Toby Froud | |
---|---|
Born | June 1984 (age 40) London, England |
Education | Wimbledon School of Art |
Known for | Puppetry, special effects design, stop-motion sculpture |
Children | 1 |
Parents |
|
Toby Froud (born June 27, 1984) [1] is an English-American artist, special effects designer, puppeteer, filmmaker, and performer. He rose to prominence for his role as the baby who was wished away to the goblins in the 1986 Jim Henson film Labyrinth . He became a puppeteer, sculptor, and fabricator for film, television, and theatre. He wrote and directed the 2014 fantasy short film Lessons Learned . He was the design supervisor of the 2019 streaming television series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance .
Toby Froud was born in 1984 in London, [1] to English painter Brian Froud and American puppet-maker Wendy Froud. His maternal grandfather was the German-American sculptor Walter Midener (1912–1998), and his maternal grandmother was Margaret "Peggy" Midener (née Mackenzie; 1925–2016), a painter and collage artist in Michigan. [2] [3]
His parents met in 1978 while working on preproduction for the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal , for which Brian was the conceptual designer and Wendy a puppet fabricator. They married in 1980. [4] Froud was born during preproduction of his parents' second film with Henson, Labyrinth (released in 1986), [5] and at the age of one he was featured in the film as the baby who is wished away to the Goblin King by his older sister Sarah. [6] [7] The name of the baby in the script had originally been Freddie, but was changed to Toby so as not to confuse Froud. [5] Due to Labyrinth's popularity Froud has garnered a cult status [8] and been described as one of the most famous babies in cinema and of the 1980s. [9] [10]
Froud was raised in Chagford, Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor. [4] [11] [12] He developed an interest in puppetry from a young age due to exposure to his parents' artwork. [13] [14]
Froud apprenticed at the Muppet Workshop in New York in 1999, [15] [16] and in 2004 worked at Weta Workshop in New Zealand as a sculptor, fabricator, and miniature effects artist for the 2005 films The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and King Kong . [17] [18] He graduated from Wimbledon School of Art in 2006 with a BA in technical arts and special effects. [17] [19]
In 2007 he built props and sets for the British children's television show What's Your News? , and created masks and puppets for the London theatre productions of Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella . Michael Curry Design Inc. in Portland, Oregon hired Froud in 2009 as a puppet fabricator and video artist on several productions, including Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. [17]
In 2010 Froud worked for Legacy Effects in San Fernando, California as a fabricator on the film Cowboys & Aliens . [17] Since 2010, Froud has worked for the stop-motion animation studio Laika in Portland, sculpting and fabricating puppets for the studio's films ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014), Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) and Missing Link (2019). [9] [20]
Froud established the production company Stripey Pajama Productions, named for the outfit he wore as the baby in Labyrinth. [5] He wrote and directed the 2014 fantasy short film Lessons Learned , [16] produced by Heather Henson's company IBEX Puppetry for its Handmade Puppet Dreams series. [21]
He served as a creature designer on the 2016 film I Am Not a Serial Killer , [22] and alongside Heather Henson was executive producer of the 2017 film Yamasong: March of the Hollows . [23] [24]
Froud spent two years serving as design supervisor on the 2019 streaming television series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance , a prequel to The Dark Crystal, [25] [20] and in 2019 he began work as a puppet sculptor on the Guillermo del Toro film Pinocchio . [20] [26]
Froud's performance skills include stiltwalking and fire juggling. He performed in various productions with William Todd-Jones and music group Daughters of Elvin. [3] He puppeteered as the opening act for Scissor Sisters at the 2005 Brit Awards, [27] and has performed at Faerieworlds. [28] As of 2007 and 2011, Froud was working as a stilt-walker and dancing bear with a troupe touring throughout England. [27] [29]
Froud is married and has a son, Sebastian. [30] [31] He resides in Portland, Oregon. [9]
Year | Title | Role | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1986 | Labyrinth | Toby Williams | Baby | |
2005 | The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe | Sculptor/designer: Weta Workshop | ||
King Kong | Crew member: Weta Workshop | Uncredited | ||
2011 | Cowboys & Aliens | Puppet fabricator: Legacy Effects | Uncredited | |
2012 | ParaNorman | Character fabricator | ||
2014 | The Boxtrolls | Sculptor and fabricator | ||
Lessons Learned | Director, writer, production designer | Short film | ||
2016 | Kubo and the Two Strings | Sculptor | ||
I Am Not a Serial Killer | Creature designer | |||
2017 | Yamasong: March of the Hollows | Executive producer | ||
2019 | Missing Link | Sculptor | ||
2022 | Pinocchio | Puppet sculptor | ||
Year | Title | Role | Credit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1987 | Inside the Labyrinth | Self | Televised documentary | |
2012 | Hollywood Treasure | Self | Episode. "Hunger for District 12" | |
2019 | The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance | Design supervisor | 10 episodes | |
The Crystal Calls – Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance | Self | Streaming television documentary |
Year | Organisation | Category | Work(s) | Notes | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Dragon Con Independent Film Festival | Best Animated Film | Lessons Learned (2014) | Won [32] | |
FilmQuest | Best Art Direction/Production Design | With Scott Foster | Won [33] | ||
Best Makeup Effects | Won [33] | ||||
Best Fantasy Short Film | Nominated [33] | ||||
2015 | Pixie Awards | Visual Effects (Gold) | Won [34] | ||
2020 | Visual Effects Society | Outstanding Special Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project | The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance — episode. "She Knows All the Secrets" (2019) | With Sean Mathiesen, Jon Savage and Phil Harvey | Won [35] |
James Maury Henson was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating Fraggle Rock (1983–1987) and as the director of The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986).
