#Puppets for Puppetry

[muppet-facts]

Muppet Fact #765

At the 2016 Puppets for Puppetry fundraiser, Ray Toro and Gonzo performed "I'm Going to Go Back There Someday" with various other Muppets.

Sources:

"The Jim Henson Company Hosts, "Puppets For Puppetry" Fundraiser to Honor The Esteemed Puppeteer Dave Goelz on September 24, 2016." The Jim Henson Company. PR Newswire. August 23, 2023.

The Jim Henson Company on Facebook. September 22, 2016.

"Recent Events from the Center for Puppetry Arts." Muppet Hub.

[teal-gerard]

Gerard and Ray covering Underground from Labrynth at the Puppets for Puppetry Charity show in 2016

[turnstileskyline]

“Why do you keep posting that picture of Ray Toro with Gonzo from The Muppets? Why do you keep posting that video of Gerard Way talking about the film Labyrinth? Are there any videos?” And other questions, answered.

A bit of background:

In 2016, the Center for Puppetry Arts and the Jim Henson Company co-hosted the first Puppets for Puppetry benefit event in order to support the non-profit organization, the Center for Puppetry Arts. The CPA is the largest organization in the United States dedicated to puppetry, and contains the worlds largest collection of artifacts from the Jim Henson Company, as well as one of the largest collections of puppets and puppetry materials in the world. 

The inaugural Puppets for Puppetry event fell on what would have been Jim Henson’s 80th birthday, and served to honor and highlight the life and contributions of Dave Goelz, a core member of Henson’s team since being hired on as a part-time puppet builder in 1973. Since then, Goelz has gone onto perform various characters, most notably originating daredevil, performer, and chicken-lover, Gonzo the Great, who he still performs to this day. Goelz also performs such characters as the scientist Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, the easygoing saxophonist Zoot, the depressed and cautious Boober Fraggle, the adventurous and proud Uncle Traveling Matt, and was a puppeteer of the small and hot-headed Sir Didymus. It’s easy to see from this resume why he was the first choice for the first ever Puppets for Puppetry event.

But, where the hell does My Chemical Romance fall into this?

Another aspect of this event was that it also served to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Jim Henson’s cult classic film, Labyrinth, which also happens to be the film that features Sir Didymus. The musical guests invited to perform the tribute to Labyrinth were Gerard Way and Ray Toro, joined by Jarrod Alexander, Matt Gurney, and Jamie Muhoberac.

Midway through the show, they performed a medley of the songs from Labyrinth, including “Underground” and “As The World Falls Down.” Considering that Gerard has stated that Labyrinth is one of his favorite movies, and that the Jim Henson Company is one of his favorite “creative collectives,” this performance should come as no surprise. Dan Garza, one of the puppeteers at the event, confirmed this year on Twitter that Ray also provided guitar backing for the finale, a performance by Dave Goelz and various puppeteers at the event of “I’m Going to Go Back There Someday,” Gonzo’s song from the first Muppet Movie.

Wow, this is great! I sure hope there’s videos!

It’s complicated. While there are a few clips of the cover of “Underground” floating online (HERE and HERE) and one of Ray performing “Helena” with a young fan, the event was meant to be recording-free since it was a benefit concert. There are rumors of a longer video existing at some point, and a very glitchy AltPress page with dead video links, but other than that... nothing. I have personally emailed the Center for Puppetry Arts, the Jim Henson Legacy, and the Jim Henson Company in an attempt to dig out any other videos, but have come up with nothing. If there are longer videos out there, I haven’t been able to find them. 

Photo Credits from the Jim Henson Company, illustration by Noah Ginex at ToughPigs.

[batri-jopa]

world_of_engineering_75 on Instagram

[sabertoothwalrus]

can we as a society make puppetry cool again. like lets make it trendy. Mainstream. more people should get into doing it and more people should appreciate it. puppetry requires craftsmanship and charisma and physical acting and vocal performance!! you can’t get that from ai. it has a charm to it that neither 2D nor cg animation has. Have you ever watched a puppetry performance and realized you were genuinely convinced that the puppet was getting into bed or eating something or giving a hug that you wholly forgot there was some guy’s arm in there.

isn’t it lovely. to make a funny little guy to tell stories with. is that not so human of us. it’s such a lovely art form. I love you puppets I love you muppets I love you marionettes I love you handmade sock puppets I love you paper bags with googley eyes I love you armatures I love you I love you I love you!!!!!

