Latest / Muppet Fan Podcasts with ToughPigs.com / Fraggle Talk Episode 1: "Pilot" with John Tartaglia and Halle Stanford
Transcript
- 0:17Hello and welcome to fraggle, talk.
- 0:19The Unofficial Fraggle, Rock podcast, brought to you by tough
- 0:22fix.com. This is the podcast where we
- 0:24couple Fraggle Rock back to the Rock Episode by episode along
- 0:28with the town's of producers. As writers and Builders, who
- 0:31helped put it together, I'm your host silly creature Johannes.
- 0:35Today. In our Premiere, episode will be
- 0:37dissecting the pilot of back to the Rock in which we are
- 0:41introduced to all the fraggles Doozers gorgs and various
- 0:44creatures will Fraggle Rock again and Uncle traveling.
- 0:47Matt returns into outer space joining us today are two very
- 0:52special guests without whom this series would not exist.
- 0:54First off, we have executive producer and Jim Henson
- 0:57company's president of Television Hallie.
- 1:00Heard, hello, Hallie, thanks for joining us.
- 1:02Wow, hello silly nature. Hello.
- 1:05And our second guest, is executive producer, writer
- 1:08puppet, katzen and performer of here's the list sprocket,
- 1:12architect doozer, gunge Barry, blueberry and Gobo fraggle
- 1:16himself. John tartaglia.
- 1:19It's I was so excited. I was so excited.
- 1:26I said your name wrong. I apologize for that but beside
- 1:29it and we're going to leave it in because that's how we add is,
- 1:33this is no editing, no, none whatsoever.
- 1:36Well, thank you both for joining us.
- 1:37I think this is going to be a blast and this, this whole
- 1:40series is going to be blessed as we're already revisiting this
- 1:43series. After just mere weeks of it
- 1:44being on Apple TV, Plus Yes, it's made for you to go back and
- 1:50revisit so I love that. Yes.
- 1:54Well I hope everyone who's listening.
- 1:55This podcast is watching the show for the second third,
- 1:57fourth time, along with us. Yeah.
- 2:00So before we get into the actual episode, there's so much to
- 2:04cover before you guys even turn the cameras on.
- 2:07So can you tell me a little bit about how this show came about
- 2:11and specifically what your roles were in the creation of this
- 2:15series? It started out.
- 2:18I was in a meeting with Apple TV plus and Jamie Ehrlich was
- 2:24getting to know our company. We were talking about everything
- 2:26we do and I was saying how I feel, you know, I really believe
- 2:30in Hope Punk that it's, you know, time to make corny.
- 2:33Cool. Again hopeful programming and he
- 2:37was like, yes, yes, we're doing that.
- 2:39We want to do that as well. And then he said, hey, what's
- 2:42going on with Fraggle Rock? And I was like, what do you
- 2:46want? Along with Fraggle Rock, you
- 2:48know, like it was like perfect conversation starter hope Punk
- 2:52than Fraggle Rock. And so he was very interested
- 2:56and the minute I got my car. I called Johnny tartaglia, that
- 2:59was like, yes, Johnny and I are huge Fraggle, Rock bands.
- 3:04In fact, Johnny is the the Fraggle Rock.
- 3:09I'm not even close to the level that he's at, but we sat there.
- 3:14And we strategize, how are we going to push this?
- 3:16Forward, how we going to pitch this?
- 3:18What are we going to do to Dinah?
- 3:19You take over and tell more we got and I think I could tell
- 3:23he's comment. I am such a huge fan and I you
- 3:27know I was always like the squeaky wheel the company that
- 3:30was like, what do you know? And then all of a sudden you
- 3:38know, we want to do this and it just feels like the right time
- 3:42and I think Holly and I were always.
- 3:44So we were struggling. I think, at that point because
- 3:47Despite the world was, you know, the pandemic was just starting
- 3:50and there's so much happening. I'd just like the world was
- 3:53falling apart. And, and what do you want to do?
- 3:55You want to escape to her Idol? Rock and make everything better
- 3:57and and use Frog Rock, as a way to, like change the world that
- 4:02was our hope is that we can, the series was an impact people all
- 4:05over the world and do some good. We just wanted to do some good.
- 4:08Yeah, well, you know, when we went into Apple to pitch it,
- 4:10that's what we pitch. We said, you know, Jim Henson.
- 4:13He had a reason for making probable Rock, which was he
- 4:15wanted to bring about About world, peace and War.
- 4:18And we talked about it here, we can do the same but this time
- 4:22let's create a world that's peaceful.
- 4:23And what does that look like? How can we create a world where
- 4:26families and people thrive and let's see what the modern
- 4:30issues. But also we came and we said but
- 4:33let's bring the rock back to the Rock.
- 4:34Let's do rock and roll. Let's like get big names
- 4:37attached, let's do amazing music, let's honor the Legacy
- 4:41music and I think the music part of it as well, was very, very
- 4:46For apple and the Johnny also brought in the puppet.
- 4:49Listen, whenever Johnny puts on a puppet, I feel like a gobo
- 4:55helped us sell Fraggle Rock. Well, I'll go ahead.
- 4:59Well, I was gonna say just on that note because I think I
- 5:01think you enjoy the way the kick out of some sort of the
- 5:03listeners that, you know, Tara Sorensen who runs television for
- 5:08Apple who is a dream come true? We didn't know she was such a
- 5:12huge red fraggle fan and we brought some of the puppets to
- 5:15our original meeting with them. And and she held red fraggle.
- 5:19The red fraggle puppet and was like stroking her pom-poms like
- 5:23like a baby and she was like this is this is so special.
- 5:26It was just wonderful. It was like oh your fans.
- 5:28Like we are. Yes.
- 5:29Like it just felt like the perfect.
- 5:30The perfect team for Perfect combo.
- 5:32Yeah, yeah. For sure.
- 5:33That's, that's such good advice for anyone.
- 5:35Who's pitching a TV series is bring a fraggle with you is
- 5:39gonna win their hearts and that's it.
- 5:41And you can, you sign a multi-million dollar television
- 5:44deal, done. No, that's Hollywood, right?
- 5:49So you're both credited as executive producers of the show.
- 5:52So what exactly does that mean for both of you for each of you?
- 5:57Well, the way I see, like my role as an executive producer on
- 6:00the show and as a show honor is, you know, probably the beginning
- 6:05of idea, right? The pitch, sell it, make it
- 6:09right over, see the whole thing from beginning to end and
- 6:13there's no end because like my job is just to keep the
- 6:15franchise growing, right? And here, I am talking to you
- 6:19about it and wanting, you know, to encourage everybody to keep
- 6:22advocating for more. But so it's about like as an
- 6:25executive producer, Overseeing the Creative Vision from the
- 6:28beginning and making sure it's true to what we wanted to be, to
- 6:31grow it to bring on all key creative talents.
- 6:34So that was my job to bring on like key creatives.
- 6:38That's everything from writers. Two production designers, to all
- 6:40the directors, secular music producer, this is what I do.
- 6:44I connect the show with all of these people, and then on the
- 6:48other hand, to @zp for hence, then it's my job to make sure
- 6:52we're on budget. We're on time, we're delivering
- 6:56Show that suits the Jim Henson brand and then also it's my job
- 7:01to as an executive producer be that executive producer for
- 7:04Apple so that I took on a lot of that responsibility and Johnny,
- 7:08you know, Johnny and I definitely like tag-teamed on a
- 7:11lot of things but that was one of my big jobs to was to make
- 7:13sure that Apple was getting everything they needed and
- 7:16wanted on the series on a daily basis.
- 7:19So there's a lot of there's a lot of little details to to the
- 7:22job. But I would say those three are
- 7:25the over over. Teen Tiffany's that I had is in
- 7:29second producer. Johnny?
- 7:32Yeah, I mean for me it was it was almost purely creative, you
- 7:35know I mean obviously with Holly we were a team and we definitely
- 7:38oversaw the production's hole and you know, and all the
- 7:41logistics of that as well. But I felt like my biggest
- 7:45contribution was in the creative side, you know, I was in a
- 7:47writers room, the entire time kind of helping lead the charge
- 7:50there and and really just kind of, you know, overseeing the
- 7:54fraggle magic. It was kind of like you.
- 7:56You know, I think when your when your hope when you're a smart
- 8:00producer, your job is to just kind of let the ship steer.
- 8:04You know, like to your steering, the ship at your kind of letting
- 8:07everyone on the ship, do what they do best and just making
- 8:09sure it's getting into port and I think that that's what Holly
- 8:12and I, as a team we love doing together was just, you know,
- 8:15we've both of the shared reverence for Fraggle Rock.
- 8:17We wanted to make sure we were delivering a show that, you
- 8:20know, everyone felt really proud of and I grew up listening to
- 8:24and watching so much of behind the scenes at the Jim Henson.
- 8:26World and what was always there, whether it was the Muppet Show a
- 8:30fraggle rocker, Labyrinth of Dark Crystal.
- 8:32All the things we love is that, you know, Jim and his team would
- 8:35always let his group of artists work at their highest level and
- 8:39trust them to do their best work.
- 8:41And that's something that this group did Holly and I got to
- 8:43oversee as we had this amazing group as housing thing, the key
- 8:47creatives with this amazing group of people who were all
- 8:49United in the shared Vision to deliver Fraggle Rock.
- 8:52The way we all wanted to be in 2021 2022.
- 8:56So that Was just that I think mostly, it was just kind of
- 8:59shepherding the creative side of things and I felt so giddy to be
- 9:03part of that entire process, you know, I love that.
- 9:07Yeah. You just made me think to that
- 9:10but what you and I had to do at the end of the day that is hard
- 9:14to do as it's like a producer but that has to be done is we we
- 9:18make the final call, somebody has to make the final call on
- 9:21the show and so the final call to have to be made and and we
- 9:26did it with And but definitely that that was that was that was
- 9:32hard, because there were a lot of, a lot of great ways and
- 9:36paths we could have gone. You know what, the other thing
- 9:38that we did to Johnny that like high-five to us is that we
- 9:41create a really fun fun set, didn't really?
- 9:44Yeah, as EPS like, we're like, we gotta set a fun tone here.
- 9:48Let's just have some fun. We were like bringing in pies
- 9:52and we were bringing an ice cream trucks.
- 9:55And we were dressing up. After truck coffee trucks, for a
- 9:58big deal. But you know, it's I think to
- 10:00that point, you know, that's something that Dave goals.
- 10:02Incurred, Pro, and everyone, we talked to who worked on the
- 10:05original series who were such a big part of, you know, of
- 10:09informing us about how the original series came to be and
- 10:11what that was like. You know, we really listen to
- 10:13that that that Spirit, you know, that fun.
- 10:17Light-hearted joy the silliness, right?
- 10:20That's what everyone talks about the original series, that's why
- 10:22everyone loved working until series.
- 10:24Is that everyone's ideas were Everyone contributed and
- 10:27everyone's work matter just as much as anyone elses.
- 10:31And I think that's something we really tried to honor because I
- 10:34think that came through. I love hearing fans say how
- 10:37they're like oh my God, it just feels like a joyous world to be
- 10:39a part of and that's what the set was like we had about.
- 10:41Yeah, it was the most fun set I've ever worked on.
- 10:44Yeah. It was really glad to hear that.
- 10:46Yeah, yeah. We would do things like every
- 10:49director. We would we would make them a
- 10:53doozer poster and we'd honor them for their The day as as a
- 10:58new director doozer and it was just fun.
- 11:00We would just constantly have fun with new people coming in
- 11:03with our entire group and pro. So anyway, it's important to
- 11:08have an amazing creative culture.
- 11:09And I think that Fraggle Rock was incredibly joyful in spite
- 11:14of a pandemic, right? We were in a pandemic.
- 11:18We did not have vaccines we were we were you know in a in a very
- 11:23safe you know as safe as could be situation but We had a really
- 11:28you know put put down some serious fun events every day
- 11:34just to keep people engaged and excited to come to sup.
- 11:37So anyway, I'm very proud of that.
- 11:39I mean the thing that I loved hearing there is, you know, I've
- 11:42been on Muppet sets sesame seeds, Henson sets and as fun as
- 11:46it often is everyone who especially the old timers?
