Toby Froud

Last updated

Toby Froud
Born (1984-06-27) 27 June 1984 (age 40)
London, England
Education Wimbledon School of Art
Known for Puppetry, special effects design, stop-motion sculpture
Children1
Parents

Tobias Matthew Froud (born 27 June 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 .

Contents

Early life

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]

Career

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]

Performing arts

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]

Personal life

Froud is married and has a son, Sebastian. [30] [31] He resides in Portland, Oregon. [9]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleCreditNotes
1986 Labyrinth Toby WilliamsBaby
2005 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Sculptor/designer: Weta Workshop
King Kong Crew member: Weta WorkshopUncredited
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

Television

YearTitleRoleCreditNotes
1987 Inside the Labyrinth SelfTelevised documentary
2012 Hollywood Treasure SelfEpisode. "Hunger for District 12"
2019 The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Design supervisor10 episodes
The Crystal Calls – Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Self Streaming television documentary

Awards

YearOrganisationCategoryWork(s)NotesResult
2014 Dragon Con Independent Film FestivalBest Animated Film Lessons Learned (2014)Won [32]
FilmQuestBest Art Direction/Production DesignWith Scott FosterWon [33]
Best Makeup EffectsWon [33]
Best Fantasy Short FilmNominated [33]
2015Pixie AwardsVisual 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 HarveyWon [35]

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  2. ↑ Abraham, Molly (6 October 1998). "Walter Midener: War hero became president of art school" . Obituaries. Detroit Free Press . Detroit, Michigan. p. 4B. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
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  6. ↑ "Family displays art at McCune" . Petoskey News-Review . Petoskey, Michigan. 5 December 1989. p. 6. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020– via Newspapers.com.
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  8. ↑ Lampert, Nicole (27 August 2019). "Puppet masters". Drama Quarterly. London: C21Media. Archived from the original on 31 August 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  9. 1 2 3 Scott, Aaron (19 June 2014). "Toby, the Baby from Labyrinth, Grows Up to Be a Goblin King — in Portland". Portland Monthly . Archived from the original on 12 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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  11. ↑ "The glamour of Hollywood comes to Dartmoor town". Tavistock Times Gazette . 10 September 2014. Archived from the original on 16 August 2020. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
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  13. ↑ Bradley, Bill (22 September 2016). "30 Years Later, The Baby From 'Labyrinth' Is Now A Real-Life Goblin King". Huffington Post . Archived from the original on 7 May 2019. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  14. ↑ Randell Lobb (director) (2019). The Crystal Calls – Making The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (Documentary). USA: Definitive Film.
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  16. 1 2 ShortList Team (8 January 2016). "Famous Movie Babies: Where Are They Now?". ShortList . Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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  18. ↑ "The Art of the Frouds at Nafe Katter Theater". Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry . University of Connecticut. 28 November 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2016. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  19. ↑ ""LESSONS LEARNED" The Next Generation of Henson and Froud to Premier Puppet Film at Hollywood Theatre". The Confluence. Oregon Film. 12 June 2014. Archived from the original on 18 September 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  20. 1 2 3 Pirnia, Garin (9 September 2019). "Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance's Design Supervisor Was Also the Baby in Labyrinth". Mental Floss . Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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  22. ↑ Gingold, Michael (3 March 2015). ""I AM NOT A SERIAL KILLER" gets rolling with Christopher Lloyd et al". Fangoria . Archived from the original on 6 March 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2015.
  23. ↑ "Watch the Trailer for Puppet Epic Yamasong: March of the Hollows". Tor.com . 5 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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  32. ↑ "2014 Film Festival Awards". Dragon Con . 29 September 2014. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  33. 1 2 3 "2014 FilmQuest". FilmQuest. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
  34. ↑ "6th Annual Award Winners". The Pixie Awards. Archived from the original on 24 September 2020. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  35. ↑ Huff, Lauren (29 January 2020). "The Lion King reigns at 2020 Visual Effects Society Awards". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 18 November 2020.
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