Oscar the Grouch is a Muppet character created by Jim Henson and Jon Stone for the PBS/HBO children's television program Sesame Street. He has a green body, no visible nose, and lives in a trash can. Oscar's favorite thing is trash, as evidenced by the song "I Love Trash", with a running theme being his collection of seemingly useless items. Although the term "Grouch" aptly describes Oscar's misanthropic interaction with the other characters, it also refers to his species. The character was originally performed by Caroll Spinney from the show's first episode until Spinney's retirement in 2018. Eric Jacobson began understudying for the character in 2015, and officially took on the full role after Spinney's retirement in 2018.
McDonaldland is a McDonald's media franchise and the fictional fantasy world inhabited by Ronald McDonald and his friends. Starting with the creation of Ronald McDonald in 1963, it is primarily developed and published by McDonald's. Initial attempts to expand the McDonaldland universe by marketing agency Needham, Harper & Steers were seemingly retconned due to legal issues, but ongoing aspects were expanded in McDonald's projects in collaboration with Data East, Virgin Interactive, Treasure, SEGA, and Klasky Csupo.
Doug Jones is an American actor, contortionist, and mime artist. He is best known for portraying non-human creatures, usually via heavy make-up and visual effects. He has most notably collaborated with acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro, appearing in the films Mimic (1997), Hellboy (2004), Pan's Labyrinth (2006), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Crimson Peak (2015), and The Shape of Water (2017).
Mystère is one of six resident Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas, Nevada. Held in a custom theatre at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino, the show was first performed on 25 December 1993, making it the company's longest running show. As with many Cirque du Soleil productions, Mystère features a mixture of circus skills, dance, elaborate sets, opera, worldbeat music, and street theatre-style comedy. Featuring a musical score composed by René Dupéré and Benoît Jutras, the show was created under the direction of Franco Dragone.
Solstrom is a Cirque du Soleil television series in thirteen 45-minute episodes from 2003. It was initially broadcast on the U.S. Bravo cable network and aired on Bold in Canada and SBS Television in Australia. It has also been released on DVD.
Phil Fondacaro is an American actor and stuntman. Standing 106 cm, Fondacaro is best known for his performance in the horror comedy Bordello of Blood, as well as his roles in the fantasy films The Black Cauldron, Troll, Double, Double, Toil and Trouble, and Willow. He also had several prominent television roles, such as a recurring role as Roland on the television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
Bruce Lanoil is an American puppeteer who works for The Jim Henson Company and for The Walt Disney Company. He frequently works with puppeteer David Alan Barclay.
CityKids is an American television series that aired late Saturday mornings on ABC from 1993 to 1994. The show consists primarily of live action performances, interspersed with Muppet segments, courtesy of Jim Henson Productions. These Muppets were original characters designed specifically for the show, not ones taken from Sesame Street or The Muppet Show. These original characters often served as the Greek chorus for the show, commenting on the situations of the human characters, but not actually interacting with them.
Talking animals are a common element in mythology and folk tales, children's literature, and modern comic books and animated cartoons. Fictional talking animals often are anthropomorphic, possessing human-like qualities. Whether they are realistic animals or fantastical ones, talking animals serve a wide range of uses in literature, from teaching morality to providing social commentary. Realistic talking animals are often found in fables, religious texts, indigenous texts, wilderness coming of age stories, naturalist fiction, animal autobiography, animal satire, and in works featuring pets and domesticated animals. Conversely, fantastical and more anthropomorphic animals are often found in the fairy tale, science fiction, toy story, and fantasy genres.
Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a special/visual effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based out of Burbank, California, United States.
Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, known as Luxury Comedy 2: Tales from Painted Hawaii for series two, is a British surreal comedy television series written and directed by Noel Fielding and Nigel Coan. The initial format for the series changes after the first series, with series one being a surreal sketch show, and series two being a sitcom. The series stars Noel Fielding, his brother Michael Fielding, Tom Meeten, Dolly Wells, and occasionally Rich Fulcher, Dave Brown, and Richard Ayoade. The first episode premiered on 26 January 2012 on E4. The music for the first series was written by Noel Fielding and Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno, a good friend of Fielding's, under the band name Loose Tapestries. The duo were joined for the second series by Kasabian touring member, Tim Carter.
The extensive and persistent impact on media and popular culture of Creature from the Black Lagoon began even before it was seen in theaters. To publicize the release of the film in 1954, Ben Chapman, in costume, introduced the Gill-Man to the public on live television in The Colgate Comedy Hour with Abbott and Costello.
Bee and PuppyCat is an American adult animated streaming television series created and written by Natasha Allegri. The series revolves around Bee, an unemployed woman in her early twenties, who encounters a mysterious creature named PuppyCat. She adopts this apparent cat-dog hybrid, and together they go on a series of temporary jobs to pay off her monthly rent. These bizarre jobs take the duo across strange worlds out in space. The original series was produced by Frederator Studios with the animation initially outsourced to South Korean studio Dong Woo Animation.
PJ Masks is an animated superhero children's television series based on the Les Pyjamasques book series by Romuald Racioppo. Produced by Frog Box, Entertainment One, Walt Disney EMEA Productions Limited and TeamTO, its production has the participation of France Télévisions and Disney Junior. The series is broadcast worldwide on Disney Branded Television's Disney Junior channels; in its home country of France, it airs on France 5.
PJ Liguori is a British-Italian YouTuber and filmmaker. He is best known for his YouTube channel KickThePj. Liguori specialises in different artistic areas, including screenplay, directing, songwriting, acting, producing, editing, sound, art, crafts, and animation. His work includes the web series Oscar's Hotel for Fantastical Creatures (2015), and the shorts The Forever Train (2013) and The Lost Buoy (2022).
Creature suits are realistic costumes used to disguise a performer as an animal, monster, or other being. They are used in film, television, or as costumed characters in live events. Unlike mascots, they are often made with a high degree of realism. In contrast with prosthetic makeup, which is applied to an actor's skin, the wearer is not normally visible outside their movements controlling the costume, although in some cases, part of the wearer's body is still visible.
Summer Camp Island is an American animated television series created by Julia Pott for Cartoon Network. Produced by Cartoon Network Studios, it premiered on July 7, 2018. The series depicts the episodic adventures of Oscar and Hedgehog, both of whom are attending the eponymous summer camp. The show premiered with a 48-hour marathon consisting of the first 20 episodes running over an entire weekend, on both Cartoon Network and Boomerang. Another 20 episodes premiered on June 23, 2019, as the second half of the first season.
The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell is an American streaming television sitcom created by and starring Christine McConnell. It premiered on Netflix on October 12, 2018. The show consists of six episodes and was produced by Netflix, Wilshire Studios and Henson Alternative, an arm of The Jim Henson Company. The series was not renewed for a second season.