- 11:50No, well it's not the same as it used to be, you know, used to
- 11:53be. We could kind of fly by the seat
- 11:55of our pants or we have like This family feeling to, you
- 11:59know, between Jim and the other folks that he worked with, you
- 12:02know, for so long that you just cannot recreate and the fact
- 12:07that you made a deliberate effort to recreate that.
- 12:09And that it shows on screen, really kind of proves how
- 12:12important that aesthetic is. Well, there's something about
- 12:15Fraggle, Rock of all the shows that Jim created, there's
- 12:19something about Fraggle Rock. I think it's, I've always, I've
- 12:22done a lot of thinking in the past few months about this, and
- 12:24why, why is it so special? A two fans but to everyone who
- 12:28worked on it. And I think what I've tried to
- 12:30do is is that I think it's, you know, a series where I wasn't
- 12:35variety show presentational like The Muppet Show and it wasn't,
- 12:38you know, curriculum, educational delivery, like
- 12:41Sesame Street. It was a Fantasy character based
- 12:44show, and these characters, grew, and, and so, much of the
- 12:49performers became a part of those original characters.
- 12:52So much of the crew became a part of the aesthetic of the
- 12:56show. And so I think that there is a
- 12:59palpable tangible. Wait.
- 13:01In the original series, The came through screens and it felt like
- 13:05a real world because it was a real real world of people
- 13:07creating it. And I think that that's what we
- 13:09tried to let this version B. And, you know, that was part of
- 13:15the Alchemy of putting together and how they will tell you.
- 13:17Putting together this crew. And this cast, it wasn't just
- 13:19about your talent. It was about.
- 13:21Are you a team player or are you someone who can contribute and
- 13:25understand that the A whole is much more important than each
- 13:29person solo contribution and, and that's really true.
- 13:31And what I love what I was dreamt about what it must have
- 13:35been like, working on the original series, it happened on
- 13:36this version was you would have the special effects, you know,
- 13:41leader come over and say you know what, if you guys did the
- 13:44bit. Hey, oh my God.
- 13:45Yeah, that's a great idea. You know, I like everyone's
- 13:47ideas were heard and even if they weren't implemented they
- 13:50were listened to and they were valued.
- 13:52And I think that that's when everyone feels like what their
- 13:56car. They're contributing matters,
- 13:59then they do the best work that can do and, and that's certainly
- 14:02true for the cast. You know, this cast it, we were
- 14:05very careful with who's part of this cast in the energies and
- 14:09there's a lot of Hearts. I mean, we were fraggles we
- 14:11would go explore the mountains together, we would go have
- 14:15Pandemic, safe distance, dinners together and things like that,
- 14:18because it was just, it wasn't. The whole thing was a family, a
- 14:22giant family, but it was a family and that was just
- 14:24important to us. And I think that, that is what
- 14:27I'd like to think I wasn't there, obviously, but I like to
- 14:29think that's what the original. The old days of Jim's work,
- 14:34we're like to. Yeah, I, you know, I also gave a
- 14:37speech at the top of it, to all the crew.
- 14:39And I think it, you know what I said to them was listen, we're
- 14:44all connected on the show but this show is about community and
- 14:47it's about plussing each other. So yeah, you can plus 1 Their
- 14:54experience and your work together.
- 14:57That's what's going to make this show magical.
- 14:59I think, sometimes I'm Productions, people get really
- 15:01siloed into their departments. They get really soft siloed into
- 15:05their individual contributions. And this show was important that
- 15:09everybody had each other's back and we're plussing.
- 15:12It like how can I make the cast experience even better?
- 15:15How can I, you know, make I'm just trying to give even like
- 15:19even the covid teams experiences even back.
- 15:23Are so they would they would make like little little like
- 15:25doozer do their posters they hang up at the covid trailer
- 15:28that you know like the dudes just getting tested like you
- 15:31know it just it was that joy that kind of just silly Joy.
- 15:34Let's get through this together as it was great.
- 15:37That's gonna say it's Joy but it's also you had people who
- 15:41were the top of their game. On this go extraordinary
- 15:45department heads you know everyone from Sky Johnson
- 15:51running the Creature Shop to To Tyler Heron and production
- 15:55design. And they were extraordinary and
- 15:56they work together to keep building on each other's work,
- 16:00and make excuse. No.
- 16:01Just extraordinary choices. So the look of the show is
- 16:04because we had this team that was constantly, collaborating
- 16:09and innovating. I mean going into the Creature
- 16:12Shop and even going into the section where the Doozers were
- 16:15being Workshop was so much fun. We going to be like, look at
- 16:20this hat. Look at this with, look at this,
- 16:21look at this, look at these little shoes.
- 16:23Spoons jackhammers boots and it's little a little flames and
- 16:26the Spurs on his boots. I mean everybody was having so
- 16:30much fun and really innovating I'm going to keep saying that
- 16:33word everybody was constantly innovating on the show.
- 16:36Yeah that's terrific. And that's something also like
- 16:39front that Fraggle Rock the original Fraggle Rock from day.
- 16:42One was all about Innovation I mean just as from a fan and a
- 16:47you know Puppeteer and a technical aspect to it is all
- 16:50these things that we had never seen done before and you're can
- 16:53only continue Tin Ewing the innovations that are still, you
- 16:56know, obviously usable today, but you're continuing to extend
- 16:59that for the new series. So, I we, I feel like we could
- 17:02talk about this for hours and hours and hours.
- 17:05And we will talk more about these things, the the
- 17:07Innovations, the style, the camaraderie, all that as we
- 17:11continue through the series of back to the Rock.
- 17:14But we are also here to talk about the pilot episode, and
- 17:18we're going to really go through it.
- 17:20The three of us here. And if you guys have some
- 17:23memories, Of filming this stuff for developing it.
- 17:25I would love to hear more about it but we start with not the
- 17:29Fraggle Rock theme song like you would think this episode starts
- 17:34with the song party down in Fraggle, Rock.
- 17:36What was the choice there about not starting with our classic
- 17:41down in Fraggle Rock theme. Well it's funny because I
- 17:45remember reading Alex and Matt's first draft and thinking that
- 17:52instantly I was Like, oh my gosh, the theme is in here and
- 17:55the top and I think that the thought was we wanted to get
- 17:59right into the Rock. We just wanted to go right in so
- 18:02that if you had never seen the show before which a lot of our
- 18:05audience you know, it's hard for fans to think of it.
- 18:07That way that there's going to be a majority of the audience
- 18:10has never seen Pride Rock before, especially worldwide the
- 18:14way it's airing on Apple. But, you know, we wanted to make
- 18:16sure people weren't walking in expecting anything and so it was
- 18:22kind of like, You know, it, we don't want to watch that theme
- 18:26ago. What's that?
- 18:27Who's that person? Who's that inventor?
- 18:28And who's that, dog? And we just went right into
- 18:30Fraggle Rock. We want to get there quickly and
- 18:32so we decided to make a musical and you know and the truth of
- 18:36the matter is it's very important that you know, the
- 18:39first five minutes of any new series, grabs an audience,
- 18:43right? Because there's so much to
- 18:44choose from today. So that's something Hallie.
- 18:47And I certainly like, we were always pushing for is that that
- 18:51first visual that first moment Aunt has to be big, you know,
- 18:55and that four shots of me. Wow.
- 18:57Like the show that this was not the original series that we
- 19:00were, you know, the scale of kind of what we were going for
- 19:03that. It was an expanded world, it was
- 19:06bigger and we're colorful and you know, and they kind of also
- 19:09see secretly to fans. Like we're good, you're going to
- 19:13like this, you know, because there's like you're a
- 19:14Storyteller. There's large Marvin.
- 19:16There's like your favorite. There's the Ink Spots.
- 19:17There's the Doozers all the characters.
- 19:19You you love they're here and it was just kind of you know, if
- 19:22your fan Watching it because you love the original series.
- 19:25It's getting back down the rock for the first time in many years
- 19:28and if you're someone who's never seen the show before.
- 19:30It's wow. What is this world that I want
- 19:32to explore? But I'm laughing right now
- 19:35because I know Johnny so well and I remember the times like
- 19:39where's the theme song? And this and then we're like if
- 19:45we're going to do at the end and I was like what do you mean?
- 19:49And and then so then we did have that conversation but you still
- 19:53have to have Like a killer opening, you still gotta know
- 19:55the world. It's got to be just as exciting,
- 19:57but you know what? Alice come percent and matbus
- 20:00felt were right. They never eat at the end and
- 20:05then you suddenly are surprised with it.
- 20:06You're like and they I think they were genius that they came
- 20:13up with that idea. So give it to Alex and mad on
- 20:16that one. Yeah, that was, it was a very
- 20:18satisfying moment which we will get to, by the end of this
- 20:20conversation. But for the On Fraggle Rock
- 20:24segment which I love because first of all the song is the
- 20:27Bop. It sounds great.
- 20:28It sounds like an old fraggle song which I very much
- 20:30appreciate, but I remember I was thinking back to the original
- 20:34episode of the original Fraggle, Rock the original pilot and
- 20:39there is a segment there where I'm sure they decided we have to
- 20:42tell people what Fraggle Rock is.
- 20:44And that's told through, you know, a letter from.
- 20:47I'm so not a literary journal entry from traveling, Matt, and
- 20:51he's saying I know fraggles are, you know, No, this kind of
- 20:53creature, that kind of creature we see on the screen that, you
- 20:56know, he's elaborating and we get to know what the Doozers
- 20:58are. We get to know what the gorgs
- 20:59are that sort of thing but here you jump right in.
- 21:02We're just going to assume that you're going to see these silly
- 21:05creatures and you're going to know, okay, I got it.
- 21:07You're these underground creatures and we'll figure it
- 21:10out as we go. Did you want to have anything in
- 21:13there? Originally that was going to be
- 21:14a little bit more explicit to say.
- 21:16This is what a fraggle is or were you just going to let it
- 21:19live and be will catch up? You know, get it or they won't.
- 21:24I think, you know, this was always the difficult, this is
- 21:29the difficulties of any reboot or rethinking of any show is
- 21:33that, you know, it has to be it has to appeal first and foremost
- 21:36the time that it's being made and you're the original series
- 21:41was, especially this first episode was a little quieter, it
- 21:44was a little bit slower, it was a little bit more, very dialogue
- 21:50heavy which by the way, you know, again, I love, I love you.
- 21:53So he's put that was that was the time that it was made.
- 21:55It was made in the early 80s. When that's what, that's what
- 21:57kids were used to. That's a good TV was nowadays,
- 22:00you know, you have big fast, heavy edit, heavy cut, heavy
- 22:05physical Zoom, Bam, Bam. It's a very difficult and
- 22:08different world to compete in when it comes to Kids TV.
- 22:11And we again, you know, as important as it is for us to
- 22:14appeal to the fans, me being that, you know, one of the
- 22:16biggest it's really important that we bring a whole new
- 22:19generation into the world of Fraggle Rock and a whole new
- 22:21generation of kids too. Fall in love with it the way
- 22:24that the Highlight did right and what you did.
- 22:27So, we knew that we had to kind of get right into that world and
- 22:30we had to make it funny and, and physical at a party.
- 22:34Like you said, the songs about bright, as a reason that we
- 22:37started with that song written by the brilliant Harvey, Mason
- 22:39jr. And his team, you know, it was
- 22:41like we need it. We need a way to say to you so
- 22:45much if you wanted to show as opposed to tell I guess it's the
- 22:47way they answered. Yeah, I'd also you know the
- 22:49other challenge that we have with this show and we did I feel
- 22:53like we did it successfully is to over, explain will make you
- 22:57feel younger yeah to over plane everything at the top in song or
- 23:01in script I believe what it made it feel like a preschool show.
- 23:05And so you know there's a reason that we brought on Alex cut
- 23:08person and matbus Ville to run the writing of the room, they
- 23:11understand family comedy. We had to elevate it and make it
- 23:16more specific a storytelling. So obvious is left to discover
- 23:19fantasy world. So for the fans that you know,
- 23:22new Frederick They already knew what the fraggles were right?
