Talk:Rowlf the Dog

Through the Years

Rowlf is a pretty significant character. Why doesn't he have a "Rowlf Through the Years" page? --Rankin (talk) 22:36, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

Mostly because he hasn't really gone through any big design changes. - Oscarfan 23:13, February 12, 2010 (UTC)

Prototype

Rowlf Playing card

I won on ebay not long ago Muppet Show picture playing cards to promot it's first season. On one of the cards had Rowlf on it (pictured). I have never seen him like this before, is he a prototype puppet? - Just wondered.-- MuppetDanny (talk) 18:05, January 2, 2010 (UTC)

It's possible that this is an example of a photo puppet. --TenCents 01:10, January 4, 2010 (UTC)

Actually, it looks like the Rowlf that briefly appeared in The Muppet Valentine Show and The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence. --TenCents 01:11, January 4, 2010 (UTC)

Merlin

I noticed this sentence: "On The Jim Henson Hour, Rowlf appeared in a series of sketches where he portrayed a character named Merlin." Apart from the fact that Merlin is an Arthurian reference, was this in fact a recurring sketch? There's only one such instance mentioned on the Wiki, Episode 102: Aquatic Life. In fact, given how brief that section is, is there a way to either expand it or merge it? I know recent additions to Fozzie Bear and Kermit the Frog have been production by production, but I'm not entirely in agreement with that approach if the text can't support the division; it seems to me a seperate sub-section of this kind should be more than two sentences. Can anyone with a knowledge of The Jim Henson Hour correct, verify, or expand this area? -- Andrew Leal (talk) 01:28, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

If I recall correctly, they did it twice -- once in episode 102, and once in the second half of the series -- maybe Smokey Robinson or so. -- Danny (talk) 01:36, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

I'm not sure about the recurring or not of Merlin as I haven't seen all of JHH (that tidbit was here when the article was small and I shuffled it along as I expanded the article). As for JHH being a separate heading, right now it is a bit small. I've been doing a lot of work on this article over the past few days, and haven't seen much of JHH to expand it in detail. I think that information on Rowlf's role in Dog City, the O.M.D. meeting, and Rowlf as Merlin could all be expanded to be more than just one sentence each. If done right you could have a paragraph that's as big as, if not bigger than, "Muppet Caper" or "Origins". -- Brad D. (talk) 01:41, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

True, but right now, it's the weakest spot in an otherwise great article, and sticks out like a sore thumb. I don't see why it couldn't temporarily be merged with The Muppet Show, under some heading. -- Andrew Leal (talk) 01:43, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

I worked on it, did some more research and built it up. Hope you enjoy ;-) Any other suggestions for expansion? -- Brad D. (talk) 03:12, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, I was watching the Jim Henson Hour Episode 107: Health and Fitness at the Paley Center for Media, and the Merlin the Magician, M.D., was in that episode. To be exact, the sketch only appeared in two episodes. Too bad for Rowlf, though. User:TenCents 9:52, March 26 2009 (UTC)

Ticklin' the ivories...

The page says, "When Rowlf was required to play piano, Jim Henson would control Rowlf's head while leaving an actual piano player to operate Rowlf's hands, making what may have seemed to be an illusion just the opposite."

Is that true? My understanding is that it was, in fact, an illusion. I thought Rowlf only had four fingers on each hand, which would make it difficult to play pieces intended for five fingers. -Ryan R PrawnRR 18:25, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

There's a quote from some damn place (??) where Steve Whitmire speaks about performing Rowf's hands and how much of a joy it was to do because he couldn't really play the piano. If you watch closely, Rowlf is never really playing, but it's usually pretty darn convincing.

I don't know who did Rowlf's hands on piano before Steve joined the troupe. -- Scott Scarecroe 18:44, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

I call no way. I don't think piano players typically play very well with heavy gloves on while they're wedged underneath a piano, a puppet and a puppeteer. That seems like a lot of trouble to go through when the other option is to record the music track and sync to it, which is what they actually did. I took that sentence out. -- Danny Toughpigs 18:49, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

Is it this quote Scott?

" One of my favorite things to do, ever, in my career has been to do Rowlf’s hands on the piano, which is something that other people had done, but once I started doing it, I kind of have done it… since The Muppet Show days. I love it. It’s the best job in the world for somebody who sort of plays the piano, but would really like to play the piano well. The fact that you can approximate what it’s supposed to be and make it look really good."

- Steve Whitmire (July 19, 1999)

-- BradFraggle 22:40, 4 February 2006 (UTC)

That's the one! -- Scarecroe 15:19, 5 February 2006 (UTC)