Posts

Phil Vischer

Image
Phil Vischer is a filmmaker, puppeteer, voice actor, animator, and author who is best known for creating the animated Christian franchise VeggieTales. For the franchise he created, directed, produced, wrote, & composed for many videos and movies, as well as voicing hundreds of characters. Phil has also run two production companies over the years, Big Idea Productions and JellyTelly (now called Minno), with the former creating VeggieTales. Vischer also puppeteered and starred as himself on a show called What's in the Bible, through his business vision JellyTelly of course. But it's a shame though that he never worked with any Muppet performers during his career, he probably never even heard of those people. For years, VeggieTales has been giving children a unique kind of entertainment through religious stories and even silly songs, and he voiced almost every character for that, including Bob the Tomato. Phil Vischer is yet another puppeteer to be very religious, with others

Winston Tong

Image
Winston Tong is an actor, playwright, puppeteer, singer-songwriter, and visual artist who is best known for being a former vocalist in Tuxedomoon and his puppetry in Bound Feet. Some of the other puppet shows he did include Wild Boys, Eliminations, and Frankie and Johnnie, all his shows had incorporated work. As for music, Winston sporadically performed and recorded songs with the group Tuxedomoon from 1977-1985 & 2005 while most of his musical career was solo. Several of the songs Tong did have been recorded and were released on the Belgium record label called Les Disques de Crepuscule. It's a shame though that he never heard of Jim Henson or the Muppets because then he would have been one of those musical guests or something. Some of the other puppeteers who have been playwrights just like him are Alva Rogers and Leila Ghaznavi, while singers-songwriters include Jim Parker. Winston Tong is definitely another one of those performers to record singles whether with a band or a s

Sid & Marty Krofft

Image
Sid & Marty Krofft were a Canadian sibling team of TV creators, writers, puppeteers, and TV and film producers who were known for making numerous US children shows during the 1970s. Through their production company Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, some of their most well-known projects include H.R. Pufnstuf, Land of the Lost, and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. Both Sid & Marty never worked with the Muppets, but they have worked with several Muppet performers on lots of their projects. The Krofft brothers worked with them on Pryor's Place, D.C. Follies, Toby Terrier and His Video Pals, and on their last known show Mutt & Stuff. Over the years of their career, the two brothers have been acknowledged for their vision and creativity on their projects and also won numerous awards for some of their shows they did. In addition to television, they also did a few films such as Middle Age Crazy, Side Show, and Harry Tracy, Desperado. It's kind of a shame Sid & Marty Krofft

Alberto Estrella

Image
Alberto Estrella is a Mexican actor and puppeteer who is known for being the 1st performer of Abelardo Montoya (originally called Serapio Montoya) on Plaza Sesamo from 1981-c.1992. Apart from that show he has mostly been an actor on Mexican film and television since the 1980s. Some of the films Alberto did include lead roles in Santitos, Fibra Optica, and more, while minor roles in Hollywood movies have included Ruby Cairo and Man on Fire, to name a few. As for television, Estrella has been a regular on Pasion, Ringo la Pelea de su Vida, Como dice el dicho, and Locas de amor, just to name a few. The only other puppeteer he worked with during his time on Plaza Sesamo was Jaime Vega, the performer behind Bodoque the Grouch. It would appear that this person is more of an actor than a puppeteer for he's been doing the former much longer than the latter. Alberto Estrella is still considered one of the first Mexican puppeteers to work on Plaza Sesamo, as well as the first one to perform

Rhonda Gdasi

Image
Rhonda Gdasi is a suit performer who doesn't have any information about herself at all. The only known shows she did were on The All-New Captain Kangaroo (as Joey Kangaroo) and The Huggabug Club (as Lovey Dovey). It's a real shame Rhonda is yet another one of those performers to have hardly any info about herself, others include Itzel Tapia, Patricia Lewis, and David Maida. The only 2 puppeteers Gdasi performed with were Paul Pistore and Scott Swenson, both did The All-New Captain Kangaroo. Maybe someday she'll get interviewed by someone, then there will be more information about this woman, you never know. I personally think she would have been perfect to do a Creature Shop project since they've done several ones involving costumed characters, puppets, and/or animatronics. Rhonda Gdasi should also have an image of herself online so people will know what she looks like, for the picture above isn't actually her own face. It doesn't seem right for performers to be

Alva Rogers

Image
Alva Rogers is an actress, puppeteer, playwright, composer, and vocalist who is known for using dolls and puppetry in interdisciplinary work. Her two well-known films she acted on were School Daze and Daughters of the Dust, both films involved prejudice. For puppetry, Alva has collaborated with Heather Henson of the Jim Henson Foundation on creating three musicals including Sunday, nightbathing, and mermaid, the former performed Off-Broadway at the Public Theater. In addition to acting and puppetry, Rogers was a vocalist with an alternative rock group called Band of Susans during the late 1980s. She is probably the first (and maybe only) puppeteer to ever perform with a rock group. As for her playwright work, she wrote The Bride Who Became Frightened When She Saw Life Open, Scooping the Darkness Empty, and The Doll Plays. For one woman, Alva Rogers seems to do have so many occupations over the years of her career from actress to vocalist to playwright. Other puppeteers who are playwrig

Jonathan Paine

Image
Jonathan Paine is a freelance designer and sculptor who did work for Pixar and the now defunct Blue Sky Studios, as well as other companies. He was also an additional puppeteer for the Muppet special The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years, which was probably his only puppeteer project. Jonathan not only does characters for film, but he also makes toys and figurines. Paine made toys for Disney, Warner Bros, Thinkway Toys, Marvel Comics, and more, though some were figurines and soap bottles. As for his film work, he has mainly done Pixar and Blue Sky Studios films such as The Incredibles, Up, Ice Age, Sausage Party, and more. Even though he only did that one Muppet special, he still got to work with numerous Muppet performers for that special such as Jane Henson, Michael Earl, Debra Spinney, and Tim Gosley. In addition to sculpting, Jonathan Paine works in many diverse fields of entertainment such as puppetry and education, with animation already mentioned above. For educational purposes