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Uncle Traveling Matt | |
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Fraggle Rock character | |
Created by | Jim Henson |
Voiced by |
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In-universe information | |
Species | Fraggle |
Gender | Male |
Occupation |
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Uncle Traveling Matt is a fictional puppet character from Jim Henson's television series Fraggle Rock . [1] Matt is a major supporting character from the series. He is performed and voiced by Dave Goelz [2] in both the original series and its reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock . [3] Patrick Pinney voiced him in the animated series.
Traveling Matt is an explorer, [4] and the uncle of the show's protagonist Gobo Fraggle. In the first episode of the series, "Beginnings", Matt discovers an entrance leading from Fraggle Rock into "Outer Space", aka the human world. He subsequently leaves Fraggle Rock and devotes his time to exploring Outer Space, sending back postcards to Gobo recounting his adventures. [5] Matt is well-meaning but clumsy and completely oblivious to the world around him; his woefully incorrect perceptions of the human world provide much of the humor for his character. [6]
As a child, Matt was raised by his Uncle Gobo, who resembled an older version of himself. He dreamed of his following in his uncle's footsteps as an explorer, though Uncle Gobo did not approve of Matt's dreams. During a famine in Fraggle Rock, when the Fraggles run out of mushrooms, their primary food source, Matt inadvertently discovered radishes in the Gorgs' garden. [7]
By the start of the series, Matt is already a well-known and respected explorer in Fraggle Rock. The first episode begins with him exploring the last uncharted area in the Rock. Here, he discovers an entrance leading into the home of the human Doc. Matt, now choosing to go by the name "Traveling Matt", leaves Fraggle Rock, sending postcards back to Gobo in which he recounts his discoveries in Outer Space. Gobo must journey into Outer Space, and get past Doc's dog Sprocket, in order to retrieve these postcards. [8]
Matt remains in Outer Space for most of the series, only occasionally returning to Fraggle Rock. This changes in the episode "Uncle Matt's Discovery", when Matt discovers a cave he names the T. Matthew Fraggle Room, which contains a number of portals that lead to various locations in Outer Space. While he continues his explorations in Outer Space, Matt returns to Fraggle Rock more often from this point on, telling Gobo of his exploits in person instead of sending postcards. [9]
In a 2006 interview, Matt's performer Dave Goelz discussed the three character flaws that define Matt's personality: his misperception, his clumsiness (created by Goelz to make taping Matt's segments more interesting), and his denial of the first two flaws. As Goelz later said in a 2011 interview: “The original concept for him was that he went out and misinterpreted everything and then sent postcards back that we saw on video, where he described the outside world in a distorted way. I just didn't think it was very funny, so I started adding two other components. I started adding clumsiness so he was also physically an inept explorer. And then I added this emotional disconnect. So when he wrote back to his nephew, he would say, "I decided to leave the shop." In actuality, you see him being drop-kicked out of the place and flying through the air and hitting a wall. That aesthetic started to become part of the material, and it was written in as we developed it." [10]
Uncle Traveling Matt was designed by Michael K. Frith and built by Tim Clarke. Dave Goelz, also the performer of Boober, [11] was cast to play the character. [12] Matt's name was derived from a traveling matte, a type of filmmaking technique.
Uncle Traveling Matt has made several cameo appearances in Muppet productions, being the only Fraggle (although not the only Fraggle Rock character) to do so. He appeared as a guest at Kermit and Miss Piggy's wedding in The Muppets Take Manhattan , and also appeared in The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years . He also appeared, along with the other Fraggles, in the 1987 TV special A Muppet Family Christmas .
Dave Goelz vocally reprised his role as Matt for the 2020 short-form TV series Fraggle Rock: Rock On!, [13] produced for Apple TV+, while John Tartaglia performed the puppetry. [14] In Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock , Goelz once again provided Matt's voice, with Frank Meschkuleit and Kevin Clash [15] alternating the puppetry.
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).
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, surrealist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses television, film, music, and other media associated with the characters. Originally owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the franchise was purchased by the Walt Disney Company in 2004.
Fraggle Rock is a children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of Muppet creatures, created by Jim Henson.
Jerry Nelson was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on Sesame Street, The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and various Muppet movies and specials.
