Movie enthusiast and YouTuber Alex Boucher is “on a mission to watch every movie.” He dissects some of the film industry’s best-kept secrets and techniques. From practical effects to dog acting to how Spiderman’s web-swinging changed over time, he analyzes how movies are made and creates mini-documentaries about cult classics and box office hits alike. His most recent video traverses the universe of Jim Henson’s The Muppet Movie (1979) and its seven filmic followups, posing the question, “How do Muppets go outside?”
Controlled by humans, the iconic puppets have been voiced by actors like Dave Goelz (Gonzo), Frank Oz (Miss Piggy, Animal, and Fozzie Bear), Richard Hunt (Scooter and Statler), among many others, and of course, Kermit the Frog is guided by Jim Henson himself. Puppet shows are typically performed in a box so that the puppeteers can hide beneath the set, but what happens when they head out into the real world, lower extremities and all?
For The Muppet Movie, Henson and his team wanted the characters to interact with the human realm. He said, “When you’re taking characters, which are basically rather cartoon-like, and you put them in the very realistic world of outside—that you can tell is outdoors—then to me they have an additional reality.”
Boucher is fascinated by the methods the filmmakers employed to make a motley troupe of puppets seem perfectly at home riding bikes or sitting alone onstage. Made before CGI was widely used, these films were accomplished with in-camera effects. “The illusions that have baffled me for years are when the Muppets go outside, when they seem to break free from their puppeteers and become little sentient creatures,” Boucher narrates.
Revisit some of your favorite scenes in the video and learn how a wide range of tricks, from rolling dollies to radio-controlled props, helped create these iconic films. And if you have’t yet, check out Jim Henson: Idea Man, which was released last year and chronicles the remarkable life and work of the acclaimed puppeteer.
