It has always been difficult to get Big Bird to be very pretty. Big Bird in England is much more gorgeous.
There was a little afternoon show that was called Afternoon. Back in those days in television, most local stations had a midday show for housewives that had a series of things. It was like a variety show for midday.
We thought it would be fun to try to design a show that would work well internationally and so that' s what we're intending to do with Fraggle Rock, and we are indeed now selling it around the world.
At the University of Maryland, my first year I started off planning to major in art because I was interested in theatre design, stage design or television design.
Yeah, I think we did the term Muppets before we got the show Sam and Friends - a few months after I started working.
NBC was trying to convert all of their local programming to color right away to encourage the sale of the sets, so I barely remember working in black and white, although I do know that I did do it, but there was not a major difference, though.
When I was a kid, I never saw a puppet show. I never played with puppets or had any interest in them.
I do remember doing shows strictly in black and white, too, so you're right.
Somebody like a Piggy or a Kermit, there needs to be several versions and so there will be several of them.
It's into the same bag as E.T. and Yoda, wherein you're trying to create something that people will actually believe, but it's not so much a symbol of the thing, but you're trying to do the thing itself.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and it may be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed beholder a black eye.