Muppets Tonight is an American live-action/puppet family-oriented comedy television series, created by Jim Henson Productions and featuring The Muppets. The series ran for two seasons between March 1996 to February 1998, originally airing on ABC, before later being aired and rerun on the Disney Channel. The show was a continuation of The Muppet Show, with Kermit the Frog and the Muppets running their own television channel and studio, only to request one of their own to run a new show to fill in a timeslot in their channel's scheduling.
A Muppet Family Christmas is a Christmas musical television special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It first aired on December 16, 1987, on the ABC television network in the United States. Its teleplay was conceived by longtime Muppet writer Jerry Juhl, and directed by Peter Harris and Eric Till. This television special was filmed at 9 Channel Nine Court in Toronto, Ontario. The special features various Muppets from The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and Muppet Babies. It also stars Gerard Parkes as Doc from the North American wraparound segments of Fraggle Rock, and Henson as himself in a cameo appearance at the end. In the plot, the Muppets surprise Fozzie Bear's mother with a Christmas visit to her farmhouse, unaware of her planned getaway to Malibu.
David Charles Goelz is an American puppeteer, puppet builder and actor, known for his work with the Muppets. As part of the Muppets' performing cast, Goelz performs Gonzo the Great, as well as Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Waldorf, Zoot and Beauregard, originating on The Muppet Show. Goelz's puppeteering roles also included in Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. Outside of puppeteering work, he was also the voice of Figment in the Journey into Imagination with Figment attraction at Epcot.
Karen Leigh Prell is an American puppeteer and animator. She is the performer of Red Fraggle in Fraggle Rock.
Gobo Fraggle is a fictional puppet character from the television series Fraggle Rock, created by Jim Henson. He is performed by Jerry Nelson in the original series, and by John Tartaglia in its 2022 reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. In both iterations of the program, Gobo is one of the five main characters, and the protagonist overall.
Fraggle Rock: The Animated Series is an American animated children's television series based on the original live-action version of the same name created by Jim Henson. NBC aired this spin-off program on Saturday mornings at 10:00 AM for one season during 1987. It was later shown in reruns on Disney Channel from May 5, 1990 to June 1995.
The Muppets: A Celebration of 30 Years is a one-hour special starring Jim Henson's Muppets. It was shot in Toronto, Ontario in 1985 and aired January 21, 1986 on CBS.
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.
The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson is a one-hour special that aired on CBS on November 21, 1990. The program was a tribute to Muppet creator Jim Henson, who had died earlier in 1990 due to toxic shock syndrome caused by a streptococcus infection, and featured characters from The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock, and Sesame Street.
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock is an American children's musical fantasy comedy puppet television series about interconnected societies of creatures. It is a reboot of the 1983 series Fraggle Rock by Jim Henson. The first season was released on Apple TV+ on January 21, 2022. It was renewed for a second season which was released on March 29, 2024.
Boober Fraggle is a fictional puppet character from the television series Fraggle Rock. He was created by Jim Henson. He is performed and voiced by Dave Goelz in both the original series and its 2022 reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, with Frank Meschkuleit providing the puppetry in the latter. In the animated series, he was voiced by Rob Paulsen. In both iterations of the show, Boober is one of the five main characters, alongside Gobo, Wembley, Mokey, and Red. Boober is a misanthropic, depressed, and superstitious Fraggle. He lives alone in a small cave, and spends much of his time worrying about death and disease. His occupation is doing laundry for all the Fraggles in Fraggle Rock, and he also enjoys cooking, particularly with radishes. He has an alter ego named Sidebottom, who represents the more extroverted side of Boober's personality. In Back to the Rock, it is revealed that Boober's baloobius glows when he feels most at ease with himself, something that happens to other Fraggles as well.
Wembley Fraggle is a fictional puppet character who appears in Jim Henson's television series Fraggle Rock, as well as its reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. In the original series, he is performed by Steve Whitmire. In Back to the Rock, he is performed by Jordan Lockhart. Bob Bergen voiced him in the animated series.
Red Fraggle is a fictional character in Jim Henson's television series Fraggle Rock, as well as its reboot Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. She is one of the five main characters from the series, alongside Gobo, Wembley, Mokey, and Boober. She was performed and voiced by Karen Prell in both the original series and its reboot; Barbara Goodson voiced her in the animated series.
Jerome Crystal, better known by his nickname Doc, is a fictional character from Jim Henson's television series Fraggle Rock. He is the only major human character on the show, as well as the only character to appear in all 96 episodes of the series.
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