Jim Henson’s The Animal Show With
Stinky And Jake
Louise Gold puppeteered Tizzy Bee, Bunnie Bear, Rhonda
Rat and other assorted characters on Series 2 (filmed in London in 1995), and,
Series 3 (filmed in Norwich in November & December 1997).
Cast
Dave Goelz – Stinky The Skunk and other
assorted characters (including: In Series 2: Margaret The Stork; In Series 3:
Pavlov The Pug Dog, a Red Fox, a Yellow Fish, a Badger, a Mole, a Pelican,
Socks the black & white cat)
Steve Whitmire – Jake The Polar Bear, and other
assorted characters (including: In Series 2: Wingo The Shoebill; In Series 3: a
Flying Squirrel, a shaggy yellow Dog, a Rainbow Coloured Snake, Pavlov The Pug
Dog, Lawrence the Orangutan)
Bill Barretta – Armstrong The Chicken Hawk,
Dullard The Aardvark Cameraman (Series 3), assistant puppeteer on Jake (Series
2 & 3), and many assorted characters (including: In Series 2: Lazlo The
Hyena, Nemets The Ant, Travis The African Buffalo, Dkembe The Gemsbok, Ralph
The Moose, Rudy The Roadrunner, Custer The Bison; In Series 3: Cornelius The
Crab, Dave The Human Being, am Owl, Frankie The Crocodile, Mel The Lemur, Max
The Wasp, Bart The Coyote, Galahad The Grasshopper, Charlie The Chamois, Julius
The Spoonbill, Quincy The Flying Squirrel, Kyle The Secretary Bird, Malcolm The
Lion, Timothy the Owl, Paul the Pelican, Larry the Fish)
John Eccleston – Yves St La Roach (Series 2 &
3), and other assorted characters (including: In Series 2: Milton The
Blue-Footed Booby, Nico The Marine Iguana, Jackie The Orangutan, and Perry The
Wilde Horse; In Series 3: Andrew The Reindeer, Stanley The Mouse, Andrew The
Whale, Hector The Spider Monkey, Morris The Ant, Jasper The Jaguar, Yorik The
Salmon, Cody The Colobus Monkey, Winston The Woodpecker, Melaine The Mink,
Ernie The Mongoose, Harvey The Hummingbird, Barry The Honeybee, Warren the
Warthog, A Blue-Footed Booby, Sly the Crocodile)
Louise Gold (Series 2, and, Series 3) – Bunnie
Bear, Yvette The Roach, Tizzy Bee (Series 2), Rhonda Rat Rodent Reporter (Series
3), and other assorted characters (including: In Series 2: Trudy The Chimpanzee
, Inidra The Whale, Natasha The Tarantula, Doreen The Camel, Phoenicia The
Hippopotamus, Winnie The Wasp, Monica The Musk Ox, Lulu The Potto, and, Alicia
The Volcano rabbit; In Series 3: Alicia The Snail, Mavis The Frog, Julie The
Flamingo, Alana The Baboon, Vic The Monitor Lizard, Virginia The Red Fox, Kiki
The Rattlesnake, Hortense The Hornbill, Gilda The Gorilla, a Red Fox, Stella
the Stoat)
Katherine Smee (Series 3 only) – assorted
characters (including: Sasha The Siberian Tiger, a Vulture a Spider Monkey, a
Camel, Maxine The Indian Elephant, a Secretary Bird, a Snake, a Cheetah, Molly
The Albatross, Priscilla The Honeypossum, Flaubert the Brown Black & White
Anteater, Pearl The Pike, a Grasshopper Mouse, Penelope The Yellow-Footed
Tortoise, a Penguin, a Marine Iguana, a Hornbill, Sandy The Giant Otter, a
Rattlesnake)
Guest Puppeteers
Frank Oz – as Sam The Eagle in Series 3 Episode 18.
Opening Titles Puppeteers
(this was recorded before the rest of the programme)
Human Actors
Dave Goelz & Family made a cameo
appearance in Series 3, as Humans.
Production Team
Director – Peter Harris
Production
Design – Derek Brown
Production coordinator
– Tatiana Bicat
Puppet
Builders- Jane Howell, and, David Skelly
Computer
Generation Development – Dave Housman,
Hal Bertram, and, Karen Halliwell,
Development
of HPCS: Faz Fazakas, Brian Henson, Dave Housman,
Peter Miller, and, John Stephenson
The character of Tizzy Bee on The Animal Show marked a very important step in the
development of Computer Generated
(or CG) Puppets. It was the first
television programme for which The
Creature Shop’s famous Performance Control System,
otherwise known as HPCS, developed by David Housman, Hal Bertram and company, was in regular use. Some sources suggest
that a primitive version of what would become the HPCS was in use on Labyrinth. However
the major development came with Waldo , the world’s first computer
generated puppet character designed by Kirk
R. Thatcher in 1990 for The Jim
Henson Hour, where it was puppeteered by Steve Whitmire. In 1991 or 1992 (sources vary) Faz Fazakas, Brian Henson,
Dave Housman, Peter Miller, and, John
Stephenson received a Scientific & Engineering academy award for their
development of the Performance Control System
In 1993 Hal Bertram and the
team further developed the Performance Control System of
operation along with a CG Puppet
character called Pixel, who was demonstrated on Tomorrow’s World by Brian Henson. The following year Hal Bertram and David Housman were joined by Karen
Halliwell and the three of them led the team developing Tizzy Bee for the
first series of The Animal Show, where she was puppeteered by
Bill Sherman described
visiting the set of the second series of The Animal show, and watching the
puppeteers and crew at work with the character of Tizzy as follows:
“The first part of the afternoon session
consisted of several spots with Tizzy (performed by longtime Muppeteer Louise
Gold). Tizzy is a bee “puppet” that is a 100% computer generated character,
similar to the Waldo character of The Jim Henson Hour and Muppet*Vision 3-D.
