Waldo C. Graphic
From Muppet Wiki
Waldo C. Graphic, "the spirit of 3D", is a computer graphic, as his name suggests, rather than a standard fleece-and-foam Muppet. As such, he is able to morph into any shape imaginable. Waldo is the demographics expert for MuppeTelevision on The Jim Henson Hour, and has the playful nature of a clown. He also figured prominently in Muppet*Vision 3D, engaging with the Muppets and audience members, attempting to get out of the film, and even morphing into Mickey Mouse (voiced by Wayne Allwine).
Despite his CG nature, Waldo was controlled in real time by a puppeteer, making use of a mitten-like motion-capture device called a Waldo (which he was named after). Jim Henson had begun experimenting with creating digital characters in the mid-1980s and Waldo's underlying technology grew out of experiments conducted to create a computer generated version of Kermit the Frog.[1]
Waldo's strength as a computer generated puppet was that he could be controlled by a single puppeteer (Steve Whitmire[2]) in real-time in concert with conventional puppets. The computer image of Waldo was mixed with the video feed of the camera focused on physical puppets so that all of the puppeteers in a scene could perform together. Afterwards, in post production, PDI re-rendered Waldo in full resolution, adding a few dynamic elements on top of the performed motion.[3]
Waldo's design was led by Kirk Thatcher with input from a variety of other artists, including Timothy Young and animated by Pacific Data Images,[4] now known as PDI/DreamWorks. Jim Henson performed him in a special demonstration of how he worked in "Secrets of the Muppets."
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Transformations
Waldo's many transformations have included:
- A doctor (Episode 101: Science Fiction)
- A hat (Episode 105: The Ratings Game)
- A dinosaur (Episode 105: The Ratings Game)
A powersaw (Episode 105: The Ratings Game)
- A teenage girl (Episode 109: Garbage)
- A book (in Episode 110: Secrets of the Muppets)
- After sneezing his skin off, he becomes a green outline of himself (in Episode 110: Secrets of the Muppets)
- A clown (in Episode 110: Secrets of the Muppets)
- A sack and stick (in Muppet*Vision 3D)
- A duck (in Muppet*Vision 3D)
- Mickey Mouse (in Muppet*Vision 3D)
- A car (in Muppet*Vision 3D)
- A taxi (in Muppet*Vision 3D)
- A rocket (in Muppet*Vision 3D)
Appearances
Sources
- ↑ Finch, Christopher. Jim Henson: The Works (New York: Random House, 1993)
- ↑ [1], accessed February 9, 2007
- ↑ Walters, Graham. The story of Waldo C. Graphic. Course Notes: 3D Character Animation by Computer, ACM SIGGRAPH '89, Boston, July 1989, pp. 65-79
- ↑ Featured Creature: Behind The Scenes @ Archive.org