[spookyweaselbones]

Please support local business

[puppet-design]

This pretty much sums it up. Better picture of our Kamala puppet coming soon 😊✨ (via: https://www.furrypuppet.com/blog/kamala-harris-custom-puppet/)

[frogosaurus]

Happy Pride month to all the gay folks who should still be with us but were lost to AIDS. So many of them had (and continue to have) huge impacts on the world, despite their lives being tragically cut short.

Since this is primarily a Muppet blog, I wanted to take a moment to talk about Richard Hunt.

Richard Hunt was a gay man and a fantastic puppeteer who started working with Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, and company in 1970 at age eighteen and joined the cast of Sesame Street two years later. While working with the Muppets, he originated the characters of Scooter, Beaker, Statler, Sweetums, and Wayne, but also became the primary performer of Janice and is responsible for the flower child personality she is now known for. He was also known to be a fantastic singer.

But maybe most importantly, he made so many people happy. According the book "Of Muppets and Men" by Christopher Finch, Hunt "seems to get more unadulterated pleasure from performing than anyone else in the organization. When he is not working on camera, he is apt to have Scooter or Beaker or Janice -- anyone -- on his arm for the purpose of entertaining... He makes the crew laugh, jokes with the guest star, clowns for the shop personnel. He is one of the chief reasons for the loose atmosphere that exists around Studio D despite the pressure and the slow pace that are endemic to television production."

Hunt died at age 41 due to AIDS complications. The Muppet Workshop made a panel for the NAMES Project AIDS quilt in his honor. The Richard Hunt Spirit Award is presented every year at the Sesame Street wrap party to the cast member that best honors Hunt's generosity and dedication on set.

Rest in peace Richard. Thank you for the laughs and the smiles, and happy Pride 💛

[nat-stimmy]

Paper puppets by WASU_ART (SOURCE)

Bonus Gif:

[driveintheaterofthemind]

On The Set - Kermit And Miss Piggy Visit Yoda

The Empire Strikes Back (1979)

[orbmanson7]

Not seeing many mention this, but I want to point something very important out about the new FNAF trailer especially, in case you haven't noticed...

You see these guys? This is not cgi. These are actually fully-created animatronics developed by the crew at Jim Henson's Creature Shop.

These things were purposefully designed to look as close as possible to their video game versions, and to be as absolutely unsettling as the well-known 90s animatronic versions of Chuck E. Cheese and the Rock-afire Explosion.

Clearly, they pulled this off phenomenally well for this film!

These designs are intricate while also staying very close to the original character designs seen in the games, which proves how dedicated the team behind this movie really is about making a true-to-itself FNAF film! Seeing the quality on display here in just this first official trailer gives me some very high hopes for what we'll get to see in the movie once it comes out this October!

[beemakescreations]

Puppet Bill Update!

Oh boy is he lookin spooky

Here’s a demo of his movement. I might tweak it a little now and then.

He needs his limbs soon so I’ll have to get on that (he keeps looking at his book should I be worried?)

As always feel free to tag along for more updates!

[liauditore]

i forgot what his ingame name was and had to scrub thru a bunch of videos looking for him like a cryptid and i think that's incredibly joe hills of him

[epicthemusicalstuff]

See, every time Jorge mentions Cirque du Soleil being a possible inspiration for a live stage version, I get excited all over again by the possibility of puppetry. The show Awakening is a great example of what can be done with large puppets, both remotely controlled, and those moved by humans!! I think that style of puppetry would be amazing in Epic, particularly for all the creatures such as Polyphemus, Scylla, and maybe even some of the gods. And the fight between Circe and Odysseus too!!!

(shown below are two examples of Puppets from Awakening that I adore, and whose technology I can 100% see being in Epic!!!!)

[spookyweaselbones]

furniture shopping ya tasteless dopes

[puppet-design]

Congrats Claudia Sheinbaum 🤣❤️