While Louise performed the voice, Tizzy’s movements were performed by three
people (including Louise) – and a computer, all of which had to come together
to make the end result.
While the technology used to create Tizzy was
more advanced than the days when Waldo was introduced, it was still on what is
often referred to as “the bleeding edge.” In other words, it was quirky, and
needed lots of coaxing. This caused shooting to get a little behind schedule,
eventually prompting director Peter Harris (director of The Muppet Show) to
come down from the booth to check on things.
The format of “Animal Stories” is to bumper
the commercial breaks with Tizzy posing and answering a question relevant to
the guests on the show. Several of these segments were taped, each needing to
be rehearsed, and then shot in several takes to get the movement and lines just
right. Louise must have said the phrase “give it think, we’ll be back in a
buzzzzzz” a hundred times.” Bill Sherman, MUPPETZINE, Issue
#18, Fall 1996, page 18.
For a cast list
of all The
Animal Show characters, from all
three series, and who puppeteered which please click here. (If anyone knows
for sure of any inaccuracies in this list, please email to the webmaster)
Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Steve Whitmire , along with Frank
Oz were all among the eight main puppeteers on The
Muppet Show, and the special The Muppets Go To The Movies; and
as part of The Muppet Show Eight can
be heard on Muppet Show Music Album, Muppet Hits 1, Muppet
Hits 2, all of which Peter Harris
was also involved with. They all feature on the documentary Of Muppets And Men.
Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Steve Whitmire can also be heard (along with Frank Oz) on The Great
Muppet Caper (Soundtrack album), John Denver &
The Muppets A Christmas Together, John
Denver & The Muppets Merry Christmas 45RPM, Favorite Songs From Jim
Henson’s Muppets, Muppet Music Sampler,
Muppet Music Mix, The Muppet Christmas Carol
(Soundtrack album), Christmas For Kids, John Denver Christmas, and, Music Mayhem & More.
Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Steve Whitmire, along with Frank
Oz were among the main puppeteers on the film The Great Muppet Caper,, on which Faz Fazakas, worked.
Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Steve Whitmire, along with Frank
Oz, were also all major puppeteers on The
Creature Shop’s very first film, The Dark
Crystal. On which Faz Fazakas,
and, John Stepehenson worked.
Dave
Goelz and Louise Gold, along with Frank Oz had previously appeared
together on The Royal Variety
Performance (1977), and on the album Jim Henson Presents Silly Songs.
Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold, along with Frank Oz can also be heard on the
albums The Muppet Show Music Hall,
and, The Muppet Show 2, both of which Peter Harris was also involved with. Excerpts
from the latter album turn up on the single For
What It’s Worth.
Dave Goelz, and, Steve Whitmire, along with
Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold, and, John
Eccleston, along with
Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Bill Barretta, Louise Gold,
John Eccleston and, Katherine Smee, along with
Louise Gold and Steve Whitmire had appeared in “a burlesque show with some of the Muppet
company”.
Frank Oz’s recording
credits include Born To Add, and, Elmo’s Lowdown Hoedown.
The Creature
Shop also did the animatronics for Animal Farm,
on which John Stephenson worked.
Louise Gold, and, Steve Whitmire, along with
Dave Goelz had previously
done voice-work for the UK Co-Production of Fraggle
Rock (as well as puppeteering on the main show).
Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold, along with Brian Henson, and, Frank Oz had taken part in Jim Henson’s Memorial Service.
Bill Barretta, Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Steve
Whitmire’s recording credits include A
Green And Red Christmas.
Dave Goelz, and, Louise Gold, along with
Dave Goelz, Louise Gold, and, Steve Whitmire along with Frank Oz puppeteered on Sesame Street (in the early 1990s).
Links about Jim
Henson’s The Animal Show With Stinky And Jake
Muppet Wiki entry for the
programme: http://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Animal_Show
Internet Movie Database entry for the
programme: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189239/
Tibby’s
Bowl/Muppet Central interview with Louise Gold (she specifically mentions
The Animal Show): http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/interviews/gold.shtml
TV.Com’s page for the
programme: http://www.tv.com/the-animal-show/show/23961/summary.html
Muppet Central
Thread about who performed what on The Animal Show: http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=15124
United
Electronic Industries page about HPCS (it happens to give a good basic
description of it): http://www.ueidaq.com/press/appstories/49/
Puppetvison
Blog’s section on HPCS: http://puppetvision.blogspot.com/2005/11/hpcs-and-other-digital-puppetry.html
InxDevices.com
article about HPCS and it’s successors: http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7692987833.html
and http://www.linuxdevices.com/articles/AT6435065918.html
Henson.com
article about Labyrinth and the primitaive HPCS: http://www.henson.com/company/20060622.html
IMDB
List of 1992 Academy Award Nominations (for it’s
mention of HPCS): http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Academy_Awards_USA/1992
Oscar
1991 List: http://www.mahawa.jw-music.net/oscar/1991.htm
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