- 23:25And for the new fans let them Discover it right?
- 23:27Let them discover what the pearls all about.
- 23:29That's what's exciting about entering a new fantasy world.
- 23:32You don't go, you know. Star Wars did have the narration
- 23:34in the beginning. Yes.
- 23:35But you got to discover that world, you got to look at it.
- 23:39You got to figure it out. So that's the same thing with
- 23:40this series to it's like we're allowing the new fans to come
- 23:44and particularly the kids and Discover it on their own and
- 23:48Johnny that's absolutely right. She do not tell but again
- 23:51constant challenge to make sure that this Not a preschool show,
- 23:54but a chauffeur. Yeah.
- 23:56And that even fed into something.
- 23:58It's funny. I was thinking now back to,
- 23:59like, the lyrics of partying prog-rock, you know, where you
- 24:01need all the different characters, you know, I'm always
- 24:05ended. The characters are singing about
- 24:07themselves. There was a version of that
- 24:09where they kind of said their names.
- 24:10You know, I'm Gobo fraggle. And I love this, I'm went and we
- 24:14said, no, it doesn't work. We took it out because it's that
- 24:16felt so young and preschool. And just didn't feel like the
- 24:18fraggles and and there was always that conversation in the
- 24:22rooms. Like does this feel like the
- 24:25spirit of the original, but will work for today?
- 24:27And yeah, I think we just wanted to show it and you know, there's
- 24:31a little clip of the Doozers in part in Fraggle Rock.
- 24:33You see them dancing for a second but we certainly don't
- 24:35say we're the losers, you know, just right.
- 24:37Yeah. I was kind of get to discover it
- 24:38as the as The Show Goes On, which by the way, is the way,
- 24:41the kids take on things today the and they all sit down and
- 24:44watch an hour-and-a-half Disney film.
- 24:47You know, that certainly is not, you know, over-explaining, care.
- 24:51You're discovering those World, in those characters, as Show
- 24:53goes on. So, so I think that's also just
- 24:55a style that kids today are used to Yeah, that makes a lot of
- 24:59sense to me. I think, I think you made the
- 25:01right choice. So in the first sequence after
- 25:06we hear party down in Fraggle Rock, we've got Uncle Matt's
- 25:09going away party, he is re-entering outer space which we
- 25:14will get back to you. But first this is our first real
- 25:17introduction to the fraggles and as you said they all had their
- 25:22lyrics here and there in the song, but we do kind of have to
- 25:25give them each their own little moment to reintroduce and Okay,
- 25:28gobos the one who's he's curious, he's a traveler Wembley
- 25:32as wembling over streamers while mokey's kind of doing the Zen
- 25:36thing to calm him down. And boober has made traveling,
- 25:40Matt, a utility belts of like stain removal potions.
- 25:44I just read is she wants to show off her big dive and so, first
- 25:49of all, red looks amazing. With, she's you've done some
- 25:54sort of green screen, things. You can see her full body, you
- 25:57almost don't even notice it. It.
- 25:58It's so it's so like Crystal Clear?
- 26:02Yeah, because normally you would see like oh there's like a
- 26:05bunraku thing going on here where there's probably a
- 26:07puppeteer who. Yeah, right.
- 26:11Exactly. But now it's seamless, this is
- 26:14also the first time that we've seen.
- 26:16The, what do you, what do you call this area internally?
- 26:19This with the fraggle, ponds the whole frag later.
- 26:22The Great Hall. This is the Great Hall.
- 26:24Yeah, so this is where, so, we've seen the new Great Hall.
- 26:28Yeah. I assumed that you were tempted
- 26:29to try to make the Great Hall. Look exactly the way it did in
- 26:32the original series. Is that true?
- 26:34Yes. And no.
- 26:35I mean we have we we kind of had a Tyler hair and who came as our
- 26:40production designer. He gave it one of the greatest
- 26:42pitchers I've ever seen in my life to be a production designer
- 26:45and it turns out he is the biggest Fraggle Rock fan to and
- 26:49his whole thing was let's it's like zooming out.
- 26:53Let's zoom out and see a real Great Hall.
- 26:56Let's add light. And reflection and color into
- 27:00this world and make it look, you know, we're all so wrong, 8K,
- 27:04screen nowadays, right? So the technology is, you have
- 27:09to make it look bright and crystal, clear, and gorgeous.
- 27:11And he just gave, I think one of the best pitchers I've ever
- 27:13seen, Holly. And I were just like, yeah, when
- 27:16we saw that, because it was, it was, it was glorious.
- 27:18He's like, I've done nine shows with caves were like you're in,
- 27:22you're in how many shows are there out there, he works a lot
- 27:27of Deep. You shows like yeah, there it
- 27:30is, but it's true. It's like, it's called the Great
- 27:33Hall. So you want, you want those
- 27:34great set. He wanted to be like the place
- 27:37where folks, the fair to Fraggle Rock, right?
- 27:39Like the shapes and all that. But like yes, we want to make
- 27:42this feel like a richer world like a world that really exists.
- 27:46Again, bringing in the modern television visual language kids,
- 27:50kids and parents are going to expect.
- 27:52You know, something that feels a little bit richer but is an odd
- 27:56Allah. You know, many of the franchise.
- 27:58Is that we all love, right? Right now.
- 28:00Star Wars, you're going to do an odd but you're going to amplify
- 28:04it to feel even more real and take advantage of Technology as
- 28:08well. So here's my, here's the most
- 28:10important question. I'm going to ask you in this.
- 28:11Entire interview is the fraggle cave connected to the Batcave
- 28:19Batman. You know what?
- 28:21Knowing Tyler, he he loves Easter eggs and he loves like
- 28:26little meaning behind it. It's very possible that that is
- 28:31the think. Maybe I'm a second season.
- 28:33Third, season Beyond, we discover something wrong
- 28:35connected. I love it.
- 28:37And I think red would make a terrific Robin.
- 28:39I'm just putting that out. There you go.
- 28:42There's definitely would would dig would dig Alfred so there.
- 28:46Yeah, oh yeah, they be hard at work.
- 28:49Making batarangs and fixing the Batmobile out, man, this is
- 28:53great. Okay, well we'll talk about this
- 28:54after the podcast. We're gonna we're going to make
- 28:56some sort of Greek cross cross over here.
- 28:59So so after we see the great cave, excuse me the the fraggle
- 29:05cave. Matt takes Gobo to see the front
- 29:10the new fraggle whole that's leading to Doc's.
- 29:13We Workshop, excuse me, new docks.
- 29:15New workshops lot of news here. I'm keeping up here.
- 29:20So first of all, it's clear here in the dialog that Matt has been
- 29:24to outer space before he is returning to outer space.
- 29:27So there's a whole question of Nudity which we don't need to
- 29:30get into if it's too fuzzy, but you must have had some
- 29:32conversations about. Okay.
- 29:35Did he already have these Adventures?
- 29:36Are we kind of starting over from scratch with the same care?
- 29:39Like what was some of the thinking there, continuity wise
- 29:42for this vote of these? These, these free talked a lot
- 29:46in the room about, in the very beginning, we had a lot of
- 29:48conversations early on about, is this sequel?
- 29:51Is this a prequel? Is this a complete reimagining?
- 29:54And what we decided was, you know, if you know the original
- 29:56series but the Of the fifth season by the end of the, you
- 29:59know, the original run. Everything was tied up, you
- 30:02know, Matt Matt had come back from outer space go but make
- 30:06contact with Doc the gourds were cooled the fraggles.
- 30:10The do dishes understood complicated when we were
- 30:12buddies. Like if there was kind of not a
- 30:14whole intentionally, there wasn't a whole lot of story
- 30:18conflict to pull from if you continue it on.
- 30:21Plus, of course, we have the reality of the great.
- 30:23Jerry Parks have passed away so he couldn't bring back the
- 30:25original. Doc they've moved to the desert.
- 30:28Which kind of changed that whole setup.
- 30:30So it was kind of like we're even doing do that, and people
- 30:33didn't quite feel, right? So it was almost like, let's
- 30:35just reimagine the show and that's kind of have like an
- 30:38alternate universe of. Yeah.
- 30:40You know a brand new version of Fraggle Rock gravel verse.
- 30:44Yeah. The Practical and that gave us
- 30:49the opportunity to explore a brand new version of dock and a
- 30:52brand-new version of adding friends into the fold of kogi
- 30:55who didn't exist in the original, but that could have
- 30:57always been there. You said, A new one before.
- 31:00And, you know, I think that as far as Uncle macros we did talk
- 31:03about that and and we liked the idea that he already gone out.
- 31:06But being Uncle Matt, he may have literally walked into the
- 31:08workshop and said I've explored all about our space about so we
- 31:12kind of left it very up in the air, you know?
- 31:15Yeah. Yeah.
- 31:16It was really just a reason to say he's going to do this thing
- 31:19that we know is a big deal that he's done before and it's
- 31:24whether or not go, it was going to go with him.
- 31:25That was the big. That was the most important
- 31:27part. Establishes is this was he was
- 31:30Global ready to go with her and the most important part for me,
- 31:34and that moment was Uncle traveling Matt booby noses with
- 31:39soba. That was absolutely one of my
- 31:44most favorite moments of all time.
- 31:46In any Fraggle, Rock, I did write down.
- 31:49This whole sequence is hysterical.
- 31:51The way that like, they'll look into my eyes moments, and, Oh, I
- 31:54thought flip the reveal with the way you revealed.
- 31:56It was going to be a bigger deal.
- 31:57But oh, it's a whole On the wall.
- 31:58Great. Like the whole thing felt.
- 32:00So I wasn't was part of it improvised on the day or was
- 32:04that all on the script? Well, actually, you know, that's
- 32:08really funny, it speaks. So, highly of how brilliant it
- 32:11Matt and Alex are as writers. Is that.
- 32:13I think that sequence captures exactly the Perfect Blend of
- 32:19staying true to the original characters and the original feel
- 32:21of the show and making it completely modern in the way,
- 32:24it's in the way, it's written in the way it's edited.
- 32:27In a way, it's cut together and Actually, chat your questions at
- 32:29the Improv in that particular moment, there was very little we
- 32:34could do to improve. Because, of course, Dave goals
- 32:36was going to be dumping Uncle traveling, Matt.
- 32:38So we had to be very careful of how we stopped that too.
- 32:42That's my original audio there. You know, my original Global
- 32:44audio with the great, Frank magical light puppeteering Uncle
- 32:47traveling Matt and then they dumped over it.
- 32:50So it was very carefully planned out.
- 32:52But I think that writing I'm so happy that you guys brought up
- 32:55the pooping notes as moment because that's such a perfect
- 32:57example of It Feels So frankly like I could have been in the
- 33:00original series and that whole dialogue could have, but it just
- 33:03feels very fresh modern and it just it appeals to what we laugh
- 33:06at today, you know. Yeah, it was true to script but
- 33:10also, you know, Johnny tartaglia is such a hilarious performer
- 33:15that, you know, you have these scripts that the guys, you know,
- 33:18they sometimes would do some improvisation from but really
- 33:21bringing the character performance to those groups.
- 33:24I mean, that is also what's hysterical.
- 33:26It's just the way The job may be performed.
- 33:29I mean, Johnny is the best and I'm not just saying that because
- 33:33we're on this podcast together, life is supposed to be, if you
- 33:39said he wasn't the best and he's right here.
- 33:43Oh, I know, but he like I'm just saying like even though that
- 33:45comedy moment, you know, took the script and like plussed it a
- 33:49billion times with this performance.
- 33:51So funny the back to knock. Oh yeah.
- 33:55So we meet the new Dock and the Presumably new sprocket, I
- 33:59assume it's a news Prague in not just a dog that because you know
- 34:03puppet dogs, they'll be with us forever.
- 34:07They do Lily Cooper plays the new Doc and I honestly she's a
- 34:12delight I'm sure she was a delight on set.
