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Changes: Dr. Teeth

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[[Image:DSC4505-Dr-Teeth.jpg|thumb|300px]]
  
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[[Image:DrTeeth-FortuneTellerCrystalBall.jpg|thumb|300px]]
  
[[Image:DrTeeth-FortuneTellerCrystalBall.jpg|thumb|300px]]
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'''Dr. Teeth''' is the leader of [[Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem|the Electric Mayhem]], the house band on ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. Originally performed by [[Jim Henson]], Dr. Teeth plays the keyboard and is also the lead singer of the band. He first appeared in ''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]'' in 1975 and had a prominent role in Muppet productions until Henson's death in 1990.
  
   
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'''Dr. Teeth''' is the leader of [[Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem|the Electric Mayhem]], the house band on ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. Originally performed by [[Jim Henson]], Dr. Teeth plays the keyboard and is also the lead singer of the band. He first appeared in ''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]'' in 1975 and had a prominent role in Muppet productions until Henson's death in 1990.
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__TOC__
 
Dr. Teeth is green-skinned and red-haired with, as his name suggests, a large grinning mouth of teeth, including one gold tooth on his upper jaw (which either he got from a voodoo princess named Tianna in Tupelo, [[Mississippi|MS]]<ref>''[[The Muppets (2015)|The Muppets]]'' episode "[[Episode 109: Going, Going, Gonzo|Going, Going, Gonzo]]"</ref> or is made from his gold records, melted, putting his money where his mouth is).<ref>"[http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2013/03/3181975/ 3/18/1975 – β€˜In LA Carson Show – Dr. Teeth – talk with Dave Lazer’]", ''Jim Henson's Red Book'', 18 March 2013. The line was written by [[Norman Stiles]] for ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]''.</ref> He wears a scruffy beard, a fur vest, a striped shirt, and a floppy purple top hat, though during the 1980s he switched to wearing a black leather vest. He has very long arms so additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Teeth's "hands" in order to play the keyboard.
  
Dr. Teeth is green-skinned and red-haired with, as his name suggests, a large grinning mouth of teeth, including one gold tooth on his upper jaw (which either he got from a voodoo princess named Tianna in Tupelo, [[Mississippi|MS]]<ref>''[[The Muppets (2015)|The Muppets]]'' episode "[[Episode 109: Going, Going, Gonzo|Going, Going, Gonzo]]"</ref> or is made from his gold records, melted, putting his money where his mouth is).<ref>"[http://www.henson.com/jimsredbook/2013/03/3181975/ 3/18/1975 – β€˜In LA Carson Show – Dr. Teeth – talk with Dave Lazer’]", ''Jim Henson's Red Book'', 18 March 2013. The line was written by [[Norman Stiles]] for ''[[The Mike Douglas Show]]''.</ref> He wears a scruffy beard, a fur vest, a striped shirt, and a floppy purple top hat, though during the 1980s he switched to wearing a black leather vest. He has very long arms so additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Teeth's "hands" in order to play the keyboard.
   
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He has also appeared in all of the Muppet movies, from his prominent roles in ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'', ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'', and ''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]]'', to his much smaller, often non-speaking roles in ''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]'', ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'', ''[[Muppets from Space]]'', ''[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'', ''[[The Muppets' Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa]]''. He has since had more prominent speaking parts in the [[OK Go]] music video for "[[The Muppet Show Theme]]", ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'' and ''[[Muppets Most Wanted]]'' (particularly the extended cut).
  
He has also appeared in all of the Muppet movies, from his prominent roles in ''[[The Muppet Movie]]'', ''[[The Great Muppet Caper]]'', and ''[[The Muppets Take Manhattan]]'', to his much smaller, often non-speaking roles in ''[[The Muppet Christmas Carol]]'', ''[[Muppet Treasure Island]]'', ''[[Muppets from Space]]'', ''[[It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie]]'', ''[[The Muppets' Wizard of Oz]]'' and ''[[A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa]]''. He has since had more prominent speaking parts in the [[OK Go]] music video for "[[The Muppet Show Theme]]", ''[[The Muppets (2011)|The Muppets]]'' and ''[[Muppets Most Wanted]]'' (particularly the extended cut).
   
βˆ’
==Trivia==
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==Notes==
 
*Dr. Teeth's look was inspired by jazz keyboardist [[Dr. John]]. Henson's original sketch for the character appears in the book ''[[Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles (book)|Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles]]''. [[Michael K. Frith|Michael Frith]] then made a more refined, color sketch of the character, with the heading "Leon 'Doctor' Eltonjohn Dontshoot (the Piano Player)" -- adding the influence of [[Elton John]] (and possibly [[Wikipedia:Leon Russell|Leon Russell]]) to the character. Dr. Teeth's creative vocabulary is a direct nod to Dr. John.
  
