SFGATE/THE POOP: Q&A - "The Muppet Movie" director James Frawley
Posted By: Peter Hartlaub (Email)When we decided last month to go forward with
The Poop Presents: "The Muppet Movie" (at
the Cerrito Speakeasy this weekend; noon and 3 p.m. on Sat.; 2 p.m. on Sun.), I wanted to interview at least one person connected with the film.
James Frawley was at the top of my list, and not just because he directed the movie -- he gets bonus points for being behind the camera during more than half of the episodes of "The Monkees."
I got his e-mail from an old friend who works at the Director's Guild of America, and Jim wrote back the next day. He was in the middle of a directing job, but gave me some time on the phone early this week.
The Poop: Here's the most important question. How did you get Kermit the Frog to ride a bike?
James Frawley: Every time I show the film -- whether it's to film students at USC or UCLA or I'm going to a festival -- that's always the first question: How did Kermit ride the bicycle? And my stock answer is: I put him on a three-wheeler until he got his balance, and then I put him on the two-wheeler.
TP: I'm looking at
your IMDB entry. You started out as an actor, and then all of a sudden you're directing
"The Monkees."JF: I was an actor in New York, and I had studied with Lee Strasberg and The Actors Studio and I did Broadway and off-Broadway, but at the same time I was very interested in photography. ... I picked up a 16mm camera and I shot two short films and edited them myself. They won a lot of awards and attracted the attention of Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson, two young producers in Hollywood at that time. Because I had been an improvisational actor and done a lot of comedy, they thought I'd be a perfect combination to direct "The Monkees."
TP: How did you get "The Muppet Movie" job?
JF: Jim Henson had seen "The Monkees" and liked my work on that, and seen some other television that I had done. He knew that I had been an actor, and thought that I was the right combination for The Muppets. He flew me to London where they made "The Muppet Show." We met, and we had an immediate connection.
TP: Why didn't they direct it themselves?
JF: Up until that time they had never shot film. They had only shot tape, and they had never shot outside the studio. So (Henson) knew that he needed somebody who was a filmmaker and knew what to do with the camera. And he felt pretty good about my sense of humor. It seemed like a good combinations of talents for his Muppets. I had a very childlike approach to my work, and the Muppets fit in well with that.
TP: You also directed the pilot episode of "Ally McBeal." It seems like you specialize in blending fantasy and reality.
JF: You're absolutely right. I'm very comfortable with things that are of another world, or are not real. I've always enjoyed things that were quirky and off the beaten path.
TP: How did you approach directing "The Muppet Movie"?
JF: I had seen the show on the air, but I had no idea how they did it. So I learned the technique of Muppet performers -- they use cameras to watch themselves perform, and sets had to be built six feet off the ground, so the floor could be taken up and they could work from underneath.
TP: How was "The Muppet Movie" different than "The Muppet Show"?
JF: They had never been shot outdoors, or in car or real locations, and we pretty much had to invent it as we went along. Every shot had never been done before, because nobody had taken Fozzie Bear and Miss Piggy and Kermit and put them in a Studebaker. It's the same thing that Peter Jackson had to do on his ("Lord of the Rings") films. None of that had ever been done before in the style that he did it.
TP: It doesn't sound like it was fun all the time.
JF: We just had to approach it like an adventure, and have the confidence and humor and good will to know that you can't make a mistake. And there was such a sense of comraderie and love and community that Jim Henson and his people brought to the work. I had no choice but to embrace it and let it carry me along.
TP: Was there one scene that was the most challenging?
JF: You have to figure that you had four grown men under the dashboard of that Studebaker. Fozzie Bear was operated by two people, Kermit was operated by somebody else and then Miss Piggy by somebody else. They had to have video imaging of what they were doing, so they could watch their own performance as it happened. And then we had a little person in the back of the car, steering and driving. We had a video camera on the nose of the car so he could see where he was going.
TP: Jesus.
JF: (Laughs) That was the most challenging. And all it looks like when you see the movie is a pig, a frog and a bear driving down the road.
TP: What was it like working with all the guest stars. You were a pretty young director, and you're on a set with Bob Hope and Milton Berle and all these other legends?
JF: They were all a pleasure to work with. We agreed to have them one day and one day only. They agreed to do it because they loved the Muppets. Some had more belief in the Muppets than others, but they were just a joy. Richard Pryor had a great deal of fun. And Jim Coburn was a friend of ours.
TP: What about Orson Welles?
JF: Orson Welles was just a joy. He had a history of magic and he knew that the Muppets were a form of magic and he knew every character's name. He even knew we had changed the color of somebody's hat.
TP:
Our readers almost unanimously picked this movie as our blog's first children's film presentation. Do you get excited that people still appreciate your work.
JF: I'm so flattered and thrilled that you chose "The Muppet Movie." It's my favorite movie in my career. I wish I could be there this weekend to see the reaction.
Posted By: Peter Hartlaub (Email) | March 02 2007 at 03:30 AM
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Thanks to the PuppetVision blog for the link!
Labels: film, interview, james frawley, jim henson, muppet, muppet movie, puppet, puppetry, sfgate, the poop
I know a lot of Muppet fans aren't all that thrilled with Fisher-Price's '70s merchandise, but I have a fondness for it. I think their best offerings were the Animal (which I never had) and Rowlf (which I did) hand puppets. Maybe if I'd had one of the original Ideal Rowlf puppets, I'd feel differently!
Rowlf is a basic hand puppet done well. It's a good likeness - mainly due to the fabric used for the 'fur', and the accuracy of the face. It's designed a little more horizontally than the real character, but the eye/nose materials used still evoke him nicely.
The packaging is simple, appealing and on-theme for the character. Most of the box is decorated with backstage scenes from the Muppet Theater, complete with 'curtains' and 'footlights'. There's also some photos of play scenes with the puppet, ostensibly to pull in toy store shoppers. There must have been some confusion in the marketing surveys, as the toy also sports a tag making it clear that Rowlf is a hand puppet. It doesn't feel like an afterthought, though - the tag design is consistent with the box.