- 34:14I have to assume that she's Delight of a human being but I
- 34:17very much enjoyed the new Dock and this reimagining of her as
- 34:22as a grad students who's studying Marine Science and like
- 34:26trying to save the world on her own as opposed Doing things
- 34:28like, you know, stapling and a fried egg to remember what the
- 34:33old dog bit. Like those ridiculous inventions
- 34:36that he did which were fun, don't get me wrong but like he
- 34:38wasn't like that guy wasn't gonna, you know, clean up the
- 34:41oceans. But I truly believe that that
- 34:43Lily Cooper stock will. Yeah, she will.
- 34:47And, you know, so important to us to create a doc that felt
- 34:51relevant to today, right? But also its appealing to young
- 34:54people, right? So grad student, like,
- 34:57Millennial out to save the world, right?
- 35:00This is, you know, like like having real purpose, real drive,
- 35:04a woman of color, you know? Like we were like, we need doc
- 35:07to feel like she is of this time and also find and lovable and
- 35:12Goofy. She's so good with me but also a
- 35:15real scientist. And you know, Donnie's room you
- 35:17say this, a million times. But you know, one of the things
- 35:19that's going to bring about a better world, in a peaceful
- 35:22world science. Yes science.
- 35:26Yes. So that message is going to be
- 35:29pounded through Dock and really proud that we talked about her
- 35:34inventing inventing, but finding a bacteria that eats Plastics
- 35:38and literally, when we were done shooting there were, there were
- 35:41scientists and wasn't University that discovered one and I'm
- 35:45like, whoo. Yeah, it's real science.
- 35:48I love it. Also talking about just the
- 35:51casting of you know this younger person to person of color a
- 35:54woman that you easily could have gone in the direction of
- 35:59casting. Someone who is just so cool.
- 36:02Like someone who like like a Disney tween star that just like
- 36:06we're going to capture all those kids eyeballs in hearts.
- 36:09And instead you got someone who felt very real, someone who like
- 36:12people watching the show could aspire to be in real life.
- 36:16And we hope that they aspire to be this person because she's
- 36:19obviously making a difference in the world.
- 36:20I think all that stuff together and you know and she's she's a
- 36:23little bit geeky to just like us.
- 36:25You know anyone watching Fraggle Rock?
- 36:27See a little bit of geek in them.
- 36:29Yeah to your point I think it's also about you know, we knew
- 36:33that this series was going to air at the same time all around
- 36:36the world it was you know and Doc to your point was going to
- 36:39be a representative and a role model for kids all around the
- 36:42world. So that was that was such a huge
- 36:44part of it but also Lily. Lee, you know, she has and she
- 36:49is Doc. I mean it's getting to work with
- 36:51her to as Sprocket. She is so incredible in her
- 36:55improv and her in her quickness, in her memorization.
- 36:58I mean, I was like that's a lot of information to memorize the
- 37:00quickly, but she walked in and it was funny.
- 37:03We were having a hard time finding that aesthetic.
- 37:06Exactly. Just said that appealing like
- 37:09understood how to be really funny and make you believe
- 37:12sprockets real, you know, that that understood the feel of I
- 37:16will rock and Lily walked in and it was like there's doc you just
- 37:19knew it was. Yeah, her theater background.
- 37:22Her theater background. Definitely was key.
- 37:24You know, I think that she was used to having to dig deep for
- 37:32roles. So this wasn't sort of a light
- 37:33fluffy sitcom actor, coming in, she was coming in.
- 37:36You know, what's that? What are you holding there,
- 37:38Johnny? Holy a cup of water Kelly.
- 37:43This is a podcast. Nobody could see what he's
- 37:45holding actually. I'm sorry, Celine Dion, coffee
- 37:52mug and then I have my water. It's very exciting, very
- 37:56exciting. This is great podcast, fodder, I
- 37:58love it anyway, back to Lily. She's an amazing theater
- 38:03actress. Who can bring like a real kind
- 38:05of grounded performance but then have no problem being silly.
- 38:10100%. And the other thing I would say
- 38:12about Doc, is the original doc, I'm just going to say I thought
- 38:15he wasn't like always such a great pet owner, like I'm like,
- 38:19but it's always hungry or didn't have water or does it have like
- 38:24you don't you bend them a few times.
- 38:25He kind of lets me, let's make this talk and sprocket really
- 38:30close and she's really a really great dog owner.
- 38:33Let's let's do that, shall we? So I feel like one of the best
- 38:37scenes in the, in the Sewed is there's a very quick shot of her
- 38:42later in the episode where she's rubbing sprockets belly saying
- 38:45who's my peanut butter biscuit boy.
- 38:47It's just like that's what you doing.
- 38:49Yes. That's that's the old dog.
- 38:51Never would have done that? No, well, I don't know.
- 38:54I think, I think the way people treat dogs now is dip.
- 38:58You know, there are basic industrial days to write.
- 39:00So it's very different than maybe it was in the early 80s
- 39:03and that aesthetic. But oh my gosh, it's so much fun
- 39:06with that, you know, I love it. Well, so John, we have to talk a
- 39:09little bit about you. Sprocket.
- 39:12Yes, what was it from day one? I assume that you decided that
- 39:14you wanted to be the one to handle sprocket because you were
- 39:17podcasting. It was your call.
- 39:19It was well, it was a big Hollywood, tell you, I'm very
- 39:24hard on myself and I don't easily put myself into things
- 39:27because I, you know, we all have that that that that intercept at
- 39:33or right. But this as RuPaul would say
- 39:35that always kind of says you're not good enough, but in the room
- 39:39of we were talked about Sprocket.
- 39:41It's like I just always felt like I understood that character
- 39:44so well and I love physical puppetry you know, and I love
- 39:49communicating without without actual words and and everyone
- 39:54kept saying well, who's gonna play sprocket?
- 39:55And finally, I really genuinely think it might have been that
- 39:58out. So like you got to play sprocket
- 40:00or how they might have, you got that, you got that.
- 40:01But but I just I tried it, and I did the voice and I was like,
- 40:06oh, we made that's so natural for me and the time I actually,
- 40:10May I have a new puppy at the time and and I totally was
- 40:14watching, you know, how he responded.
- 40:16And her little sounds, he would make, and it just felt natural
- 40:18to me to do it. So I just kind of fell into it,
- 40:22but I really loved performing. It was such and to have Karen
- 40:26prowl as my right hand and a hill Wagner as Karen was on the
- 40:30original series. That was just, you know, a dream
- 40:33come true and we had such fun together.
- 40:34So it was just, yeah, it was a real.
- 40:37He was a blast to perform, he's just a boy.
- 40:40He's a blast of a character so to play.
- 40:43You know, what was funny is zoo read-throughs and you know,
- 40:49Johnny didn't have a dog puppet there and then I always had to
- 40:53read Doc and I always remember thinking how funny it wasn't
- 40:57Johnny. You just see his face.
- 40:59Whoo. Oh yeah.
- 41:02I've seen Johnny pant on zoo more than Making as myself that
- 41:11I'd be able to probably get a laugh with the puppets is so
- 41:13that's hysterical. I mean, the thing that we always
- 41:15say is Muppet fans, when we would see you know the old
- 41:19Fraggle Rock episodes is I don't believe that sprocket is a
- 41:21puppets. Pocket is a real dog like
- 41:23sprocket just acts like a real real dog.
- 41:26And a lot of that was you know kudos to you know with Steve
- 41:29Whitmire is the original performer but you've definitely
- 41:33picked up on that. And I mean that's definitely a
- 41:36credit to your talent as a as a puppet manipulator that you're
- 41:39able to Um eh sprocket you look actually alive.
- 41:43So thank you for continuing that tradition because it's just
- 41:46thank you, fantastic. Well I'm cooking something.
- 41:50Also, I think that's also the choice to the Kali was thing to
- 41:54make more of a relationship between back and Spock could
- 41:57also the way we shot it. You know, we knew Sam saw, we
- 42:00what we got a lot more ambitious with Dawkins Market but this
- 42:02time around where you saw the floor, you saw sprocket you know
- 42:06Standing full full bodied went up.
- 42:08There's the two moments in the city.
- 42:10She's dancing with him and you see him for the things that
- 42:12would, that was we're never done on your original.
- 42:14But I think also just increase that realism in that character
- 42:18and we, you know, that he wasn't just a funny.
- 42:20Sidekick puppet that he actually was a real, a real dog, a real
- 42:23character. He's a real doesn't moment in
- 42:25the pilot where convince you otherwise.
- 42:28Yeah, yes. What in the pilot and I
- 42:32remember, Johnny making sprocket, shake shake like a
- 42:35real dog would if you got wet and I was like, perfect.
- 42:38Like that just was such a Doggy moment.
- 42:41We all got it is. Yeah that was that was real.
- 42:43It was there. That was a real.
- 42:45I was wondering, I'd actually did wonder, I always wonder
- 42:48about that. Well will get S.
- 42:49There's more water stuff coming up.
- 42:50Let's move on with the plot a little bit here.
- 42:52So, Matt invites Gobo into outer space and it seems like he's
- 42:58considering it before sprocket grabs at them and he, you know,
- 43:04he books it and we also find out that Matt has lost his backpack.
- 43:10At the crevice of solitude that's going to come back to
- 43:13haunt us. So back at the back at, you know
- 43:17fraggle HQ we meet the Doozers for the first time outside of
- 43:21the the original song here and if you like created these cool,
- 43:26monorail things that like run around the ceiling was that must
- 43:30be real, right? Like, that's not even CGI,
- 43:33they're real. Yeah, that's cool.
- 43:35That's real. That's really cool is real.
- 43:38I think they're like, people think like, oh, Who are those
- 43:40all CG sets know, every single thing on those sets is
- 43:43practical, it's remarkable that really is because you, I mean,
- 43:48you've created something that looks so real, that it must be
- 43:50fake. You know what I mean?
- 43:52Yeah, I'm right. The doozer, monorail was
- 43:55inspired by the, the doozer spin-off series that we did
- 44:00that. I did for Hulu the preschool
- 44:01show. And I remember saying you guys,
- 44:03we got the coolest monorail. We should have a monorail.
- 44:06Yeah, and so, Tyler, Tyler took it to a different level design.
- 44:10Wise aesthetic wise, but like it's pretty fun with that one
- 44:13that monorail goes by, it's very cool.
- 44:18If anything we tried to make anything to current on this
- 44:22series, you know, we I think that's one of the other
- 44:24blessings of The Originals because it's takes place in a
- 44:26another world. It is timeless.
- 44:29And so we wanted to keep that as much as possible, but I think
- 44:31that with the dishes were like, no the Doozers have definitely
- 44:35Advanced their technology. Yeah, they're like a hundred
- 44:38steps ahead of the front holes. They figured out jetpacking.
- 44:43They figured out monorails, they figured out, you know, how to
- 44:46use the water to actually make energy and drive their
- 44:48constructions. Like they're a lot more
- 44:51relatable. I think two kids today like as
- 44:54far as they're like they're what kids are playing with, right?
- 44:56Kids are ya kid, his aren't just doing building blocks kid, kids
- 44:59are playing on iPads and kids are using technology.
- 45:03Well and I appreciate the fact that they have advanced since
- 45:07the original Fraggle Rock series because you know I look at
- 45:09things like We're seeing new Star Trek, Star Wars those,
- 45:13those kinds of franchises, you know?
- 45:14And it's like well technically we're a good like 30 years since
- 45:17the last thing that you saw how do you advance on something that
- 45:20was already future Tech? And they have to find these
- 45:24little ways that just to kind of push your imagination little
- 45:26bit. And here you have absolutely
- 45:27done that. Like, I said, Jack packs.
- 45:29I never thought I'd see a doozer on a jet pack, but there he is.
- 45:33So we see the new Dozer dome for the first time which has a cool
- 45:37statue of a doozer. I'm just curious.
- 45:40Is there a back story behind who that doozer is is not a factor
- 45:44of that particular Doozers persona.
- 45:48But that's actually Tyler purposely put that there as a
- 45:51nod to the original doozer. Dome, you know, to the little
- 45:54fountain that was in the original at the middle of the
- 45:57original music, Dome. And what I love is, if you look
- 45:59really closely, he standing on the building blocks of the
- 46:01original doozer sticks, oh, that's cool.
