I've always loved Sesame Street and The Muppet Show ever since I was a kid. Now I watch Sesame Street with my kids, and I wonder, how many people does it take to work a muppet, and how do all the movements get put together with a voice ? I'm fascinated.
2007-02-15 09:17:29 · 13 answers · asked by piscesvirgo 2 in Entertainment & Music ➔ Television
OK guys . . . at least two people have to work a muppet. I was just watching the Count--both his hands move (like people have their hands in gloves), and his mouth moves. How the hell do they get two people to fit in such a small space and work? Thanks for all the "funny" answers, but if someone really knows, TELL ME!!! I have to know! The curiosity is killing me.
2007-02-15 09:30:57 · update #1
OK guys . . . at least two people have to work a muppet. I was just watching the Count--both his hands move (like people have their hands in gloves), and his mouth moves. How the hell do they get two people to fit in such a small space and work? Thanks for all the "funny" answers, but if someone really knows, TELL ME!!! I have to know! The curiosity is killing me.
2007-02-15 09:35:41 · update #2
Come on guys, don't answer the question unless you know. They are most definitely not sock puppets or marionettes. I think it's true that muppets like Elmo can be operated by one person, because he has the arms on sticks. But think about Cookie Monster--his mouth moves, and he has hands that work like human hands (even though each hand has 3 fingers, they move like real hands--they don't just hang there).
2007-02-15 10:09:56 · update #3
All Muppets take 2 or more people to operate. The usual division of labor is one does the mouth and one hand, and the other does just one hand. I don't know if that's also the case for Muppets like Kermit or Elmo where they use sticks to move the arms. I'd be inclined to think that one person would do the mouth and the other do both arms, but I don't know for sure. More complex Muppets take more people and involve different divisions of labor.
How do they keep everything coordinated? It takes lots of training, on the order of a year, for a Muppeteer to be "ready for prime time."
How do they squeeze into such a small space? Generally the Muppeteers' working area is beneath the stage, so they're standing up to perform. Even so, they need to have a lot of tolerance for tight spaces, and again, it takes lots of training.
2007-02-15 10:23:00 · answer #1 · answered by Navigator 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm a huge Muppet fan.
Muppets are generally hand and rod puppets, where the performer puts one hand in the head and use the other to control a hand (most muppets are left handed, because right handed performers use their right hand to control the head). Another performer will help operating the other hand.
Some puppets actually have something like "glove hands" where a performers hand is actually in the hand. If you ever watch the Swedish Chef, that's one performers hands while another performer is controlling the head.
Some puppets, such as Sweetums or Big Bird, are full body puppets, so there's a performer inside controlling them. Gorgs and Doozers from Fraggle Rock had very complex controls that I'm not particularly sure how to explain.
Muppet sets are usually built a few feet up from the ground to give the performers space. As for guest appearances and such, I suppose they just try to make it work.
As for keeping the voice with the movements, the same performer who controls the Muppet also does the voice. The puppeteers use television monitors to watch their movements as it appears on screen while they're puppeteering (though everything does appear backwards from what they're doing)
2007-02-16 05:13:18 · answer #2 · answered by singing_0_froggie 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Swedish Chef Puppet
2016-10-18 02:32:11 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only 1 per puppet (oops I mean muppet). One hand controls the arm and the other does the mouth movements.
2007-02-15 09:20:44 · answer #4 · answered by Fred L 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
all with 1 person kind of like a puppet...they use sticks and wires for the muppets and their own voices
2007-02-15 09:36:27 · answer #5 · answered by shorty 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
people under the desk. i saw elmo on a tv show one day n the dude has his hand in him working him. i was pretty surprised the dude that works elmo is a big black guy! (he's funny as) But its strange its funny thinkn the voice comes from him
but i think the big ones, like big bird are people.
2007-02-15 09:22:21 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
i think that the muppets work like sock puppets work. if that could help explain it at all
2007-02-15 09:38:12 · answer #7 · answered by jeangray26 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
go on youtube and look up : the jim Henson hour ep. 10
its all about the muppets
2014-09-16 13:07:10 · answer #8 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
they are marienettes ((sp??)) that means they are puppets with strings attached 2 them yur either pull the strings up or down to get them to work and make them look like they are moving with out yur hands showing
hope i helped.
2007-02-15 09:43:03 · answer #9 · answered by koi 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
it takes 0 people to work a muppets because they are real ! they can move and talk on their own. LOL !
2007-02-15 09:28:05 · answer #10 · answered by lucky888☺ 4 · 2⤊ 2⤋