What are Kermit's build specs?

[Boba Lynn]

I havn't decided if I want to do a full body puppet or just a waist up puppet, I thought of just a waist up hand puppet since I want to get MR's poser puppet.

1) The FP head pattern states it is 6.5" is this the size of the head to go for, or is an accurate Kermit puppet head bigger?

2) How long are the arms body to wrist?

3) How long are the legs body to ankle?

4) What kind of waist should he have when compared to the FP toy which I hope to make my modifed patterns from?

5) What is his body length from base of neck/head to his crotch?

6)How tall in general is a poser puppet when compared to the 18" FP toy?

7) If I do the hand puppet, do I need to foam out the head alot?

After watching 8 Muppet Shows in row the past two days you can really see JH's hand and fingers inside the puppet to get his expressions which leads me to believe he dosn't have much padding up there like the poser does.

Lots of questons, but it seems like you guy's know your stuff and I want to get this close as I can to the real size.
Thanks for any help,
Lynn

 

[Melonpool]

One thing you have to remember is that the original Kermit puppets were tailor-made to fit Henson's giant hand. So, if your hand is smaller or if you wanted to use it for display, it's not going to look like Kermit. It'll look like some kind of flattened lizard.

There are two ways to make him more accurate:

1. Make him to fit your hand.

2. pad him out.

I say use your own hand as a template. Make some practice puppets using the pattern. You'll be surprised how much you learn from building something once or twice.

If you go with the padding out version, it may be closer in size to the original, but won't be nearly as expressive.

It's up to you, though.

Steve

 

[Boba Lynn]

Thanks.

The patteren posted has dotted lines drawn around the green area, are those the sew lines or cut lines?

Lynn

 

[Melonpool]

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. The extra dotted area is probably the seam allowance. You'll cut it out that size, sew it on the solid line, then turn the whole think inside out.

 

[Boba Lynn]

Thanks!

What other measurments does any one got that I listed above?

Lynn

 

[Buck-Beaver]

As Steve suggested, I don't know there's a one-size-fits all answer. I think really the best thing to do is look at videos/DVDs for reference and experiment.

 

[SurfPark]

Here is my suggestion: Use the plush toy to get a scale. For example, make Kermit's head measurement Y. Then measure the rest of his body and make them factors of Y (math fun!) For example, if the arms are 4 inches long on the plush, and the legs are 5 inches long, you can multiply them.

An example of the measurements might be:

head width: Y
height: 18 x Y
arms: 4 x Y
legs: 5 x Y

You'll be able to seemlessly adjust the scale of your pattern to fit your hand. Simply relace 'Y' with your hand's width. Hope this wasn't too confusing.

As for the stuffing, I think Kermit's muzzle (?) has a thin layer of foam, but it can be bulked up or down, depending on how much you'd like. In the plush dolls, they usually overstuff them to keep that full look, but I'd try to skimp on the foam to see the least amount you can get to work. If you're making it close to your hand's scale, then why not let your hand full the entire face? It will be lighter and allow for those classic Kermit "face crunches."

 

[Melonpool]

Nope. Kermit may gave some foam in ther now (due to Steve Whitmire's smaller hand) but the original Kermit had nothing up there. What you saw was basically Jim Henson's hand with a green sock on it.

The body has some foam in it. The one I saw had wire inside as well, though it was just a very good replica, so I'm not sure how accurate it was.

I do know that with my small hand, it didn't look like Kermit -- it looked like a flattened lizard -- but with a suffucuently large hand, it would look exactly like him and be just as expressive.

Bow I'm ptempted to build one to fit my hand.

 

[Boba Lynn]

Thanks for the great info!!
That will help me get started.

I finally just won a Fisher Price Kermit off eBay for $18, considering this my 4 try to win one off ebay and finally winning, I'm pretty pleased and excited.

Lynn

 

[Boba Lynn]

The body has some foam in it. The one I saw had wire inside as well, though it was just a very good replica, so I'm not sure how accurate it was.

If have been watchng the Muppet show alot this past week and I too have noticed the wire used to what I assume to help hold his midriff area in some of his full body shots.

Lynn