- 46:04The original crystalline sticks. That's, that's what they're made
- 46:08out of it. And so, it's almost like,
- 46:10Teachers are honoring their Advanced building.
- 46:13So that was a little glass of actually tons of Easter eggs
- 46:16throughout the series and that's one of them.
- 46:18That's one of those like if, you know, the original series you
- 46:20like those the original doozer sticks.
- 46:21If you don't know, there is no series.
- 46:22It just feels right anyway, but but that's what.
- 46:24That's cool. I like that a lot.
- 46:27We also meet cotter pin and the architect user in this scene.
- 46:31I love that Cotter pin. I don't know if she'd had this
- 46:33in the original series. She has actual cotter pins in
- 46:36her hair and her costume. Someone pointed that out to me
- 46:39that day. And I went, Well, first of all,
- 46:40that's what a cotter pin is. And second of all, it makes
- 46:44sense that she has used her namesake to, you know, for her
- 46:48for her wardrobe there. Well, and and talk about, you
- 46:51know, Innovation to your point real quick about the way we move
- 46:55things, the original cotter pin. She had that very kind of thin
- 47:01very feathery, stringy hair and we wanted to kind of make her
- 47:05look a little bit little bit cuter.
- 47:07So we added more hair. But you know what happened is
- 47:08her feathers would We'll fly away.
- 47:11And when we tested her like, oh, she's kind of looking a little
- 47:14wild hair, and how do we fix that and Scott Johnson the
- 47:17brilliant. Scott Johnson, and Jurgen and
- 47:19Robert Bennett. The Creature Shop came up with
- 47:21the idea of actually using cotter pins to tame her hair
- 47:24down in to keep her hair down. So it was, it was both a
- 47:27wonderful function that we needed to figure out like how do
- 47:30we make her look a little bit better on screen but then also
- 47:33it was like oh, of course, that's what you would use
- 47:34because her name is Connor. Yeah, brilliant.
- 47:39And John you perform. The architect, I do.
- 47:43There he is. So what's that?
- 47:46Like you got to be a doozer. Oh, I love architect so much
- 47:50Architects looking. I would make the crew laugh
- 47:53constantly with the architect on set because again the whole
- 47:56backstory and be like caught up in.
- 48:01Did I say about the time that I was Suzanne Somers workout
- 48:04partner like I would just make up the dumbest things and Donna
- 48:08I Campbell as cotter pin. So brilliant.
- 48:10You always go right along with me and probably being we have
- 48:13the career of the stairs. But that's it character that I
- 48:16did not think I would perform I did it in one day in a
- 48:19read-through. Just just because someone needed
- 48:22to read it in the room and the register and I was like oh I can
- 48:24do that boys. So it was one of those like
- 48:26magical discoveries. I was like, thank you Jerry
- 48:28Johnny, can't do any way you can do it anyway.
- 48:34I did not expect to play him but I was so thankful I did because
- 48:37I love really fell in love with that guy.
- 48:40Character. He's such a great, wonderful,
- 48:43character to play. He's just a goof ball and and ya
- 48:47know about Johnny because like you're like I am, I am not paid
- 48:52for this, but we're not getting paid for this executive
- 48:58producer. It's important that you put
- 49:00people in different roles that are key.
- 49:02And it really was important that Johnny was a part of every
- 49:05single puppet World, Fraggle Rock, because he would set the
- 49:09tone he would set a standard a high-level standard, that others
- 49:13would have to reach for. And so it's completely like to
- 49:16me, I'm like yes, of course, he was the architect.
- 49:18Yes, of course he was Gobo, do He is our leader and needed to
- 49:21be that also in these different puppet worlds as well.
- 49:25So anyway, I'm skipping to say that about you, too.
- 49:29It wasn't just a read for. So what you're saying is John is
- 49:32the architect, he is the architect.
- 49:36Yeah, see what I did there. Oh my gosh.
- 49:39Wow. All right.
- 49:40Well you think about that. So next up in this episode the
- 49:44fraggles all set out to go rescue.
- 49:47A backpack that seems important and I'm going through the gorgs
- 49:53garden where we meet the gorgs for the first time.
- 49:57So there's a couple of very minor changes here with the with
- 50:02our three gorgs, mom pain, Junior mom pot seemed almost
- 50:06crueler than they were in the original series where before,
- 50:09you know, paw was just a little bit more Dottie and Miles more
- 50:13afraid of of the fraggles in anything but here we start out
- 50:16with them saying those fraggles are nuisance, they eat our
- 50:19radishes To get rid of them. And that's kind of the tone that
- 50:23they keep through the rest of the season.
- 50:25Was that deliberate? Was that was that just something
- 50:28that you know, for the the ease of the characters of Simplicity
- 50:31of them, give them that one note, you're nodding I assume
- 50:34your response. Yeah, it was, it was deliberate
- 50:37and in some ways, I mean, I think we wanted to first of all,
- 50:41give Junior, you know, he's children, see the world in a
- 50:45much more honest and real way sometimes than their parents do.
- 50:50Because they're not as hardened and they're not as affected by
- 50:57what they've been taught, you know?
- 50:58And Junior is very pure. He's in a very pure sweet
- 51:01character. He he, he looks at me again.
- 51:03Garza Juniors. Performer said, you know, nature
- 51:06is informative to him. It's true.
- 51:08You know, he sees how nature works together.
- 51:10He he's like he sees the bugs and the grass and he appreciates
- 51:14it. And so you've got a very
- 51:14innocent view of everything and we thought it was important to
- 51:18show that, you know, The reason he is gorg, like, in the way he
- 51:23acts and goes after the fraggles of it, but it's because that's
- 51:25what his dad tells him to do. Yeah.
- 51:27And I think, I think we thought that we had a big talk about
- 51:31making sure that, you know, the gorgeous represent the 1% of
- 51:35today, right? The bearing there are, there are
- 51:37taking right there, taking all the natural resources, they're
- 51:40taking everything, you know, we need to have more water than
- 51:43anybody else. Just so we can say, we have it,
- 51:45you know, which is, which is what's happening around the
- 51:47world. So it was, I think Holly.
- 51:50I mean, I you you, I remember in the writers room, we had a lot
- 51:52of conversations about how to make these gorgs difference in
- 51:57the original, you know, still feel right.
- 51:58Of course, and still feel reels with the world, but to make them
- 52:01more relevant for today, that was a big thing there.
- 52:03They're making the wrong choices.
- 52:05They're making greedy choices choices that are affecting their
- 52:08garden and their world and with no regard for the other.
- 52:11And the whole point of this show is to show that we actually do
- 52:15affect one another. And you can see that was the
- 52:17story of the water. The thing that I I thought was
- 52:20really important with jr. And four children out there
- 52:23because, you know, there are more children out there yet.
- 52:25We talk about the 1% but then we also can talk about a lot of by
- 52:29standard ignorance and the world as well.
- 52:32And so if we can give kids a role model of critical, thinking
- 52:37of this character who is going to be under the influence
- 52:43parents, or any type of caregivers that are, you know,
- 52:46giving information that we know, you know, is wrong, but They
- 52:50don't think it's wrong, you know, it's their property, it's
- 52:53their land, they can do what they want and they can keep all
- 52:55out who they want to. But if you can show this
- 52:58character of develop compassion and empathy and critical
- 53:03thinking, I feel like that's one of the best messages we can give
- 53:06all kids around the planet right now is like, you can think
- 53:09differently than the people who are in charge, not to say that
- 53:13they shouldn't listen to their parents, but they can also, you
- 53:17know, listen to their hearts. That's terrific.
- 53:21Speaking of junior, he maybe it's just my my overly trained
- 53:28eye looks a little bit different than the rest of than the old
- 53:32Junior gorg especially when you consider the fact that all of
- 53:35the other characters have returned from the old series,
- 53:37look almost identical to their earlier counterparts.
- 53:41Was there a deliberate redesign their, and if so, why Well, I
- 53:47think it was a combo one. Was we wanted to up his facial
- 53:50expression capacity, we wanted to make him more remote knowing
- 53:54kind of what was going to happen in these 13 episodes and how
- 53:57much of a journey he was going to have, you know, the original
- 53:59series The Corkscrew really just blinken and lip-sync.
- 54:02And I was, it was a very basic functions that because that was,
- 54:05that was the technology of the time and I think with with since
- 54:08then the Creature Shop is in such incredible animatronic work
- 54:11with dinosaurs and wild things and everything.
- 54:14So it was kind of like, you know, Let's still keep it in the
- 54:17that kind of beautiful, simple fraggle aesthetic, but the world
- 54:21of the fraggles. But let's let's let's add the
- 54:24ability to smile and the ability to quick call his mouth and the
- 54:26ability to have upper and lower lid separation and move his
- 54:30eyes. And just have a little more life
- 54:32because we knew he was going to need that to a moat especially
- 54:34towards the end of the 13 episode 1.
- 54:36But he really has those big emotional moments with jr.
- 54:38Jr. With Gobo.
- 54:40And that was that was probably the other reason was, we wanted
- 54:42him to look just a little bit sweeter, a little bit.
- 54:46You know than the original puppet looked.
- 54:48And I we all love the original Junior but it was a chance to
- 54:52kind of to just rethink him a little bit and refraction a
- 54:54little bit. Yeah, he definitely looks much
- 54:57more youthful and innocent now. Yeah like almost like you know
- 55:02you want to buy a like a plush and you know, keep me in your
- 55:06bed at night or whatever. I want to Junior gorg.
- 55:10I want to do. Yeah, I don't buy one, buy a
- 55:14couple of them. So, in this scene, when the
- 55:18fraggles are running around and juniors, trying to grab at them,
- 55:21it looks like you got little fraggles that are actually
- 55:24running around the city like it back in the day.
- 55:26You know, there would be a little doozer size fraggles that
- 55:29like that you little are animatronic guys, but now I have
- 55:33to assume their computer generated or not.
- 55:37They are, they are, you are correct.
- 55:40And that is the only time that you will see them
- 55:43computer-generated. But old So when we worked on
- 55:47what they look like, we wanted them to have the weight of
- 55:50Puppets, right? Yes.
- 55:51So we had to give the direction like when they run, you know, it
- 55:55still needs to have a puppet. Wait, we did the same thing on
- 55:58Dark Crystal. And so that was an easy note to
- 56:00give on this one because I've been through it on Dark Crystal.
- 56:03But, um, I think they did such a good job and I think they're so
- 56:06cute. Well, I never won.
- 56:08You know, it's funny. I think everyone had the same
- 56:11like, worry of. Oh, are they gonna replace all
- 56:14the puppets in the show? With Stevie G and, you know, and
- 56:17it's understandable because there's a lot of probably a lot
- 56:21of situations and other franchises, other shows not that
- 56:24aren't Henson that what that would happen.
- 56:26And I think that we come from the place of puppetry is the art
- 56:29that we're proud of and we have this amazing team of puppeteers,
- 56:33amazing team of puppet artists. So basically the rule was if it
- 56:36was something that we really felt would be just easier and
- 56:39better to do with t g. We wouldn't do it.
- 56:41But like I said, that's one of the only times you see that and
- 56:45it really, it was Scale and and you know, those we actually have
- 56:49those those those little mini fraggle puppets.
- 56:52The, the there's so cute, they're adorable, but they are
- 56:56very limited. So, we have to bring it to life
- 57:07and to use it for. I think this, the two biggest
- 57:09moments are, is our that. And then, in the second episode,
- 57:12when red, it's all the flips on the rocks and things like that.
- 57:15Which You know, just would have been that would have been like a
- 57:1710-hour day right there. That's right.
- 57:19Yeah. And S.
- 57:21So it was just, it was used very few and far between the only if
- 57:23it really enhanced it and made sense for the moment.
- 57:27Yeah. Yeah.
- 57:27And it totally works. And also, especially when the
- 57:30fraggles are that small and you can't really see the scenes.
- 57:33You can't see that blue line that you were talking about
- 57:34before it works really well. And then immediately jr.
- 57:38Picks up Mochi, and mokey's a puppet.
- 57:40Again, it's all I got your brain doesn't go too well, monkeys
- 57:44still see gee mokey still has that.
