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| PERFORMER | Jim Henson |
Limbo is an abstract Muppet character consisting of two eyes and a mouth made of string, controlled by invisible wires attached to gloves worn by two puppeteers. The puppet, whose name comes from a video production term, is performed live in front of a prerecorded film that is projected, layered or composited.
The character has been referred to as "Nobody" (for his appearance: he has no body, and for one sketch in which he appeared), "Line Face" (in the Mad Mad World pilot), and "Floating Face" (twice by Jim Henson when introducing his act on The Mike Douglas Show in 1966).
Limbo was used most often in variety show appearances. Speaking in a deep, pensive voice, the character would deliver thoughtful, even apprehensive monologues. The film and soundtrack combined to explore the character's inner thoughts, fears, sense of self, and general mental state, as various projected film objects would appear behind Limbo's face.
Later, in appearances on Sesame Street (where he taught counting), the character was generated by the Scanimate system (identified in scripts simply as "Face").[1] For these appearances, William "Rosko" Mercer supplied the voice.
A recreation of Limbo (built by Jim Henson's Creature Shop) appeared in inserts in the 2024 documentary Jim Henson: Idea Man, puppeteered by Brian Henson and Neil Sterenberg to Jim Henson's vocals.
Appearances[]
- Sam and Friends, Esskay commercial in "C'est Si Bon" (1959)
- Mad Mad World pilot (1962)
- The Organized Mind, short film (1966)
- The Idea Man, short film (1966)
- I'm Nobody, short film (1966)
- I Know Who I Am, short film (1966)
- Blue Like an Orange, demonstation (1967)
- The Muppets on Puppets, demonstration (1968)
- Sesame Street Scanimate Films (1970)
- Jim Henson: Idea Man (2024)
See also[]
Sources[]
- ↑ Henson Redbook - Scan of a Scanimate Sesame Street script.