drcorey wrote:What I like is, they are always pros. Even when they are setting
up the puppets postions the puppeteers still make them look alive. watch them, they are looking around at the crowd just like a short group of actors would. I wonder if disney hired the muppeteers from henson or got thier own.
These are the same principal muppeteers from before. When Disney bought The Muppet Show characters in 2004, their respective performers came with them.
Disney did NOT replace anyone.
The only reason why some Muppet characters have been re-cast over the years is becuase the original performers have either passed away or retired.
The same thing with the Sesame Street Muppets. When the Sesame Workshop bought the Sesame Street characters in 2000, the same performers still performed the same characters.
And in some cases, the performers go back and forth.
For example, Muppeteer Steve Whitmire performs Kermit (for Disney), and he also performers Ernie for Sesame Street (For the Sesame Workshop).
They are indeed pros.
Though I've come to realize that it is just easier for the performers to stay in character, even between takes. If you think about it, it makes sense for them to just keep their arm up instead of to constantly raise their arm up and down with a heavy puppet on.
But it is sometimes about the serious work, I've seen that clip before, and notice that a lot of the time between takes, Dr. Teeth is limp with his mouth wide open. Scary eh? ;)