- 57:46Uncanny valley to her face, it's like, nope.
- 57:48Here's something that doesn't really incredible.
- 57:49That this is what blew my mind having a lot of blue screen
- 57:52where I couldn't believe that they could do this.
- 57:53Is that when you look at that shot of when he's holding Mochi,
- 57:56her in his hand and she says, be the noodle all that, that is
- 58:00literally the brilliant digital artists matching the actual
- 58:05Junior gorg. And that's not a scaled up and
- 58:07it's not built hand. That is Bender.
- 58:10Shay's hand side of Junior gorg shot on One camera and then
- 58:14Donna as Mochi. The real puppet on another and
- 58:16another camera and they blend it together and tracked it so that
- 58:19there's no yeah. So that is really cool.
- 58:23That's an example of using technology today in a very you
- 58:27know friendly frog away but that looks so right and that you know
- 58:31you could have been made that whole thing.
- 58:33But we were like no half me real no.
- 58:35Yeah terrific. I mean that's very much in the
- 58:37vein of what what Jim would have done which I very much
- 58:40appreciate. Oh yeah.
- 58:42That that little tinge of computer help too.
- 58:45Mostly, it's all puppets. We have to do puppets and it
- 58:49looks real because of the hobbits.
- 58:51So, immediately after this, the fraggles meet the trash Heap and
- 58:54they seem to be meeting the trash chute for the very first
- 58:56time once again, as just as we are as the audience, the trash
- 59:01Heap seems pretty different and I have a few theories as to why,
- 59:06but I'd love to hear you talk a little bit about what, what are
- 59:08the updates to the trash Heap character?
- 59:12Well, I think that we it's funny how I actually talked a lot
- 59:17about this but when the series was first beer, first kind of
- 59:19talking to Apple about the show and you know what, it could be.
- 59:23And you know, I think we both felt very strongly as did
- 59:26everyone behind the scenes that, you know, there's no reason why
- 59:30the trash Heap shouldn't be performed by an amazing female
- 59:32puppets. Here we have we have in our
- 59:34group, the world of puppetry is expanded and there are so many
- 59:39talented people, puppeteers out there.
- 59:41And, you know, Jerry was, oh my gosh, he was brilliant as the
- 59:46trash Heap in the original series, but first of all,
- 59:48there's no Jerry's not here, and there's no Jerry Nelson to
- 59:52perform the trash Heap now. So, it was like, well, let's
- 59:54let's take advantage of the fact that we get to.
- 59:56Now use one of our brilliant, female puppeteers, and give her
- 59:59a whole new life in a whole new spirit.
- 1:00:01And, you know, I don't think it's a secret that the original
- 1:00:05series that there was, you know, the original voice of a trash
- 1:00:10Heap, you know, isn't always taken well.
- 1:00:14And so we also wanted to kind of make sure we made a character
- 1:00:17that appeal to everybody and that felt, you know, okay for
- 1:00:20everybody. And that's when Amy Garcia came
- 1:00:24into the picture. Also, Amy is an incredible
- 1:00:27singer and I think that we also felt like we wanted to and
- 1:00:33hopefully if we get to do more and more, Songs for the trashy
- 1:00:38but like she's just she's just a brilliant.
- 1:00:41Brilliant performer, you know the trash Heap, still the Trashy
- 1:00:45though she's wise and all-knowing has just the perfect
- 1:00:49way of giving you the answer but pushing you towards the solution
- 1:00:54on your own, that's important as well.
- 1:00:57So she's a great role model and that she's telling parents you
- 1:01:00know sometimes you gotta push them to find their own.
- 1:01:02You gotta go dig deeper. That's what she says to them and
- 1:01:07Also, want to push comedy comedy comedy with her.
- 1:01:09We wanted her to be funny. So that was really important,
- 1:01:13too, because I'm going to tell you right now my son who's now
- 1:01:1624, when he was a kid, he was terrified of the trash Heap.
- 1:01:21He was like, I don't know what the tragic like he was so scared
- 1:01:26of her and I'm like, okay we can make her scary.
- 1:01:29She can be kind of like icky, you know, sometimes and stinky,
- 1:01:32but she shouldn't be scary. So that was really important to
- 1:01:35up The Comedy of the Trashy for sure.
- 1:01:38Based upon my own personal experience, with, with my son in
- 1:01:42the trash Heap. So along with the trash Heap,
- 1:01:47she's got a couple of friends, it's Philo and gunge were also
- 1:01:50back from the old series and John here back, you're still
- 1:01:53here as gun. Yeah, yet another character for
- 1:01:56you. Yeah.
- 1:01:58So I mean, I always assumed that Dave and Richard on the old
- 1:02:03series, probably had the most fun just screwing around as
- 1:02:07Philo and gunge. Do you have the same kind of fun
- 1:02:10with these cattle prod? Yes, well and that's actually,
- 1:02:13you know, something that's Few people have asked me as they
- 1:02:14said, oh if you had Dave goals back, why didn't I didn't date
- 1:02:17play Philo? You know, and we have a lot of
- 1:02:20talk about it and and Dave actually was the first one to
- 1:02:23say that so much of what made those characters funny.
- 1:02:26And so much of what we love about them originally was the
- 1:02:29play on the set, right? Like the back and forth and he
- 1:02:32and Richard had and The Improv and the ad libs and the comments
- 1:02:36know, even just a little times they'd be like, hmm, like those
- 1:02:40little things that it just enhance the moment to make it
- 1:02:42funny. So He was a, he was so
- 1:02:45supportive of recasting Philo, and Dan and I have a long
- 1:02:50history together, working on / and Bubbles and other series for
- 1:02:53Henson. And, and, you know, when he
- 1:02:57auditioned for Philo, he just nailed that, that silliness that
- 1:03:00they've brought, and then I Richard Hunt is one of my
- 1:03:03personal Heroes. I mean, II, you know, as a
- 1:03:06fellow gay Puppeteer and just as someone who he played these
- 1:03:10wonderfully outrageous characters, I just think they
- 1:03:12were always my favorite as kids. So it was kind of, you know, my
- 1:03:16little tribute to him to get the plane gungeon to follow in those
- 1:03:19footsteps. And those are the original
- 1:03:20profits to. So there was something wrong,
- 1:03:22that's kind of a really emotional time and I put them on
- 1:03:26it was like, oh my God, like no one has touched these puppets
- 1:03:29and how many years we get to do them.
- 1:03:32So, you know, we just, it was just trying to keep that same
- 1:03:35partnership, anesthetic going and and Dan and I would often
- 1:03:38finished each other's sentences and a lot of what you saw
- 1:03:40actually that's weekend improv. That's where you saw a lot of
- 1:03:42them probably didn't A departments while on guns that
- 1:03:45luckily would make it in and then you have a me to who's such
- 1:03:48a brilliant improper to that you know, all that whole bit.
- 1:03:52I think I would have considered a is where the trash Heap is
- 1:03:53like okay, back to me, that isn't all that like that was all
- 1:03:56just us just playing and they just kept the cameras rolling
- 1:03:58and we kept it in. So the time yeah.
- 1:04:00Nobody characters was the ones who yeah, you can just improve
- 1:04:03with them and it works very well for the characters and that
- 1:04:07would have been hard to do with a voice that we haven't done.
- 1:04:09So that's why we haven't needed that life.
- 1:04:12That makes a lot of sense. Yeah.
- 1:04:14After getting some very vague advice, and a lump of trash
- 1:04:21cheese from the trash Heap, the the fraggles head back into the
- 1:04:26Rock and we get one of our original Fraggle Rock songs.
- 1:04:30Only way home. This is one of my favorite
- 1:04:33things about the series is that you brought back some of the old
- 1:04:35music and yeah be defined. It each one in a different way.
- 1:04:40You know we're not doing the exact same thing with the exact
- 1:04:42same characters you know? This one fraggles heading back
- 1:04:45home but it's this time it's Gobo and mochi singing.
- 1:04:47You know, harmonizing together and just kind of giving us this
- 1:04:50moment of walking through the Rock and passing through by all
- 1:04:55these characters, a lot of which seem original to the show but
- 1:04:58also some that are definite Throwbacks to the old series.
- 1:05:03I have to assume to ask about the old ones where they rebuilt
- 1:05:08as Easter eggs or were some of these just like sitting in a
- 1:05:11drawer and it's like oh it's that old fraggle character.
- 1:05:13Let's toss them on screen. Well, everything has to be
- 1:05:17everything has to be rebuilt. Yeah, yeah, does it.
- 1:05:25Does it really though? Yeah, it does.
- 1:05:29It does. Well, it's, you know, it's a
- 1:05:30tribute to the original public Builders and artists that things
- 1:05:35that you would have thought would have fall apart years and
- 1:05:38years and years ago, that have not been used for a very long
- 1:05:41time. They would pull them out of the
- 1:05:43Boxes and go. Hey, you know, we also have
- 1:05:45these rock creatures and they need some work, they need
- 1:05:48somebody for bishamon some repair, but the pretty great and
- 1:05:52that was magic. So so, you know really it was
- 1:05:54kind of like, oh my gosh, they still exist.
- 1:05:57Oh my gosh, those things are still usable to Holly's point.
- 1:06:00We had to do a lot of refurb to them and a lot of, you know,
- 1:06:02retouching and repainting. But I mean, it was amazing.
- 1:06:05The shape of these puppets were in.
- 1:06:07And again, that's that, that movement, that's the quality of
- 1:06:09what the Jim Henson Creature Shop does and those original
- 1:06:12builders in the 80s. Put into it.
- 1:06:14And so yeah it was just kind of like I was like a kid in a candy
- 1:06:17store. I mean, you can ask Holly.
- 1:06:19I was like in that creature shop like We can use that, like, I
- 1:06:23was the happiest, because I knew every one of those little
- 1:06:26creatures, that's what I loved about.
- 1:06:27The original series was watching the original series and that,
- 1:06:30that ecosystem, that was created.
- 1:06:31They never attacking didn't have names.
- 1:06:34They didn't have, you know, they didn't have a bill ever talked
- 1:06:37about the just for their, they're just crawling up the
- 1:06:39wall or stuck in a hole that's part of the World building,
- 1:06:41right? That's how you create a great
- 1:06:43way that it's in the script but it's also in the visuals of the
- 1:06:45world and so you have to make it alive and you don't have to I
- 1:06:49like that. You know you don't have to name
- 1:06:50everything. It's just yeah.
- 1:06:52Part of the experience, I love that song So Much.
- 1:06:55By the way, it's such an incredible song and it's such a
- 1:06:57beautiful moment. Paul Fox, our director did such
- 1:06:59a cinematic and beautiful job with that particular song and I
- 1:07:05got one moment said, that's ones.
- 1:07:07You want that? Oh, that's cool.
- 1:07:10Yeah, I'm glad that you just call that out because again,
- 1:07:17you're hearing, Donna, Kimball playing mokey, she's an
- 1:07:20incredible singer, so that Many that was suddenly brought to the
- 1:07:24music, like, just plus tit Harvey Mason junior, is a genius
- 1:07:28building off of The Genius of the original songs, but that one
- 1:07:32in particular I think it I think it pulls kids in there like,
- 1:07:34okay, you're on this adventure to now.
- 1:07:36You're now part of the fraggle, five your the fraggle 6.
- 1:07:40Now that song, where you're like, okay I'm part of the crew
- 1:07:44now. They're my friends now as
- 1:07:46opposed to the first song which is just party down in Fraggle
- 1:07:48Rock. You're now part of this group
- 1:07:51and there's something so emotional.
- 1:07:52National about that moment. Yeah, and there's something so
- 1:07:55specific about the voice of Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee's
- 1:08:00songwriting that even the most talented.
- 1:08:04Songwriters are never going to sound exactly like those guys.
- 1:08:07And every only way, the only way to get there, you know, to get
- 1:08:11that exact sound is to use their songs.
- 1:08:13Well, that and that and that is a big part of the original
- 1:08:16series. I mean that's what made Fraggle
- 1:08:18Rock, Fraggle Rock, it's called Fraggle Rock.
- 1:08:21So you know that music is It's such a part of it.