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book Faeries with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). According to Wired, Froud is "one of the most pre-emiminent visualizers of the world of faerie and folktale".
Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas as executive producer. Based on conceptual designs by Brian Froud, the film was written by Terry Jones, and many of its characters are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. The film stars Jennifer Connelly as 16-year-old Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, the Goblin King. In Labyrinth, Sarah embarks on a quest to reach the center of an enormous, otherworldly maze to rescue her infant half-brother Toby, whom she wished away to Jareth.
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The Jim Henson Company and distributed by Universal Pictures. The plot revolves around Jen and Kira, two Gelflings on a quest to restore balance to the world of Thra and overthrow the evil, ruling Skeksis by restoring a powerful broken Crystal.
Kevin Jeffrey Clash is an American puppeteer, director and producer best known for puppeteering Elmo on Sesame Street from 1985 to 2012. He also performed puppets for Labyrinth, Dinosaurs, Oobi, and various Muppet productions.
"Magic Dance" is a song written and recorded by the English singer David Bowie for the Jim Henson musical fantasy film Labyrinth (1986). It was released as a single in limited markets worldwide in January 1987. Upon Bowie's death in 2016, the single version of "Magic Dance" reached #63 on the iTunes chart in the UK.
Wendy Froud is an American doll-artist, sculptor, puppet-maker, and writer. She is best known for her work fabricating Yoda for the 1980 film Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, for which she has been called "the mother of Yoda", and creatures for the Jim Henson films The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.
Return to Labyrinth is an original English-language manga based on the Jim Henson 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Jake T. Forbes is credited as the creator, and Chris Lie is the illustrator. The covers for all four volumes were drawn by Kouyu Shurei. It is published by Tokyopop.
Walter Midener (1912–1998) was a German born American artist. He studied at the Berlin Academy of Arts (1932–1936), and received a Master of Arts (M.A.) from Wayne State University (1950). Midener settled in Detroit, Michigan where he became an influential sculptor and teacher. He was the head of the Sculpture Department of the Art School of the Society of Arts and Crafts, and president of The Center for Creative Studies. He received an honorary doctorate of fine arts from the Center for Creative Studies in 1997.
Jareth is a fictional character and the main antagonist of the 1986 musical fantasy film Labyrinth. Portrayed by David Bowie, Jareth is the powerful and enigmatic king of the goblins to whom protagonist Sarah Williams wishes away her baby brother Toby. Jareth gives Sarah thirteen hours to retrieve the baby from his castle at the centre of an enormous labyrinth, during which time he sets obstacles in her path and tries to entice her away from her quest.
Alice Dinnean is an American puppeteer, voice actress and creative writer who works at The Jim Henson Company. Dinnean has performed on many children's television shows such as The Puzzle Place, Sesame Street, Big Bag, Bear in the Big Blue House, Cousin Skeeter, Jim Henson's Pajanimals, Sid the Science Kid and Jack's Big Music Show. She also did work on various non-Muppet productions such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel.
Toby Philpott is an English puppeteer best known for his work in motion picture animatronics during the 1980s in such films as The Dark Crystal and Return of the Jedi. Born into a family of entertainers, Philpott dropped out of school and traveled the world during the 1960s, squatting in various locations and surviving off money he earned from his work as a street performer, which included juggling, fire eating, magic shows, clowning and acrobatics. He began his film career after Jim Henson personally selected Philpott to work on the 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal, in which he worked side-by-side with Henson.
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 in Hollywood, California, United States.
Mak Wilson is a now retired English puppeteer, writer, CG animation director, and mocap artist. He is also known as Mac Wilson and Malcolm Wilson.
David Alan Barclay is a British puppeteer who had worked on some projects of The Jim Henson Company. He has been at the cutting edge of animatronic puppetry since 1979. Barclay, who hails from London, is a Master Puppeteer, Animatronic Designer and Supervisor, a CG key frame Animator, and Director and Producer of animatronic and animation projects for film and television.
Cheryl Lee Henson is an American puppet builder and philanthropist who has served as the president of the Jim Henson Foundation since 1992. A supporter of puppetry arts and artists, she serves as a board member of The Jim Henson Company. She was honored in 2010 at the LaMama Gala, and in 2011, she won the New Victory Arts Award for her leadership in puppetry.
Lessons Learned is a 2014 fantasy short film written and directed by Toby Froud. The film's visuals were achieved widely through the use puppetry and animatronics.
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance is an American fantasy television series produced, made and owned by The Jim Henson Company. It is a prequel to the 1982 Jim Henson film The Dark Crystal that explores the world of Thra created for the original film. It follows the story of three Gelflings: Rian, Deet, and Brea, as they journey together on a quest to unite the Gelfling clans to rise against the tyrannical Skeksis and save their planet Thra from a destructive blight known as the Darkening. The series premiered on August 30, 2019, to critical acclaim. In September 2020, it was announced that the series had been cancelled after one season.
Sarah Williams is a fictional character and the protagonist of the 1986 musical fantasy film Labyrinth. Portrayed by Jennifer Connelly, Sarah is an imaginative teenager who wishes for the goblins from her favourite story to take away her baby brother Toby. When her inadvertent wish comes true, she must solve an enormous otherworldly labyrinth in thirteen hours and rescue Toby from the castle of Jareth, the Goblin King.
Labyrinth: Coronation is a 12-issue comic book limited series based on Jim Henson's 1986 fantasy film Labyrinth. Published by Archaia Entertainment, it was written by Simon Spurrier and illustrated by Daniel Bayliss, with cover art by Fiona Staples. The first issue was released in February 2018 and new installments were released on a near-monthly basis until the series' conclusion in March 2019. The series has since been collected in three volumes in trade paperback.
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