would be a fair price. I understand the labor involved.
I would like him to make that for me. We could work out the details.

I have been a long time fan of Gonzo!!!!!!!

Thanx

 

[Robin]

Gonzo Cost?

A couple hundred? More or Less?

 

[frogboy4]

I'm guessing it would be a lot more. Several hundred to a thousand. Spot-on materials won't come cheap and the eye mechanism itself could prove to be an expensive creation. I want one too, but I'll wait until the day I'm really really rich and commission them all (from an independant puppet builder, of course)! LOL!

 

[Robin]

Gozo will be mine!!!

I 'm closer to finding out prices. I'm still interested. I don't want to be taken for a ride, However I would still like to negotiate a price with a puppet maker. I want Gonzo. I don't need it right away,
but cost is not my biggest concern.

What will it take?

 

[ToastCrumbs]

Gonzo

Robin,

Sadly, most Muppet fans probably wouldn't be able to afford an exact replica of any Muppet character. When I mean exact, I'm talkin about like when you buy one of those Starwars X-Wings or Tie Fighters that were put out by Icon Replicas. If we were to take Gonzo for example. His price range would most likely fall between 4 to 5,000 dollars. I know this for a fact, this is what most Muppet principal characters cost to build at the shop. Lets start off with his head, its basically carved out of a block of scott foam. First problem you'll encounter is that if you're a novice puppet builder you're not goin' to be able to find a chunk of scott foam any smaller than a mattress size. This is how most puppet shops have to buy it. The same is to be said about the scott foam sheet you would need to pattern his body from.
Fur is another problem, best of luck to anyone who is going to try and find a fur that matches him exactly. Gonzo is not made from the same type of fur that most Muppet monsters are made from like Elmo. His fur is a great deal more complicated and if you were lucky enough to find it you would have to buy the entire bolt of fabric. Gonzo's fur is a mixture of blues that are a bit darker towards the backing of the fur. Also it has a slight curl to it and also a softness to the touch, and lets not forget that it also has a weird shine to it. It is all these little things that make him so special to duplicate. Infact, most times when he is rebuilt the puppet builder will rough out several heads to see which carved head is closer to the last primo version of him.
Although the pattern to his body is not that complicated his head is an entirely different story. The odds of screwing up the sculpt are there to the end. Not to mention that once you are finished with the outside carving, you need to begin to hollow him out from the inside for your hand. Next the base color of the foam needs to be dyed a bit yellow to match what the last primo looked like after aging a bit because the scott tends to go yellow, after this he gets sprayed either by pre-valve or airbrushed for his bluish color for his nose. It may be a lot easier if you were to build him yourself. The person I know could do it, but it's going to cost somewhere in the price range mentioned above.
I'm tryin' to think of what else I can mention to help you a bit. On the plus side Gonzo's hands are probably the easiest Muppet hands to make. It's basically two cut outs sewn together. His hands do not require what Elmo or even Grover's hands need to work. Same goes for his arms, they're just fur nothin' on the inside like Elmo. His arms are just like Grovers. They both just flop around. Also, Gonzo is much closer to Kermit in size, so he is one of the smaller versions of Muppets. Just picture your hand as if it were in the head of the puppet and add his nose. That's pretty close to his size. There's not much room in there for anything else. Unfortunetly his eyes are a little more complicated to explain at the moment so I'll leave that for some other day. What's left... Well, like I said he is small. So he doesn't require a lot of materials if you are one of the lucky ones who have this stuff lyin' aroud your puppet shop. If not you're goin' to have a bunch of extra puppet supplies for some time. His hair is pretty easy just pluck some ostrich feathers in there that match his color. Color is basically a brownish-grey. Do not hot glue them in because this will melt his fur. Use some typ of fabric tacin' glue. I'm just starting to throw things in now. His mouth is a dyed redish brown scott foam probably 3/8 thick and it also has a very fine knit black fabric sewn on the inside that shows through were his upper mouth has those three slits. His tongue is not felt, but also a dyed piece of leather called ultra-suede. And his pupils also are not felt but that black shelfing paper you use in you cabinets. These are punched out, not cut. I think that's enough to at least get you going in the right direction if you want to build it yourself. Now if you happen to be a very wealthy Muppet fan and still want him built. It can be done....lol. Happy puppet buiding to all.

 

[Sir Didymus]

ToastCrumbs,
How do you know all that? It sounds very hard to build a Muppet. Have you ever worked at the Henson Workshop? Do you own any Muppet Puppets?

Jake

 

[Super Scooter]

Yeah? Either that or you spend way too much time zooming in on those Muppet DVD's to find every single detail! Holy cow! I build puppets, to me that sounds sort of in a middle range for difficulty. Carving isn't too hard, it's finding the material and dying it! Now that's rough!

I'd say, go through with it. Buy yourself enough foam to do a couple of test heads, but when you do the rest of him try to do it one shot. That's usually easiest when doing material. Measure twice, cut once. Also, if you do have any Muppet DVD's or such, check how big he is in relation to other characters and humans. I'm planning on doing a Scooter puppet, and that's what I've done. Won't be exact, but close.

If you want an eye mechanism, check out some animatronic web-sites. You can sometimes find a pretty good bargain. If you don't want to touch on animatronics just yet, here's basically how you could do it. Not as easy as just hitting a button, but it might give the illusion your looking for.

Hook some strong thread to your eyelids (on the inside) and put it down through the inside of your puppet. Make sure it's long enough. Make a little ring to attach it to and just pull on it. It might cause a blinking. I don't know. I've never actually tried it. I did make a working puppet hand this way. Attach the thread to the inside of the hand. Worked pretty good. This is also where the several test heads comes in handy. That way you can play around with it until you figure something out.

Scoot