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,
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
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, Put Some Zing
In Your Spring, 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 The All Time Get Around
Sometimes Play Together Every Other Friday Night Vaudeville Show.
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).
Frank Oz,
Dave Goelz, Steve Whitmire, Louise Gold,
Bill Barretta, and, Peter Harris contributed to the
documentary I Love The Muppets.
Steve Whitmire probably puppeteered
on ITV’s 50 Greatest Shows.
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
| Return To Site Guide |
Return To Muppet Work | The Animal Show
Cast List |