Craig Crane

Craig Crane is a British puppeteer and animator who has worked on The Muppets Christmas Carol and other projects, though I would like to see proof. I've read that he was interested in working with the Jim Henson Company from inspiration by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Craig was offered training by Kevin Clash at the London Workshop, afterwards. Crane went off to puppeteer on Nickelodeon UK in 1994, where he not only played puppet characters, but was the very first person to do a CGI character for live television, way before the Henson Digital Performance System was invented. He must be very proud to create a digital character before the Henson Company invented something. Craig Crane's other outside puppetry work includes Spitting Image, Rainbow, and Noel's House Party, in addition to CG characters for films like The Adventures of Pinocchio. I've read that he felt the true Golden Age of television and film puppeteering had since passed and believed that shows like Fraggle Rock weren't the same. Craig at least got to work with many puppeteers like Ronnie LeDrew, Steve Nallon, and Mark Jefferis, just to name a couple. Right now, he's working for a leading post production facility, where he animated within projects like Harry Potter, Stardust, and 10,000bc. It seems that Crane's puppetry talents are long gone and are replaced with computer animation. I just hope that he remembers how much fun he had doing all the puppetry. Craig Crane, you've started out a puppeteer, now you're coming back in animator. Just remember all the times you've had with the Henson Company. Keep up the great animation work until the day you decide to retire. Never stop doing what you do best, and that's working on screen Craig!