*Dr. Teeth's look was inspired by jazz keyboardist [[Dr. John]]. Henson's original sketch for the character appears in the book ''[[Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles (book)|Jim Henson's Designs and Doodles]]''. [[Michael K. Frith|Michael Frith]] then made a more refined, color sketch of the character, with the heading "Leon 'Doctor' Eltonjohn Dontshoot (the Piano Player)" -- adding the influence of [[Elton John]] (and possibly [[Wikipedia:Leon Russell|Leon Russell]]) to the character. Dr. Teeth's creative vocabulary is a direct nod to Dr. John.
 
*While Dr. Teeth usually has live hands, his hands were [[Switching rod-hands and live-hands|originally rod hands]] in ''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]''. The rod arms would occasionally be used on ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. Also, the live hands version has [[Characters who have five fingers on each hand|five fingers on each hand]], while the rod arm version has four on each hand.
  
*While Dr. Teeth usually has live hands, his hands were [[Switching rod-hands and live-hands|originally rod hands]] in ''[[The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence]]''. The rod arms would occasionally be used on ''[[The Muppet Show]]''. Also, the live hands version has [[Characters who have five fingers on each hand|five fingers on each hand]], while the rod arm version has four on each hand.
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*''[[The Muppets Take the O2]]''
  
*''[[The Muppets Take the O2]]''
 
*''[[Carpool Karaoke: The Series]]''
  
*''[[Carpool Karaoke: The Series]]''
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*''[[Facebook Portal]]'' commercials
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*[[Facebook Portal]] commercials
   
 
==Book appearances==
  
==Book appearances==

Revision as of 00:34, 17 January 2020

Dr Teeth pink
PERFORMER Jim Henson 1975-1990
  Bill Barretta 2005-present
  β†’CASTING HISTORY...
DEBUT 1975
DESIGN Jim Henson,
B.K. Taylor,
Michael K. Frith designers
  Don Sahlin builder
Ttswjc jh dt July25th1975
Drteeth2
Wonderama teeth
Dr Teeth Jim
Dr Teeth Muppets Not Included

Cameo in "Muppets Not Included"

Dr teeth jim

Jim Henson performing Dr. Teeth in the 1990 special The Muppets at Walt Disney World.

Drteethsketch

Original Dr. Teeth sketches

Character
DrteethMAH

Dr. Teeth at the Smithsonian

Teethjhh

Dr. Teeth with Vicki on The Jim Henson Hour

Rmwtm v2
DSC4505-Dr-Teeth
DrTeeth-FortuneTellerCrystalBall

Dr. Teeth is the leader of the Electric Mayhem, the house band on The Muppet Show. Originally performed by Jim Henson, Dr. Teeth plays the keyboard and is also the lead singer of the band. He first appeared in The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence in 1975 and had a prominent role in Muppet productions until Henson's death in 1990.

Dr. Teeth is green-skinned and red-haired with, as his name suggests, a large grinning mouth of teeth, including one gold tooth on his upper jaw (which either he got from a voodoo princess named Tianna in Tupelo, MS[1] or is made from his gold records, melted, putting his money where his mouth is).[2] He wears a scruffy beard, a fur vest, a striped shirt, and a floppy purple top hat, though during the 1980s he switched to wearing a black leather vest. He has very long arms so additional puppeteers are required to guide them; this design enabled Henson to work the Teeth puppet while another performer acted as Teeth's "hands" in order to play the keyboard.

Dr. Teeth had been less involved in Muppet productions due to Jim Henson's death. Since then, he was performed by John Kennedy in various projects until 2005, when the role was assumed by Bill Barretta.

He has also appeared in all of the Muppet movies, from his prominent roles in The Muppet Movie, The Great Muppet Caper, and The Muppets Take Manhattan, to his much smaller, often non-speaking roles in The Muppet Christmas Carol, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets from Space, It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie, The Muppets' Wizard of Oz and A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa. He has since had more prominent speaking parts in the OK Go music video for "The Muppet Show Theme", The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted (particularly the extended cut).

Notes

Casting History

Primary Performers

Other Performers

Filmography

Book appearances

Video game appearances

Merchandise

Sources

  1. ↑ The Muppets episode "Going, Going, Gonzo"
  2. ↑ "3/18/1975 – β€˜In LA Carson Show – Dr. Teeth – talk with Dave Lazer’", Jim Henson's Red Book, 18 March 2013. The line was written by Norman Stiles for The Mike Douglas Show.
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