RIP Caroly Wilcox

We are saddened to learn of of the passing of former Muppet workshop supervisor Caroly Wilcox.

Caroly began her career with the Muppets in 1969 in the New York Muppet Workshop as work on Sesame Street began. She also occasionally worked as a puppeteer (assisting on Ernie in such skits as "First and Last") and also made occasional cameos as the school bus driver.

Wilcox became the workshop supervisor for the Sesame Street Muppets, and remained in that post until her retirement in 1990. 

Her sketch for a little red monster in 1979 would eventually become a little known character named Elmo.

She was also a key designer/builder for The Muppet Show and movies, notably directing the creation of a special Miss Piggy puppet for use in the underwater scenes in The Great Muppet Caper.

In many cases, her task involved the practical side, adding annotations to help translate character sketches by Jim Henson into physical puppets, noting how a performer should operate a character, and even coordinating the options for shooting the parachute drop in Great Muppet Caper. 

Below is just a small sampling of the characters she designed or built:

Sesame Street: designed Elmo, built Two-Headed Monster, The Martians

The Ed Sullivan Show: built The Snowths (with Don Sahlin) 

Saturday Night Live: built Scred

The Muppet Show: built Mildred Huxtetter, The Snowths, Sopwith the Camel, Doglion,  Betsy Bird (with Cheryl Blaylock)

Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas: built Harvey, Will Possum, muskrats,

John Denver & the Muppets: A Christmas Together: Lead designer/builder for Nativity Muppets

Fraggle Rock: Muppet designer, built Gobo Fraggle with Tim Miller.

Follow That Bird: built Miss Finch

Back in May Caroly joined a discussion with Bonnie Erickson, and Rollie Krewson for the Museum of the Moving Image "Crafting the Creatures and Characters of Jim Henson’s World" which you can watch below:

Thrifting Adventures In Hershey and Gettysburg with Cinema Sickness!

A few months back we took a couple road trips to Hershey and Gettysburg Pennsylvania with Cinema Sickness stopping at all kinds of thrift store and antique malls along way. Check our adventures as I hunt for Muppet stuff while making terrible puns along the way. 

Thrifting Goodwill (Robesonia, PA):

  

Thrifting Jubilee Ministries (Myerstown, PA):

 

Thrifting Salvation Army (Lebanon, PA):

Thrifting Goodwill (Lebanon, PA):

Thrifting Jubilee Ministries (Lebanon, PA):

 

Shopping Hershey’s Chocolate World (Hershey, PA):

Thrifting Country Home Auction Services (Thomasville, PA):

 Thrifting Adams Rescue Mission (Gettysburg, PA):

 

 Thrifting Morningstar Marketplace (Thomasville, PA):

Look for more thrilling thrifting adventures on our Youtube Channel.

Interactive Henson Audio Books and Series!

Voice technology startup Novel Effect is partnering with The Jim Henson Company to combine enhanced storytelling with Henson’s characters and books.

The two companies are beginning the collaboration by adding some of Henson’s children’s books to the Novel Effect mobile app, but they are already working on ambitious plans for interactive television programs.

Novel Effect’s mobile app uses speech recognition technology to bring music, sound effects, voices, and other audio flourishes to a story, following along with the reader to play the sounds at the appropriate moment.

So far the stories from Henon shows include Dinosaur Train, Fraggle Rock, Sid the Science Kid, and Word Party.

The neat thing about the technology is that the customized soundscapes can be played whether the book is read on the Novel Effect app or from a physical copy.

“Partnering with Novel Effect on this innovative project will bring our fans new ways to interact with their favorite characters and stories,” Stephanie Wise, director of digital and interactive media at The Jim Henson Company said in a statement. “Through the magic of Novel Effect’s unique voice technology, families can explore lessons of friendship, overcoming adversity, and the power of curiosity together in an exciting new format.”

However, books are only the first arena for collaboration between Novel Effect and The Jim Henson Company.

The companies are planning to release voice interactive television shows through multiple streaming services next year. Novel Effect has been experimenting with the format, creating short demonstrations of what watching the shows would be like to watch and interact with.

Henson and Novel Effect are planning to produce hundreds of episodes in the voice-driven format. The in-house production will be very limited, however, with most of the show developed by outside media brands. Novel Effect’s path to expanding its technology from books to video, and beyond may be smoother now that it can bring The Jim Henson Company’s along as a partner.

You can check out a preview of the technology below:

“Our mission is to empower kids and their grown-ups to read, listen, and have fun together every day through storytelling,” Novel Effect CEO Matt Hammersley said in a statement. “Generations of families, teachers, and children have been inspired by The Jim Henson Company’s legacy. We really can’t imagine a better fit for our families and educators.”


You can learn more about Novel Effect and get the aps for you phone here. 

Baretta Brothers Celebrate Dinosaurs Coming to Disney+!

Dinosaurs is coming to Disney+ on Jan 29 and the Baretta Brothers are celebrating all month with live shows, Q&A, and Dino-Guests!

Join them at www.thebarrettabrothers.com (and youtube) every Sunday at 5pm EST / 2pm PST.

New Year ... Same Calendars AGAIN?!

Just like we reported last year, it looks like Universe Publishing, is releasing (almost) the same Labyrinth calendar they've released the last 3 years!

Here are the Labyrinth calendars from 2018 - 2020,

and the images they contain:

2018 - 2020 Labyrinth Calendars

And here is is the Labyrinth 2021 Wall Calendar:

Look familiar? 🤦‍♂️

Well, I guess since MOST of the images are recycled, it's fitting they added the Junk Lady this year.

One nice touch that makes the 2021 stand out out from its predecessors, is the use of Brian Froud's concept art around the months:

Which is a nice touch compared to the generic maze accompanied by a thumbnail of concept art:

Labyrinth 2020 

The good news is, while Labyrinth is basically the same, they've replaced The Dark Crystal calendar with one showcasing The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

With the return of Fraggle Rock and the cancellation of The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, who wants to take bets we'll see another very similar Labyrinth calendar next year, but instead of a Dark Crystal calendar, we'll see a recycled version of Universe's Fraggle Rock calendar instead?

I for one hope at least it features photos of Fraggle Rock reboot!

The Muppets Move Us Right Along To 2021!

 The Muppets are ready to help you move right along from 2020 and into 2021. 

Check out the video below:

What a great way to usher in the new year.

Little Shop of (Henson) Pins!

Little Shop of Pins has new collaboration with the Jim Henson Company.

The recently released a line of Fraggle Rock pins as well of their first Labyrinth pin. They plan to to have many more soon including pins from The Dark Crystal.

Check out their initial selection of pins below: 

Gobo

Wembley

Mokey

Boober

Red

Ludo

You can order them at the links above and at Little Shop of Pins.