Talk: Ernie Statue

Performer

Was Dave Goelz doing Sesame Street in 1981? I thought his only Sesame stuff was done during the period after Jim and Richard died. -- Scarecroe 16:33, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

After a quick Google run, I was able to find this and this. One says Dave Goelz and one is a debate over if it was Goelz or Nelson. -- BradFraggle 16:53, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

Neither of them have any real good information to back it up. It's all just fan speculation until we can cite other examples of Dave Goelz working for Sesame in 1981. -- Scott Scarecroe 16:56, 21 February 2006 (UTC)

This sketch was included in The Best of Ernie and Bert, and Dave Goelz was not credited in that video. The video credited many performers who didn't perform voices, though, such as Jane Henson. --Minor muppetz 22:47, 21 March 2006 (UTC)

I think I have the solution to this problem. It sounded like Jim Henson provided the voice for the Ernie Statue (it was most likely pre-recorded), while another Muppeteer provided the puppet work for the character. Now we need to find out the actual puppeteer. --Wile e2005 02:57, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

Do you have a source? Without one, I'm afraid we can't really commit to anything. He sounds different to everyone. —Scott (talk) 03:47, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

The version I saw (the old uncut version), it sounded like the regular Ernie voice, but with a lot of reverb added. So I'm sure Henson merely provided the voice for the Ernie Statue. --Wile e2005 14:37, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

The voice is the same in the cut and uncut versions, so it doesn't matter which one you listen to. Unfortunately, we're not really a voice chasers site. Unless there's a resounding consensus that a particular performer provided the voice for a character who's performer who has come into question, we have to go by the factual information available. This character has been cited as at least three different performers in three different fan sources. There's currently no consensus. See also: talk:Astoria. —Scott (talk) 15:00, 31 July 2007 (UTC)

This may be just a random guess, and I'm probably wrong, but I'll throw it out there and guess Martin P. Robinson? Otherwise, on that Muppet Central Forum, everyone says it's Jerry becuase of the puppetry, though I really can't hear Jerry, and a reliable, more correct guess would Dave Goelz, and (however) when it comes to Jim Henson, i doubt it because it sounds like a mere impression. I found a YouTube link of the Egypt sketch, so you can see what you think. Once again, I know I'm probably wrong about the whole Marty Robinson thing, but I was thinking about it this morning, and it could be a possibility. After all, he is credited in "The Best of Ernie and Bert".-Ernie and Bert fan 15:52, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

On second thought, it could also be Richard Hunt. -Ernie and Bert fan 16:00, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Or even Bob Payne, I can hear a bit of the early Telly. I guess we might be able to e-mail someone (JUST AN UNLIKELY SUGGESTION). ---- Jesse (talk) 04:03, November 14, 2009 (UTC)

I thought the same thing after hearing Payne's Telly. --Minor muppetz 23:53, November 15, 2009 (UTC)

My analysis, which I'm posting for some reason, is that I have suggested 3 performers already. I feel like committing to either Payne or Hunt. I would guess Goelz, but maybe not due to the timeframe. I'm most likely wrong about Robinson, Nelson just sounds too wrong, and Henson... then again, according to Shark (Sesame Street), Jim did the shark's voice in the "Here, fishy fishy fishy" bit, and that discussion on the forum argued if it was Goelz or Robinson, so I added from the wiki it was Jim. (That could've been where my Robinson guess came from, but Jim does sound wrong now that I think of it.) Anyway, I've been going on with this useless drivel for too long. Once again, I'm committing to either Hunt or Payne, unless anyone thinks different in a way that could change my guess... ---- Jesse (talk) 23:43, November 20, 2009 (UTC)

Well, there's no reason that we have to commit to any of these. We don't know the real answer, so we shouldn't post a guess. It says "Performer unknown", which is all we know. -- Danny (talk) 23:45, November 20, 2009 (UTC)

Touché. ---- Jesse (talk) 02:49, November 21, 2009 (UTC)

What I have to say won't really solve the mystery of the performer, but I'd like to point out that the only performers credited in both video releases of the sketch are Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson, Richard Hunt, Caroll Spinney, David Rudman, Kevin Clash, and Martin Robinson. I thought it might be Bob Payne, but he's not credited, and most Sesame Street direct-to-video releases credit every performer, including those normally uncredited. Then again, Jim Henson wasn't credited in any of the 1986 VHS releases, and Steve Whitmire wasn't credited in Best of Sesame Street Spoofs! (either that, or we've been wrong about Whitmire performing Dr. Feel), so I guess the performer could have been uncredited those times. But something else has hit me: Maybe the statue was voiced by a non-performer (the videos usually don't credit those who only provide voices). --Minor muppetz 02:23, November 1, 2011 (UTC)