- 1:08:23So we knew right away very early on were like we have to use some
- 1:08:27of those original songs. It has to be a part of this
- 1:08:29family like once that we were A show.
- 1:08:33Yeah. And an original song when we
- 1:08:37really took a took us down with apple on that.
- 1:08:39We were like no that's this has to be.
- 1:08:42This has to be. I'm very grateful for that.
- 1:08:44I'm also really grateful for just new recordings of these old
- 1:08:47songs because first of all You're great and everyone every
- 1:08:50musician out there should want to should want to cover a
- 1:08:52fraggle song. But also I understand that
- 1:08:56except for the original fraggle songs that were recorded and
- 1:08:59released on albums back then. Is no, like, truly great.
- 1:09:03Crisp sounding recordings of those songs aside from like
- 1:09:07whatever's on the DVD. So to be able to like now we can
- 1:09:11start to put together some new fraggle albums you know even
- 1:09:13just streaming something like that's that's exciting to me.
- 1:09:16I love that. Download the album now on Apple.
- 1:09:20Yeah they love all, it's everywhere.
- 1:09:36You know what the Foo Fighters, you know, they did do their
- 1:09:42version of yeah, Fraggle. Rock rock rock and they had a
- 1:09:47blast doing it. Like late artist, love to take
- 1:09:51these original songs and just play with them too.
- 1:09:54So, you know, the I hope maybe we will get to do more of that
- 1:09:57as well. Yes, that would be amazing.
- 1:10:00Tell me something that we'll talk about in a few weeks.
- 1:10:03As we get to that episode. But for now our fraggle friends
- 1:10:07have found themselves in the crevice of solitude spot-on in
- 1:10:10Matt's back pack. Dangling from her from a
- 1:10:13precariously, Balanced Rock and Global climbs up.
- 1:10:16And once again, we talked about this before but he's really
- 1:10:19dangling. There's no CGI which I very much
- 1:10:22appreciate, you know, that was a combat is a combo of real
- 1:10:26puppet. And then we use the remote
- 1:10:29control version of Gobo to. So I so we could, you know,
- 1:10:32Akley hang in there and he could still have life to him and move
- 1:10:34his mouth and everything, right? Yeah.
- 1:10:36You don't just have like a fishing wire string just tugging
- 1:10:39on them. Yeah.
- 1:10:39Like Jonah. He's struggling and there's a
- 1:10:44cave in and this I mean John you know better than anyone.
- 1:10:49This is something that when it happens on Fraggle Rock this
- 1:10:52isn't Justin. Oh no how do we get out of this
- 1:10:54situation? This is a know.
- 1:10:56We might be trapped here, forever.
- 1:10:57We might not make it out of here.
- 1:10:58Like there's some really dire consequences which I very much
- 1:11:02She you keeping in, in the tone of the series you easily could
- 1:11:06have taken that stuff out and made it a little bit younger, a
- 1:11:09little bit safer, little, you know, adding a little bit more
- 1:11:12fun but that really is a part of, in my opinion, part of
- 1:11:15Fraggle rocks, you know, bloodline that you know, the
- 1:11:19rock can be a dangerous place 100% And that guy was also
- 1:11:23something that we talk to, you know, with apple about early on
- 1:11:25to was like, you know, to honor the the series and make it true
- 1:11:30to the original. But also just feel Fun for kids
- 1:11:33today, this has to still have the spirit of Adventure and
- 1:11:37risk. And I know there's a lot of, a
- 1:11:39lot of real life lessons that come out of that, you know it.
- 1:11:42Yes. It's a very end that's real for
- 1:11:44kids, right? Kids are living in a very
- 1:11:46dangerous world today and the very difficult world and and
- 1:11:50watching how characters go through, those difficult
- 1:11:54situations and get out on the other side of them is really
- 1:11:57valuable, but it was. Yeah, it was important to us to
- 1:11:59say, we're going to see the fraggles getting to you.
- 1:12:02Dangerously high places, we're going to see them you know,
- 1:12:05dangling off of rocks, we're going to see them diving into
- 1:12:08pools, we're going to see things that you know are adventurous
- 1:12:13and and not be really honest. I had to go back, I had to go
- 1:12:16head-to-head. It was me going in head-to-head
- 1:12:19with broadcast standards and practices.
- 1:12:23And having to do a big speech where I'm like, these are
- 1:12:26fantasy creatures. These are fraggles.
- 1:12:31These are not little Children and you know and and we are not
- 1:12:36role modeling that a child won't dive off of the Fraggle Rock
- 1:12:40Cliff because they won't have access to the Fraggle Rock.
- 1:12:44Let like it was like just it was a it was the thing we did, we
- 1:12:48did make some you know we had to do some shopping for you show.
- 1:12:51People are okay, everything's fine and we're very responsible
- 1:12:55about that, but there was a whole speech about you got to
- 1:12:59let these fraggles. Like Johnny said, you know, And
- 1:13:02dangerous adventurous situations.
- 1:13:04Otherwise it's just not going to once again.
- 1:13:06Feel like a show for older folks, well, and it helps that
- 1:13:10this scene is right up against a scene where they're basically on
- 1:13:14a water slide, you know, like it's like when it goes very
- 1:13:17quickly from, you know, we might, you know, we might
- 1:13:21actually Parish to now. We're like whoo, whoo, damn fine
- 1:13:26hairs wet. Yeah, that's doing the big time
- 1:13:28and all that but this also introduces the concept that
- 1:13:32They've discovered this new water source.
- 1:13:34And yeah, there's so much to unpack with this moment.
- 1:13:38The biggest of which being that over the next 12 episodes after
- 1:13:42this that Discovery is going to carry itself through which is
- 1:13:46only the old Fraggle Rock series.
- 1:13:48Very rarely did of we learned something here and in a in a
- 1:13:52different episode is going to pay off.
- 1:13:55So I don't think there's really much to say about that other
- 1:13:58than, you know, you're updating the format like Lee for Fraggle
- 1:14:03Rock. But if you did have anything to
- 1:14:04say about about the new, serialization aspects of the
- 1:14:08show, again, it's what audience is, you know, are used to right
- 1:14:12now and expect and at the special in that it Aventure
- 1:14:15Series. So you know a light Arc through
- 1:14:18a series of one is completely expected and keeps you wanting
- 1:14:22to watch. And so that was a very
- 1:14:25deliberate choice we made. But in terms of a bigger
- 1:14:28messaging, I would also say, you know, the water was a deliberate
- 1:14:32choice. Choice because it does connect
- 1:14:34everything in Fraggle Rock. But also connects everything in
- 1:14:36our world almost every country and all of us around the world
- 1:14:40are connected through the oceans and connected through water.
- 1:14:44So it's this beautiful metaphor that we can all relate to or
- 1:14:47need to be reminded of, right? Well, if you have to, if you
- 1:14:51talk to experts, they say when, you know, you ask them, what are
- 1:14:54going to be the crisis, we're going to have to face, you know,
- 1:14:58in the next Generations Waters. Always wants top ones.
- 1:15:01It was the top. Yeah, and not and not just
- 1:15:04pollution in the water, which is a huge problem, of course, in
- 1:15:06the world, which is what Doc is working to solve, but the fact
- 1:15:09that we are connected by water and then it's going to get, we
- 1:15:11will if we don't do the right things, it will become a
- 1:15:13scarcity. And so it just felt like and
- 1:15:16knowing the original series dealt with that a few times
- 1:15:19which I was some. Those are some of my favorite
- 1:15:21episodes from the original are the ones that dealt with water.
- 1:15:24It was kind of like could we make this a much bigger thing
- 1:15:28that that connects this world and it's something the kids
- 1:15:31understand. Only because what's the thing
- 1:15:34that we all survive off of what's the thing we interact
- 1:15:36with every single day as water. So it just felt like the right
- 1:15:40way to go and also to your point, it's not just something
- 1:15:44that connects us all it is something that's specifically
- 1:15:46connects to this series to the original series because there's
- 1:15:50like you said, there's several episodes, notably let the water
- 1:15:53run is the first one. I think of that shows that the
- 1:15:57Doozers the fraggles, the gorgs and our world are all connected
- 1:16:01by for them. It was Only the same water pipe
- 1:16:03and it's kind of in here like this, this scene where the water
- 1:16:06shoots out and it goes into the fraggle Pond.
- 1:16:08The gorgs garden is overflowing with water, the Doozers water
- 1:16:14powered batteries, I guess, whatever those are go out there,
- 1:16:17crazy the water's coming out of Doc's pipe and more.
- 1:16:21So like it's going to have negative consequences later on
- 1:16:25down the road which will get you on this series which I'm I think
- 1:16:29that's just brilliant but we we will we will cover that.
- 1:16:32As soon we don't need to do that today.
- 1:16:35And you know what's fun about water on a set, is getting
- 1:16:38puppeteers wet. That's the most fun watching
- 1:16:42them just get so watching Johnny and Karen in a wetsuit and the
- 1:16:47pond that was gonna be my next question.
- 1:16:49You guys had fraggles in the pond with real water.
- 1:16:52This wasn't just, you didn't fake it.
- 1:16:55How did you do that? I was obsessed, obsessed.
- 1:16:59When I was a kid first first getting into puppetry.
- 1:17:03Watching those fraggles in the pond in the original series and
- 1:17:06and of course way before the day of days of CG knowing that those
- 1:17:10puppets were in there, the puppets looked a little
- 1:17:12different when they were wet, the feathers look different when
- 1:17:15they were wet and I was fascinated by that.
- 1:17:19I would try to, I remember I cut up a point cock when I was a
- 1:17:22kid. I'd like my mom bought one of
- 1:17:23those like plastic kiddie pools, you know, and I was like, trying
- 1:17:27to cut it up, trying to do it. I probably almost drowned
- 1:17:29myself, but I think he's really fast.
- 1:17:34And so when we had a big talk about that were like do we
- 1:17:37actually put you know, it's very difficult on the puppets to be
- 1:17:40put in the water. It's we had to we have to build
- 1:17:42these special swim fraggles like it didn't even Series.
- 1:17:46Yeah, this one pup is there built.
- 1:17:48They're constructed very differently than the original so
- 1:17:49they could get wet and get dried and everything.
- 1:17:52So it was a big thing to do it. And once we decided, we were
- 1:17:55going to do that, we were going to do the the, you know, dear
- 1:17:57it. The way that they do it in the
- 1:17:58original we did it on the pond is there is a rubber sleeve but
- 1:18:02the To be built into the pond. It's part of the structure of
- 1:18:05the pond, in the public gets put on that.
- 1:18:06And you basically put your hand up inside of it from below the
- 1:18:09pond dry, but all that means is the puppets kind of sit there,
- 1:18:13they can't go anywhere, they're just kind of stuck in place,
- 1:18:15they're in the water. But then I think I'm the idiot
- 1:18:18who in the said in a meeting when we were talking about this
- 1:18:24first episode, and then, of course, the second episode were
- 1:18:26red does, the big diving competition?
- 1:18:28I think I'm the idiot who was like, well, Tyler's built this
- 1:18:31gorgeous. It's eight-foot deep 15 foot
- 1:18:34wide pond. That's basically built like a
- 1:18:37real, like a Jacuzzi. Almost like it's almost like
- 1:18:40that kind of structure. As like, why couldn't a
- 1:18:43puppeteer this idiot? Let's talk to you right now.
- 1:18:46Get inside of there, like, in a wetsuit and actually move in the
- 1:18:49puppet around and you can just frame me out, then you could
- 1:18:51really see the puppet swimming not just sitting in place
- 1:18:54floating but swimming and moving their hands and and everyone was
- 1:18:57like are you gonna do that as like shit?
- 1:19:00Because you know, I wasn't in freezing cold.
- 1:19:02Audrey up. It was happening, it sure sounds
- 1:19:06great, but we decided to go for it and I think what's really
- 1:19:09cool is that it just again to your point you you know it's
- 1:19:13there you know it's the difference between CG Yoda and
- 1:19:16real Yoda you know. Yeah no matter how well, no
- 1:19:20matter how beautiful some things animated or CG you're human, you
- 1:19:23just have an uncanny valley knowledge that it's there or
- 1:19:26it's not and you may see that we couldn't have done it CG and
- 1:19:30water. That's right.
