Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1545257
24 PROP CULTURE I SUMMER 2026 CRANK YANKERS FOOD. Or anything dealing with fluids around felt is always a challenge. Some of the puppets on Crank Yankers like Birchum, Elmer, and Spoonie Love were created many years ago and couldn't be replicated, only repaired. This led Todd to be very creative when dealing with food and fluids. Sometimes he would use felt food under the guise that felt people eat felt food. Other times the scene would ask for more interaction so he would paint the insides of straws to mimic a puppet drinking, switch from real foods to a puppet-friendly material for ingestion, or create the food entirely, like this plate of spaghetti he created with tubing, wet model magic, shaved bits of foam and a real sprig of basil. Voila, dinner is served! PROPERTY MASTER TODD DANIELS, PMG MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND The movie had a subplot of Rizzo as a tourist guide on a Caribbean Pirate Cruise. The first scene is rats going up a small gang plank carrying an assortment of rat-sized luggage, a surfboard, tennis racket, cameras, and even tiny checkbooks and pens. We see them enjoying tropical drinks with tiny umbrellas at the Tiki Bar. A photographer uses a tiny flash camera. Rats drive a mahogany speedboat pulling a water skier. One films the scene with a tiny video recorder with a blinking red light. All so silly. Under the closing credits, rats in scuba gear lower a hook and bring up a treasure chest loaded with gold and jewels. What's more fun than building rat props? MUPPET WORKSHOP HAND PROP DESIGNER FRED BUCHHOLZ THE ADVENTURES OF ELMO IN GROUCHLAND MUPPET WORKSHOP FRED BUCHHOLZ