Elmo on Wheels
I was walking back and forth in front of the TV (as it is in between the home office and the kitchen) while my two-year old son was watching Sesame Street, when something on the screen caught my eye. I turned to the TV and lo and behold, I see Elmo, in a full-body shot, riding his tricycle around Sesame Street. With the camera shooting from a high angle, Elmo is shown pedaling - yes, pedaling - while singing a tune. Now, how can this be? Where is the person who’s supposed to be controlling Elmo’s mouth movements?
There’s no way this could’ve been one of those scenes taken initially with a green screen background. I mean, Elmo was weaving in and out of the area between Hooper’s store and the apartment’s front steps, all the while being surrounded by other kids in tricycles. With the camera on a crane moving about and following Elmo around, this would’ve been a difficult scene to put together. This couldn’t have been CG work, either (does PBS have the budget for that?). It would’ve been overkill (unless there’s some sort of charitable CG work that Lucasfilm has meted out to Sesame Street in appreciation for Frank Oz’s contribution to the Star Wars franchise over the years, but I doubt it. Too far-fetched.).
Has Elmo finally gone fully remote-controlled? I can’t say. No matter what muppet wizardry the CPB has come up with, Elmo on wheels has certainly impressed this dad who himself grew up watching the muppets. But back then they were only shown from the waste up.
Tags: Elmo, Frank-Oz, muppets, PBS, Sesame-Street, Star-Wars, tv
June 14th, 2005 at 11:15 am
They manipulate Elmo with stiff wires, and the puppeteers (is that a word?) are actually underneath the puppets. They do it all the time in the Muppet movies
June 14th, 2005 at 3:35 pm
Come to think of it, I did see a muppet on a bike once in a movie. Awesome.
Hmmm, are you sure they’re underneath the puppets? Were they digitally removed afterwards or something? Or do you mean the puppeteers (I think that’s a word) wear muppet costumes?
June 14th, 2005 at 7:32 pm
I saw Kermit and Miss Piggy riding a bike together once…
June 19th, 2005 at 7:37 pm
Works either way, costume or wires. Usually they’re the “underneath” kind for Elmo, I think. Anyhow, nowadays they can use wires where ever and they’re just digitally erased.