It's not that easy being Green

[puppetmaker]

I have lost count the number of times I have been asked if I could recreate a Muppet. Fozzie is very popular as is Animal followed by Cookie Monster and Grover (esp. Super Grover). I could make a very good living making faux Muppets. But I don't because my ethics are such that I see this activity as stealing. There are people out there who do "recreation" of these characters. They have been popping out of the woodwork since Disney bought the characters. Apparently when Henson owned them it was not OK but now that the Mouse has them the rules have changed somehow and now it is in their minds. One of the arguments is that Disney is not making good replicas for collectors to collect (Which is major BS when you look at the Photo replicas that Master Replicas is doing now. I have the Kermit and it is excellent. Yes, I know they are not puppet replicas but still most people who want the puppets couldn't operate them anyway. BID). I recently passed on information of some auctions on E-bay where the seller was being blatant about what they were selling to people I know at Disney.

I make a lot of costumes and I have done a couple of Harry Potter pieces for people and sold those to them for basically the cost of materials. I know a couple of costumers that make a good living making "wizard wear" or "pirate wear" for fans. These are products that don't have a good replica on the market (however that is changing for the hardware for "pirate wear" thanks to Master Replicas) but I have less of a problem with these sorts of recreations than I do the Muppets. Maybe part of it is that the licensors haven't made their wishes known on the matter as much as Jim Henson did when he was alive and his children did after he passed on. Maybe because the clothing is not as distinctive as puppets are. But I have much less problem with recreation costumes than I do the puppets and if that makes me a hypocrite then so be it but I can separate the two in my mind to my comfort level. I have thought about selling off a couple of costumes I have made to recoup my costs which is all I really want to do anyway but I don't because the last time I did that I had to recreate the recreation for another venue. But I don't feel the way about costumes that I do about puppets especially about the Muppets.

Just something I was thinking about yesterday while cleaning house which I did about 2/3rds of yesterday and plan to slam out the rest this morning. Caroline had a PJ day yesterday where she got to keep her beloved Little Mermaid PJs on all day which she was happy with. Someday I am going to blog my thoughts as I go through the day to see exactly how my mind tends to bounce all over the place. I'll warn y'all before I do that.

I am grateful that I have puppets in my life.

Comments

[wandereringray.livejournal.com]

I don't think that makes you a hypocrite at all. *shrugs* The way I see it you can recreate a "pirate" costume, but recreating Johnny Depp as Captain Jack is pretty hard to do. (ie, you have to have the right build, height, attitude, etc for a really good copy)

But recreating Kermit, say, doesn't follow the same rules. Because you're recreating the character itself, not just a costume.

If that makes sense at all. *laughs*

[puppetmaker40.livejournal.com]

Wow! That makes a lot of sense and clarifies it for me.

Thanks. :)

[nakednatalie.livejournal.com]

I agree with the above comment. To replicate a costume is not replicating an actual character. They are for the purpose of dressing AS a character. It would be the same as taking a frog puppet and adding a pointed green collar around his neck. It's not Kermit. He's just dressed AS Kermit.

[vysion-of-books.livejournal.com]

"I am grateful that I have puppets in my life."

Awww. Too sweet! That's a wonderful thing to have been a part of.

P.S. I'm posting lots of comments. I am really not a stalker-type; just having fun reading your blog. Thanks for sharing with the world at large.

[auroraceleste.livejournal.com]

In my head it really comes down to a denial of money to the copyright holder. I try my hardest not to take money from people who legally deserve it. For example, I'll make a Star Wars costume because the licensed ones just don't compare. I would in no way consider getting a polyester Rubies costume as a substitution for my own handmade outfit. But the Lord of the Rings is a little more dodgy IMO because there were licensed replicas of a few of the costumes that were of a quality of what I could do and value. I also won't scan pages/patterns from a book for someone, or use a pattern for multiple people, because that's stealing money from the pattern company or book publisher.

I dunno if it fits into your own vision or not, but that's how I see it.