How do people make Muppets as seen on Sesame Street?

Question

No. I am not talking about these "Tickle me Elmo" or "Plush Vintage Muppets" or even "Grover puppets" from McCall's crafts or anything like vintage. I am talking about Muppets like The FAO Whatnots. Whenever people think of Sesame Street what automatically comes to mind is Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, and Ernie and Bert. Right? They think that those were some of the only muppets on the show. They are, however, somewhat wrong. I am going to make a replica of "Forgetful Jones" probably most-likely this December, hopefully. No, I am talking like Muppets like Guy Smiley, Sherlock Hemlock, Willie Crybaby, Its Zydeco, Doctor No James Bond Muppet, Lefty's Boss the Criminal, Clementine, The AMs or Anything Muppets, Polly Darton, Placido Flamingo, Vern Sagely the Reader of the Open Range, Cyrano de Bergerac Nose from Monster Piece Theatre, Pat Playjacks from "Squeal of Fortune," Lifestyles of the Big and Little's Dickie Tick, Biff and Sully, Sinister Sam, Philharmonic of the Nestopolotian Opera, Captain Schnook from Prairie Dawn and the pirates, Roxie Marie and spoof muppets such as, "Sergeant Thursday, NTV Nora Nicks, Bruce String Bean and Billy the Grownup played by Jerry Nelson." Also other Muppets include Mr. Bricklayer, Fat Blue, Buster the Horse, Fred the Wonder Horse and the sheep muppets. However, Prairie Dawn and Betty Lou are just two other Sesame Street Muppet examples that I am curious of how they make. So, with this all being said, how do people make Muppets as seen on CTW, The Jim Henson Company, and Sesame Street and what materials do people use to make these muppets and how do they get them to move and do things almost animatronic almost like humans do?

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

It's a far too complicated answer to succinctly give it here, but the basics are:
A head is made using foam, and covered with fabric. A mouth can be made out of rubber, or thick cardboard, or something similar. A neck is attached to the head, which is then attached to a body. Both the body and head are hollow to allow access to the mouth mechanism. Arms on the body are attached to wire or wooden rods.

That's a very VERY basic explanation, there are many different methods of making the head, let alone the other parts of the body. 

As for materials, that is explained in detail here:
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/what-materials-do-you-use-for-muppet-type-puppets
The short summary is: foam, fabric (antron fleece or fur), glue, facial features/decorations, wire. 

How do they get them to move? One hand is inserted into the body/head, where the mouth is moved. Another hand holds the rods that are connected to the hands of the puppet. Sometimes another puppeteer will work one of the rods; sometimes 'gloves' are used instead of stuffed arms, in order to hold or move props, etc. Muppets are not the same as animatronics, which involve robotics; Muppets do not. 

If you want to learn here's some free patterns to get you started:
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/muppet-type-puppet-patterns-a-list
(there's also a lot of videos on Youtube)

But by far, these patterns tend not to get professional results, so you'll probably want to invest in something better. There are also other things you can use, such as the following book:
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/books.php/book-review-the-foam-book
or pay-per-download patterns from places like Project Puppet.com or (blatant advertising) my website:
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/how-to-make-a-muppet-type-puppet-human-foam-puppet-pattern

HOWEVER, you won't find any patterns or books specifically explaining how to make Muppet characters, since those are copyrighted. More info here:
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/why-are-there-no-sesame-st-muppet-patterns

PS. Using paragraphs and proper sentence structure would really help people understand what you've written. 

You may also want to read "What are muppet-type puppets?"
http://www.schoolofpuppetry.com.au/tutorials.php/what-are-muppet-type-puppets

? · Answer

How To Make A Muppet

Anonymous · Answer

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I would immediately think of Big Bird since he/she is sort of big. And Big Bird is yellow. So I don't know, maybe that's why I think my vote is Big Bird. I mean, big, yellow, talking a lot. I dont' know why I think this but I obviously have answered the qeustion.

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How do people make Muppets as seen on Sesame Street?

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