We Muppet fans are an observant bunch. We see all of the little details (and laboriously add them all to the Muppet Wiki). It didn’t escape our notice that the Gonzo puppet was starting to show some wear, and normally that wouldn’t worry us. But we have learned that although the cracks are starting to show, Gonzo will not be rebuilt.
It costs thousands of dollars for each Gonzo puppet to be made. It takes hundreds of hours of labor to cut the foam, attach the fur, activate the eyelids, spray paint the nose, fill with tapioca pudding, clean the pudding out, dry clean to get the pudding smell out, and attach the arm rods. And with no new Muppet content in the works these days, it seems that Disney just isn’t interested in the commitment or the investment.
We will sadly miss Gonzo and his crooked schnozz, the way he WHOOSHED into the frame, and his sinful love of chickens. And we look forward to his inevitable reintroduction as a CGI creation.
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by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
