Ed Christie (b. May 20, 1956) is a puppet designer and builder who has worked with Sesame Street and Henson Associates since an internship with Henson in 1978. Christie graduated from UMass/Amherst with a BFA/Education in 1979.
The first Muppet Christie created was Butch, originally designed as a sabertooth tiger used in the "Toothbrush" skit of the Caveman Days series on Sesame Street. [1]
After years of learning Muppet design techniques, and building many of the classic Muppet characters, he was promoted to Muppet Supervisor in charge of Sesame Street (1991-1996). He was later promoted to Vice President/NY Muppet Workshop Supervisor (1997-2004) as well as Art Director for Henson on Sesame Street. He also contributed his skills to Henson Licensing and Publishing.
In 2004, Christie left Henson and was contracted by Sesame Workshop where he is currently designing characters for the domestic version of Sesame Street and Sesame Street International. He has designed the Muppet characters for Sesame Northern Ireland, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Israel, South Africa, Egypt, China, Poland, France, Mexico, Canada, Japan and others. Christie is featured in the 2006 documentary The World According to Sesame Street.
He has won eight Emmy Awards for his work on Sesame Street and many nominations for other Henson productions. Christie's work was also seen in the Broadway productions of Doonesbury, Peter Pan, Sugar Babies and Encores! Carnival. He also designed, built and performed in the 2007 production of Carnival! at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. From December 5 to January 25, the Provincetown Art Association and Museum displayed the exhibit Rods and Monsters: the Puppets of Ed Christie.
Interviews
The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation interviewed Christie in 2004 for the Archive of American Television. The hour and a half interview was posted on YouTube in 2009.
Muppet Credits
JIM HENSON PRODUCTIONS
- The Muppet Show: Muppet Designer, additional Muppets, performer, built Mr. Dawson, Caterpillar,
- Fraggle Rock: Designer/Builder/Film Crew
- Bear in the Big Blue House - built Luna (the moon)
- Tale of the Bunny Picnic: Designer/builder/Film Crew - built the Dragonbunny, Great-great-great-great Grandmother Bunny, & Snort
- The Christmas Toy: Muppet Design Group supervisor - built Jack in the Box, Belmont the Horse
- Dog City: - built Bugsy Them, Mad Dog & Eddie the dalmatian puppy
- The Great Muppet Caper: Muppet Builder/Designer
- It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie: Muppet Workshop - NY Manager
- The Jim Henson Hour: Himself (Secrets of the Muppets), Muppet Designer (Jojo & others), builder for Beard
- Little Muppet Monsters -Project Supervisor, built Tug Monster
- The Muppet Christmas Carol: Designer/Builder - built Ghost of Christmas Present head
- A Muppet Family Christmas: builder of The Snowman
- Muppets from Space: Workshop Manager
- Muppet Meeting Films - built various characters
- The Muppet Movie: Muppet Designer/Film Crew - built Camilla the Chicken
- The Muppets Take Manhattan: Muppet Constructor/Designer, Additional Muppets, performer - built Baby Piggy & others
- Muppet Treasure Island: NY Workshop Manager
- Carnival: NY City Center Encores: designed Carrot Top, Horrible Henry, Renaldo, and Marguerite
SESAME WORKSHOP
- Sesame Street (1978-2004) Additional Muppets/ Supervisor/ Art Director/Performer; designed Abby Cadabby, Curly Bear, Rosita, Zoe, The Elephant, Lulu, built Aristotle; performed Fred the Wonder Horse in "I'm Proud to Be a Cow", Uncle Ned, Baby Hungry
- Big Bird in China: Designer/Builder, performer
- Follow That Bird - designed the Board of Birds and built Daddy Dodo's head
- Don't Eat the Pictures: Performer and wrangler
- The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: Character Design Supervisor - designed Bug, Pesties, Grizzy & all new characters
- Elmo Saves Christmas: Muppet Workshop supervisor, designed Lightning the reindeer
SESAME STREET INTERNATIONAL
- Sesame Street Jam: A Musical Celebration: Workshop Manager
- Alam Simsim: (Egypt) designed Nimnim, Filfil, and Khokha
- Sesamstrasse: (Germany) designed Feli Felu, Pferd, Wolle
- Sesamstraat: (Holland) designed Purk
- Zhima Jie: (China) designed Hu Hu Zhu, Xiao Mei Zi
- Galli Galli Sim Sim: (India) designed Boombah, Chamki, Aanchoo, & Googly
- Sisimpur : (Bangladesh) designed Ikri Mikri, Halum the tiger, Tuktuki and Shiku the jackal
- Sesame Tree: (Northern Ireland) designed Potto, The Weatherberries, Hilda, And Archie
- Jalan Sesama: (Indonesia) designed Tantan the orangutan, Momon, Putri, and Jabrik the rhino
- Sesame Street: (Japan) - designed Mojabo, Teena, and Pierre (frog)
- Ulitsa Sezam : (Russia) designed Kubik , Zeliboba, and Businka
- Sesame Park : (Canada) designed Chaos the cat
- Rechov Sumsum โ Shara'a Simsim: (Israel/Palestine) designed Dafi, Haneen & Kareem the rooster
- Takalani Sesame: (South Africa) designed Moshe, Zuzu, Kami, & Zikwe
- Sesame English: (EFL) designed Tingo
- The Furchester Hotel: (UK) designed Funella Furchester, Fergus Fuzz, Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz, Isabel the Bell
- Iftah Ya Simsim: (United Arab Emirates) redesigned No'Man and Shams
- Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/ Cleaner, Healthier, Happier: designed Raya
- The World According to Sesame Street - Himself - Featured as Muppet Character Designer
Non-Muppet Credits
- Carnival!: 2007 Kennedy Centre production of the Broadway musical
- "Big City Park" BBC - designed Rauiri, Dara The Fox, & Billy Badger
- Alden Gallery - www.aldengallery.com
Sources
- โ Goldstein, Meredith. "Muppet master", The Boston Globe, Boston, MA. December 12, 2008.