Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545257
16 PROP CULTURE I SUMMER 2026 performing the extra hand. With two or more characters in the same small space, something like a ceramic coffee cup can prove dangerous. Keeping the weight down keeps props safe and keeps the puppeteers from fatiguing too quickly. When it comes to rod puppets, weight is a liability. The thin arm rods used to rig props and hands work, but only to a point. When Fred rigged an old, corded phone handset for Kermit the Frog, he twisted the cord into a curly shape and hid the rod there. The handset itself was gutted to keep the weight down. Both these hairdryers are good examples of the scale considerations puppets bring up. Sometimes puppet props need to be big, and there's not much you can do about weight. In Muppets from Space, I built Animal, a gas-powered hairdryer. It had a pull start he could "let go" of, along with smoke and wind effects added by our FX friends. We gave it a large, robust handle controlled by a single puppeteer, as it was too heavy for one hand. Animal's hands were stitched to the on-screen handle and were just along for the ride. The combined performance of the puppeteers made it look like he was really holding it. When Pepe the King Prawn needed a hairdryer, he could be small enough to use the old phone cord trick, hiding the arm rod in plain sight. The hairdryer was too small for internal airlines, so we blasted him from off camera. Early on, I was told puppets had five basic scales based on well-known Muppets: rat, frog, whatnot, pig, and walkaround. But even these are just guidelines. As Fred Buchholz pointed out, when the rats are in their own environments, such as the pirate ship in Muppets Treasure Island or on a romantic date on The Muppets, their props are scaled for them. When they are out in the world, however, Rizzo the Rat drives a full-sized car. He needs to sit on a lot of phone books, but he makes it work. In the dinner kitchen scene in The Muppets Take Manhattan, the rats are working in a human kitchen, so the scale is world scale. There can even be a blend of puppet and real-world scales. In the production meetings backstage on The Muppets, we used three different scales of coffee cups, scripts, and takeout containers. Their studio exists in the real world but is largely their world, so props could live at sizes appropriate for each character. When they went out to the bar, however, the scale reverted to what works for humans. Props for most puppets need to feel real. The puppeteers are giving real emotional performances, and if the props feel too toy-like, things can start to fall apart. In some cases, you can find a toy or a small-scale version of a real-world item, and make it work, but those instances are rare, and you find yourself building and/or modifying props for the puppets. Fred Buchholz told me about his first impressions of the Muppet Workshop. Polly Smith, a brilliant costume designer, was crafting the most beautiful clothes to fit the odd shapes and sizes of the Muppets PEPE WITH HAIRDRYER FRED BUCHHOLZ (TOP) WITH BRIAN HENSON TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE