Axel Rathgeber

Axel Rathgeber (b. June 14, 1968) has been a supporting puppeteer on Secret life of toys and Muppet treasure island.

Muppet performing
Born in Langenfeld, Germany, Rathgeber was very early influenced by Sesame Street and the Muppet Show which were broadcasted on german TV. After school he studied Communication Design at the Los Angeles Art Center's College of Design and worked in the advertising and game design industry. In 1992 the Jim Henson Company was looking for german puppeteers to work on the production of Secret life of toys, which was to be produced in Duesseldorf, Germany. Rathgeber, Jurgen Tombers and Marcus Hubner were three out of 40 puppeteers who finally got the job. "I was thrilled! There were Dave Goelz, Jerry Nelson and Louise Gold sitting around a table as I walked in the studio's kitchen. And I was to work with them for 6 months, nearly every day - what a great experience!"

He also worked as a supporting puppeteer on Muppet treasure island, were he played side characters and was left-hand animator for Dave Goelz' Great Gonzo.

For some years he was puppeteer for the german version of spitting images and was also involved in puppet building and designing. He now lives near Karlsruhe, Germany and has his own creative studio working for entertainment and television companies.