Taminella Grinderfall is the witchiest witch of them all. She was the star of Tales of the Tinkerdee, an unaired pilot created by Jim Henson and Jerry Juhl in 1962. Taminella is excluded by King Goshposh and his circle from the royal birthday party. In retaliation, Taminella plots to steal Princess Gwendolinda's birthday presents through cunning, multiple disguises, and an insistence on obeying the rules of etiquette while planning to rob the king blind. A master of impersonations, Taminella's guises range from Pierre, the greatest sculptor in Tinkerdee, to Santa Claus himself, to even Princess Gwendolinda. Taminella subsequently appeared as the witch in "Shrinkel and Stretchel", co-starring the RX Twins. She eagerly anticipated consuming the kids, until they informed her of a powerful new magic, Pak-Nit RX, which took her mind off the subject.

The character was revived for the 1971 special The Frog Prince. Though still voiced by Jerry Juhl, Taminella was now a full-bodied character, puppeteered by Richard Hunt.^{[1] [2]} Her comedic aspects were also toned down and her power and menace emphasized, to present her as a genuine threat to be overcome. Her actions in the special were far more malevolent than silly disguises and present stealing: she turned Sir Robin the Brave into Robin the Frog; fooled the gullible King Rupert the Second into believing that she was his sister, Aunt Taminella, while plotting to take his throne; and cast a spell on Princess Melora that made her talk wackbirds. She was defeated by Robin, when he figured out how to "bake the hall on the candle of her brain." Afterwards, she turned into a bird, and was never used again in another Henson production.

The puppet used for Taminella was recycled as Tommy, who appeared in ads for Kern's Bakery with his partner Fred (previously used as the Prime Minister). In the original script for The Great Santa Claus Switch (which was originally titled "The Witch Who Stole Christmas") Taminella was written as the special's evil villian.^[3]

Filmography

• Tales of the Tinkerdee
• Shrinkel and Stretchel
• The Muppets on Puppets
• The Frog Prince

See also

• Witches

References

1. ↑ "Written in Foam." Interview with Jerry Juhl. 1998.
2. ↑ Ask Henson.com question 60 (Archive.org copy)
3. ↑ Jim Henson's Red Book historical information entry