James William Wojtal, Jr. (b. February 24, 1975, pronounced "Voy-tal") is a puppet fabricator, designer, and performer who worked for the Jim Henson Company from 1998 to 2002, mostly on Bear in the Big Blue House, Mopatop's Shop, and international versions of Sesame Street, building new characters and refurbishing old ones. He returned to the Henson Company in 2016.[1]
Muppet/Henson credits[]
- Bear in the Big Blue House: rebuilt Ray (with Tim Miller), rebuilt Bear heads
- Mopatop's Shop
- Alam Simsim: built Nimnim (with Goran Sparrman)
- Plaza Sésamo: rebuilt Lola and Pancho
- Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola: built goat character
- Family Feud appearance: built Mo Frackle
- Kermit's Swamp Years: built Blotch
- It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie: refurbished background characters, built Yoda Muppet, rebuilt Camilla and "Bouncer Beaker" (uncredited)[2]
- Animal Jam: built early, developmental version of Bozark
- Food Rap Battle: built kitchen set
- The Happytime Murders
- Sesame Street's 50th Anniversary Celebration
- The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
- Sesame Street (credited since season 52)
- Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (season 1)
- Elmo's Mindfulness Spectacular
Non-Muppet projects[]
- ImaginOcean the Musical: lead puppeteer, "TANK"
- Avenue Q, London: shop manager, puppet builder
- Avenue Q, Off Broadway, Broadway, Las Vegas: puppet builder
- Crank Yankers: puppet builder
- Saturday Night Live: puppet builder, props
- Wicked: sculpture, prop builder, puppet builder
- The Puppet Works Theater: puppeteer, puppet designer
- The Smoking Gun: art department, puppeteer, puppet builder
- Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Studio: sculpture, puppet designer
- Ruby Tuesday Chicken commercials
- Sony Bravia Mexico commercial
- Planet Camp
- CollegeHumor skits: puppet designer, builder, lead puppeteer (Pot Cookie Monster, Vampire Reunion, Kiss The Girl Continued, Katy Perry Puppet Sex Dream)
- The Special Skins: puppet designer, puppeteer
- "Sugar Baby" by Morningwood, music video: puppet designer, performer
- The Smurfs: puppet designer, puppet captain
- Morning Glory: puppeteer, extra
- Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: performer
External links[]
Sources[]
- ↑ 35:05 mark of Getting Felt Up podcast episode 57
- ↑ Wojtal, James The MuppetCast episode 27