Welcome to Muppet Wiki!
Old Lady shadow puppet on display in the Jim Henson Collection at Center for Puppetry Arts.
Shadow puppets are silhouetted figures performed in high contrast lighting to appear as though the subjects are moving shadows.
The Muppets have used shadow puppets occasionally:
- While not performed with traditional puppets, Sesame Street aired a series of shadow puppet clips performed only with arms and hands, beginning in season 5.
- Richard Bradshaw performed a shadow puppet segment in The Muppet Show episode 122 in which an ostrich, a mouse, and a hippopotamus each play on a slide, and cross a tight rope.
- The Muppet Show’s rendition of "I Know an Old Lady" in episode 205 featured a shadow puppet of an old lady designed by Michael K. Frith and Caroly Wilcox. Wilcox built the puppet using styrene plastic, wood, and tin.[1]
- Nearly every episode of Bear in the Big Blue House featured a segment with Shadow (performed with a more traditional Muppet-style puppet) narrating shadow puppet plays written, designed, and performed by Jon Ludwig.
- In a variation on "I Know an Old Lady", Bad Polly and Mad Monty put on a shadow puppet play called "There Was an Old Pirate" in the Muppet Treasure Island sing along video.
- The Muppets Make Puppets! features instructions on how to make shadow puppets.