Ed Eyth Interview Part 5

Ed Eyth has had an extensive and diverse artistic career. He has a Bachelor of Science degree from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles and prior to that majored in Visual Communication at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. He has served as a production designer, a set and costume designer and a puppet designer for a variety of film and television productions. His film credits include Hook, The Rocketeer and Captain EO.

For nearly 10 years Eyth was Director of Creative Services for the Jim Henson Company. While at Henson, he designed characters for shows like Muppets Tonight, Mopatop's Shop and Animal Jam, as well as the video feature Kermit's Swamp Years. I asked him to share his thoughts on puppet design.



PJ: Which Muppets Tonight characters did you design?

EE: Johnny Fiama and Spamela Hamderson. But I was so excited about the prospect of designing an actual Muppet character that I'd stay after hours and just keep making up characters. A lion, an alligator, a baby, a security guard -- it was addictive and I just couldn't stop.



I wouldn't just sketch random designs, I'd create personalities and characteristics for each one. The lion was a Richard Burton-like "master thespian" who was quite full of himself, the alligator was an attorney (get it? A-litigator?), the baby was this super-genius know-it-all, and on and on. None of them ever developed beyond a sketch and my lofty expectations.