Muppet Mobile Lab

I just love mixing puppetry with technology. One of my first jobs as a puppeteer was operating animatronic characters for Showbiz Pizza Place. The Muppet Mobile Lab is very similar, although the technology is a lot better. This “puppet” has misters that spray water all around the car. It blows bubbles. It smokes. And, it can spray water out the front…. And, what is really groovy, is that it balances on two wheels. The actual Bunsen Honeydew and Beaker characters move fairly well. Bunsen’s body moves around and his head moves in all the directions it should. Beaker can just turn his head and move his mouth. He can also do that funny thing where he pulls his head into his shirt. I personally would like to see something horrible happen to Beaker, but no one asked me. The Mobile Lab works two different ways. It has preprogrammed skits that are pretty funny and, the puppeteer can improv. The improv was not as funny. I’m told that it’s actually Dave Goelz who provides the voice. If this is so, I think that’s great. He created the voice and mannerisms. It’s his character. However, I think it’s probably just a collage kid, who works for Disney, operating it.