Ep-38. Dinosaurs Month - Week One
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- Опубліковано 5 лют 2025
- Episode 38 of The Barretta Brothers. Guests: Stuart Pankin, John Kennedy, Allan Trautman, Jane Gootnick, Marian McCoin, Nikki Lyons, Julianne Buescher, Brian Henson, Tony Sabin Prince, and Lisa Rocco. Hosted by award-winning author/illustrator of children's books, Gene Barretta and producer, writer, director, and performer for the Muppets, Bill Barretta. New Episode every Sunday. For more details, visit: www.thebarrettabrothers.com
Dinosaurs Month, Week One
WIth the announcement that the entire Dinosaurs series is going up on Disney+ on January 29, the Brothers have decided to dedicate an entire month’s worth of episodes to the beloved show. Expect features on the characters, as well as on the designers, builders, performers, and voice actors that brought those characters to life.
On today’s show, the Brothers are joined by Stuart Pankin, John Kennedy, Allan Trautman, Jane Gootnick, Marian McCoin, Nikki Lyons, Julianne Buescher, Brian Henson, Tony Sabin Prince, and Lisa Rocco.
Expect to hear...
...how the puppeteers and performers developed a working chemistry to bring their characters to life.
...puppeteering innovations that came out of Dinosaurs.
...what it feels like to be inside Earl’s, Fran’s, and Ethyl’s body suits.
MEMORABLE QUOTES
● “I visited the set a bunch of times. It was fantastic. It’s too bad that the people who watched it, who loved the show, couldn't get a chance to see that. That set and those people, those animatronics, it was beautiful and unbelievable.” ~Brian
● “We’re just controlling the face, and we’re doing the dialogue. We’re all puppeteers, so I imagine what I want to see the character do. I’m not just doing a voice or making faces. As a puppeteer, I’m always thinking about the body and how I want to compose things and the emotion I want to get across. ~Allan
● “It wasn’t about us. It was about those characters. No matter who you were, we were all working to make sure the characters were great and the relationships between them were great. And that took all of us to do that, no matter who was doing what.” ~Bill
OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE
● Introducing our first round of guests [04:02]
● Puppeteering innovations on Dinosaurs and creating Earl Sinclair [07:30]
● Developing Earl’s voice [22:31]
● How Lisa helped Bill survive in the body suit [27:46]
● Reminiscing over behind-the-scenes photos [34:50]
● Introducing our second round of guests [40:10]
● The complexity of performing while utilizing controls to manipulate expressions [45:02]
● Marian’s typical day on set [48:45]
● How Tony and Allan built up their working chemistry for performing Fran [57:17]
● The relationships made along the way [1:02:11]
● Mannerisms or quotes from characters that showed up in their performer’s lives [1:04:40]
● Going through a few more behind-the-scenes photos [1:08:55]
● Introducing our third round of guests [1:10:27]
● Puppeteering Ethyl [1:12:56]
● Jane’s memories of Caroly Wilcox [1:33:09]
● Closing remarks [1:38:10]
How have I not seen this before! Caroly was my aunt and I have missed her every day since she died. For those interested, after she retired in 1990 she returned to an early love, music, especially vocal music (she had cut 2 records in 2 different folk groups, "The Folk Singers" and "The Samplers," back in pre-puppetry days). After retirement, she studied voice seriously and piano to accompany herself, and housed frequent musicales at her NYC loft where friends would come to sing and play
And yes, she worked with Bil Baird, the City of NY, Beryl Bernay, and others before coming on board with the Muppets.
She wasn't creepy, which I know was just a joke here....she was just interested in everything. Though there is a 1930s(?) Life Magazine article on The School in Rose Valley in PA, where she and my mom attended off and on, which shows her dissecting a flying squirrel.
So sorry I couldn’t have been there with you guys, but so lovely to hear everyone talking about the wonderful time we all had.
We missed you! Maybe another time. XO
I remember the blog you did about your part of Earl. I was fascinated.
You guys need to play dnd as the Muppets for real man
Also we ownted the vhs where one of the eps was when Ethel died and that shit made an impression, I thought it was terrifying loo
Bill and Gene you are my HEROES!! Brian still has it in him when it comes to Dr Phil van Neuter!! 💚💚
This was really fun to watch. Saddened about what happened to Caroly Wilcox.
I hope to see Terri Hardin and Kevin Clash in the next episode.
R.I.P. Uncle Harry
I'm sorry to hear about your uncle. And Caroly Wilcox, of course.
Do you guys have plans to have Terri Hardin and Kevin Clash on the show next week?
You’ll have to wait and see. :)