All my life, I have been a fan of the work of the late great Jim Henson. From Fraggle Rock to The Dark Crystal, the stories Henson told about deepening human connection with puppets both goofy and sinister have inspired me as a creative. Their simple, goofy shapes belie a much deeper purpose in making tales of importance accessible to a broad audience. Although I have worked with puppets in a theatre capacity in the past, I have never ventured into the world of puppet building—that is, until now.
I began with research. So, so much research. I learned there are multiple standard types of Muppet, and each type depends on the number of puppeteers and the facial mobility desired. As I wanted a single-human Muppet with a agile face, I decided on an arm-rod puppet, which uses the puppeteer's first arm inside the puppet's head to control the mouth while the second arm controls rods that move the arms. Examples of arm-rod puppets include Grover and Kermit.
Next, I designed the look of my Muppet. I wanted it to feel like me, but less of a literal translation than, say, the human puppets in Avenue Q. I decided on a pink frog with green leaves for a collar and yellow spots, a strawberry frog! Frogs are my favorite land animal, and I love the feminine and adorable look of strawberries, so this seemed like a fun choice. Also, it would be a great way to pay homage to Kermit without making a direct copy.
I delved into several puppet-making forums for hints on what I could use for materials or a pattern. By combining a few ideas I found, I drafted a preliminary pattern for the head and neck on muslin. Then, I purchased some felt to use for my prototype. (Note: Real Muppets are made of Antron fleece, but I wanted to prototype with a sturdier, cheaper material that would hold its form without foam.) I cut the fleece according to my pattern, and practiced hand-sewing using the "Henson stitch," a technique that uses sewing from right-side-out to hide the puppet's seams in the pile of the fleece. The seam was definitely present on the felt, but hopefully, with proper materials, it will become practically invisible.
For the mouth plate, I glued felt details to two pieces of cardboard attached by electrical tape to create a movable "hinge." This was then glued inside the mouth of the felt head piece. In future builds, the cardboard will be replaced by a piece of rubber with finger straps so the mouth is flexible and fully controllable. Finally, I cut, painted, and glued a ping-pong ball to the head for the eyes, and I added felt eyelids to finish.
Overall, I am incredibly chuffed with the results of this prototype. For my next version, I will need to scale the pattern down, as my arm is smaller than many of the base pattern ideas found online. Also, I will try experimenting with a soft mouth plate. Once the head is properly sized to my arm, it will be a cinch to scale down the rest of the puppet body to create a final pattern. I am excited to share more updates as they come!
Note: I do not claim any association with the Henson Company or the Muppets property. This is purely a fan project for my own enjoyment!
I love this. Can not wait to see what's