- 1:19:31Fraggle It wasn't, it would be impossible.
- 1:19:34It would be like our entire budget for this season, you
- 1:19:38know? Yeah.
- 1:19:39Getting them in there. Also Johnny, my favorite day two
- 1:19:42is when the water was just a little too cold, like just like
- 1:19:45slightly like the little bit too cold, they forgot to heat it.
- 1:19:50So, they the first time I get in there, they heat it up, and it
- 1:19:53was like, almost like being a bath time.
- 1:19:54It was great. I was like, I could do this all
- 1:19:56day. I'm like, floating in the water
- 1:19:57Puppeteer in. This is great, second time, we
- 1:20:00did it. They God bless them.
- 1:20:03They totally forgot to heat the water, taking it up and so I got
- 1:20:06in and I was like, I'm gonna die of hypothermia.
- 1:20:10What? A way to go make those
- 1:20:11sacrifices. What a way to go.
- 1:20:13Exactly conduit. Well, it's one of those things
- 1:20:17to were like you hear stories about Frank Oz.
- 1:20:19Performing underwater with Miss Piggy for great Muppet Caper.
- 1:20:21You're like look at Frank and do it like if even Frank would the
- 1:20:25time underwater? I can't say no when you know,
- 1:20:29Karen Pearl who's the most loving caring.
- 1:20:32Human being on this Earth. We've been she was like looking
- 1:20:34over the edge of the pond going. Are you sure you're okay and
- 1:20:45when you get that wet it a lot. So, I think my biceps got the
- 1:20:50biggest workout on those puppet watered is because really sorry
- 1:20:54about is soaking. Wet soaking wet puppet that
- 1:20:57weighs like 20 times when it's closed.
- 1:21:00Yeah, it was so much fun. I was living My Puppeteer
- 1:21:03dreams. That was great.
- 1:21:04He was he was I was a little worried about you.
- 1:21:07That was a day where I had to watch you on.
- 1:21:08We can watch the streaming zoom and I was like, I can't text him
- 1:21:13to say, are you okay. Yeah you do have a number like
- 1:21:17her phone. Yeah, of course.
- 1:21:19Yeah, right, so this episode mainly ends with gobert
- 1:21:24returning Matt's backpack. Matt offers Gobo once again,
- 1:21:29join me in outer space gobos respectfully.
- 1:21:32Lines which I think any of us would probably make the same
- 1:21:34decision and trash cheese Saves the Day by fending off.
- 1:21:39Another spot in the trash doesn't, it always doesn't it
- 1:21:42always look for trashed, he's in stores near.
- 1:21:46You should always have someone ask you some more urgency crash,
- 1:21:50but really this ends with what we've been discussing this whole
- 1:21:53time with Gobo kind of pondering to himself, doesn't it?
- 1:21:56Make you wonder? What else is out there?
- 1:21:57And what else is connected? Which is theme of all Fraggle,
- 1:22:00Rock of the The show of this podcast of you and me and
- 1:22:04everyone listening like we're all connected and we Zoom way
- 1:22:09out to see planet Earth. So we've established officially
- 1:22:13that Fraggle Rock is on Earth. We've never done that much and
- 1:22:17we Zoom back in. And we end with the way that no
- 1:22:22other TV show ends with its opening theme song.
- 1:22:26Yeah. The animation of it.
- 1:22:29No, John you you pretty recently posted a some great behind the
- 1:22:34scenes videos of you filming the theme song.
- 1:22:38I know we've been talking for way too long so you know feel
- 1:22:41free to keep it brief or we can return to this another time.
- 1:22:44But do you have any specific memories that you want to share
- 1:22:46about about being back in the Fraggle?
- 1:22:49Rock theme song and being a part of it filming that theme song
- 1:22:54was definitely I don't think there Was a day that we because
- 1:22:58it took a few days to shoot at, you know, between the dockets
- 1:23:00Market East, which we shot very early on.
- 1:23:02And then the other parts in the caves and the gorgs garden every
- 1:23:06day. It was every time we shot it.
- 1:23:08It was like, everyone got really.
- 1:23:11Super serious and super aware of how special it was, you know,
- 1:23:16it's almost like it. And, and the first thing we shot
- 1:23:19of it was the doctrine sprocket moment with Gobo getting the
- 1:23:22postcard. And I remember to just we were
- 1:23:24all this time, looking each other going.
- 1:23:26Oh my God, we're shooting the Fraggle Rock theme like you
- 1:23:28know, it's it was like, it was like we were so in the, in the
- 1:23:31heat of shooting all the dock and sprocket pieces and getting
- 1:23:33those finished that, it was like it the reality, without the you
- 1:23:37get into work mode. You forget what you're doing for
- 1:23:39a little bit and then all of a sudden it was like, you hear
- 1:23:40that do. Benton over the over the sound
- 1:23:43Symphony. Like, oh my God, that's the bad
- 1:23:46and Gretel and it was fun to kind of, you know, figure out.
- 1:23:50Well, how can we take the originals, you know, that
- 1:23:53original theme and those frat fellow fraggles, nerds like me
- 1:23:57out there, listening, who know who this, you know, it took the
- 1:24:00original series, a lot of figure out what the original theme was
- 1:24:03going to be and how they were going to show the world's.
- 1:24:04And I think of us, except I think I'm remembering.
- 1:24:07It's like 17 different versions. I think was were created before
- 1:24:10they settled on what we all. Know, and love.
- 1:24:12And and so it's hard. It's a hard.
- 1:24:14It's four different worlds to show it show how they're
- 1:24:17connected. You got to shut the characters
- 1:24:19each one. So, if you've never seen an
- 1:24:21episode of the show, you are not like, what the heck is
- 1:24:23happening? Where these big giant creatures?
- 1:24:24How are they connected? So we knew we wanted to keep the
- 1:24:26same footprint of the original. But again, it was like, how do
- 1:24:30we make it feel even more inclusive?
- 1:24:32And even more wondrous. And I was so excited about that.
- 1:24:36First shot going into Doc's workshop with what the camera
- 1:24:39could do. But also Really seeing Gobo grab
- 1:24:43the make that connection, you know, go about grabbing the
- 1:24:45postcard right, is Doc puts it in and running through the hole
- 1:24:48and actually that took the most time with, we use the real
- 1:24:52grabby hands. They built for the original
- 1:24:54series, those grabby hands that grab pizzas, the could grab
- 1:24:57props, but they're very flexible and it grabbed that postcard and
- 1:25:02runs with it was like so many different pieces had to work all
- 1:25:05together. The camera had a lineup at the
- 1:25:06right time Lily had to hit the right place with the postcard
- 1:25:09for me to get it for the hand to take.
- 1:25:11Take it, I turn there was a weird thing but it was it was so
- 1:25:15cool. I did so, so shooting that whole
- 1:25:17sequence was amazing. And then we have all the
- 1:25:19fraggles at the end. We shot the big Great Hall
- 1:25:20moments. I think I have a couple of
- 1:25:23things I can post about that, too.
- 1:25:25But like, just, everyone would only be like, we're shooting.
- 1:25:28It was so excited. And we were all very, very we
- 1:25:34knew Johnny. You choreograph that number, he
- 1:25:37choreographed that number. Where's many of the directors?
- 1:25:41Came with Johnny, they would together come up with the the
- 1:25:44dancing and the choreography but in that particular number was
- 1:25:47all Johnny and it was really fun to watch.
- 1:25:49Johnny direct and be the Bob Fosse above the Practical Rock
- 1:25:53theme song. He was very like five, six,
- 1:25:57seven, eight like, it was hilarious and very joyful.
- 1:26:01It was also figuring out again. Like how could we also keep it
- 1:26:04in a minute? And the original is a minute.
- 1:26:07I think seven seconds of The Originals.
- 1:26:08Really cut up seven seconds like what do we do?
- 1:26:10So So, that's where the idea came up.
- 1:26:12I think, I don't like to take ownership for things.
- 1:26:14I think I came up with the idea of going up, into the Great Hall
- 1:26:17through to the gorgs Garden. So you could get right there to
- 1:26:20see that connection, but will the figure out those little
- 1:26:22things of, like, you know, how do you tell it today?
- 1:26:26And I still watching geek out every time I watch them like to
- 1:26:29do that, the Remake that that's one of those.
- 1:26:32You know, like when you're watching something streaming and
- 1:26:34it gives you the option to skip the theme song.
- 1:26:37It's like he can't, he literally cannot like it's illegal to.
- 1:26:41Get the Fraggle Rock. The insult is always something
- 1:26:42else to see. Thank you for saying that, I
- 1:26:45won't say who, but Johnny and I were told by some people that
- 1:26:50people would skip it and we were like, no they won't.
- 1:26:53Nope, no, no, I actually said, I was like rival.
- 1:26:57Fans will accept a lot of changes and updates to the show
- 1:27:01but the one thing that has to be part of the show, even if you've
- 1:27:04never seen Fraggle Rock, You Know, Dan scares away, everyone
- 1:27:09knows that you've got people theme song.
- 1:27:11I think something has to be in each of us over for sure, and
- 1:27:13it's a perfect theme song. It's got that great Baseline.
- 1:27:15It's got the claps. It's got an introduction to your
- 1:27:18characters. It's fun and funny.
- 1:27:21I mean, like if you change any part of that you lose something,
- 1:27:24I'll tell you, actually, personally, speaking, there's
- 1:27:27one thing that's missing that I wish was there and it's a tiny
- 1:27:30little thing. It's when the Doozers have have
- 1:27:32their verse, I kind of wish that there was a that little like
- 1:27:36poop like that robotic music in the background.
- 1:27:38That's in the original theme song and Humming to myself but
- 1:27:43to myself when I watch the show because I miss it that much,
- 1:27:46that's it second season, we're putting it in, I'll tell her
- 1:27:52fantastic, I'm excited. Okay well there's so much more
- 1:27:56to talk about with this series and unfortunately we've already
- 1:27:59been at this for far too long, but the good news is that this
- 1:28:01is only the first episode of Fraggle talks.
- 1:28:03We're going to do so much more of this with the rest of our
- 1:28:06guests. But this is not the last that
- 1:28:09we're going to be hearing from the two of you on this.
- 1:28:11Podcast moving forward John you will be presenting a special
- 1:28:15fraggle, fast fact in every episode which I'm really excited
- 1:28:18about and Hallie, you'll be back in every episode with our
- 1:28:22special dig deeper segments. So we could talk about some of
- 1:28:25the big topics addressed in each of these back to the Rock
- 1:28:27episodes. So this is not goodbye, this is
- 1:28:31not fair. Well, this is.
- 1:28:32We'll see you next week and for everyone listening.
- 1:28:36Thank you so much for listening to this podcast.
- 1:28:39We hope you've enjoyed it. We hope you'll stick around.
- 1:28:41Next week, and for more fragile fun.
- 1:28:44Please. Visit us at tough, pigs.com.
- 1:28:46And check us out on social media.
- 1:28:48Always at tough pigs, and we will see you next time down at
- 1:28:53fraggle talk. Goodbye.
- 1:29:01Fraggle Rock The Unofficial Fraggle.
- 1:29:03Rock podcast is brought to you by tough pics.com produced
- 1:29:06written and hosted by Johannes fraggle fast facts segment
- 1:29:10hosted by John tartaglia dig deeper segment hosted by Beth
- 1:29:13cook with special. Guest Hayley Stanford fraggle,
- 1:29:16talk art by Dave whole team Junior the Fraggle Rock Mark and
- 1:29:19Logo characters and elements are trademarks of the Jim Henson
- 1:29:21company All Rights. Reserved Fraggle Rock theme song
- 1:29:24written by Philip Balsam and Dennis Lee is used with
- 1:29:26permission. Special.
- 1:29:27Thanks to the Jim Henson company, Apple TV plus and the
- 1:29:29entire Fraggle. Rock back to the Rock Family,
- 1:29:32for more from tough pigs. Please find us at tough pigs on
- 1:29:35Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and patreon.
- 1:29:38Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time down at
- 1:29:40fraggle talk.