To help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the beloved television series “Fraggle Rock,” Karen Prell (Red Fraggle), Kathryn Mullen (Mokey Fraggle), and Michael Frith (co-creater and designer of Fraggle Rock) spoke with media and attended several panels at Dragon Con, recently held in Atlanta.
I’ve loved “Fraggle Rock” since I first saw the series, and my inner child squealed in delight when Red and Mokey Fraggle interacted before my eyes. Only the appearance of a Doozer could have made the experience any better.
How did they get their start in the world of Fraggles?
Karen Prell: “I started out as a kid seeing the Muppets on TV on Jimmy Dean . . . at the same time I was very interested in Disney animation. I tried animating something and decided I wanted to try being a puppeteer . . . in high school I made a puppet in Muppet style and sent a videotape to the Jim Henson company in 1979, right when they were looking for puppeteers for ‘Sesame Street’.” She auditioned with Jim Henson and was hired.
Kathryn Mullen: “Karen had ambition and wanted to be a puppeteer, and she did it . . . .I just fell into it totally accidentally . . . I was an actress . . . I first picked up a puppet in New Orleans 40 years ago.” She ended up working on “The Muppet Movie,” and Jim Henson hired her as a puppeteer . . .“doing everything from specials to films to Fraggles.”
Michael Frith: “I just started out in children’s books. I had no idea I was going to end up in this curious world, much less this curious world [referring to the world of Dragon Con]. You guys are all nuts!” He worked with Dr. Seuss in publishing, and was introduced to “Sesame Street” through a friend. He started a publishing line of Sesame Street books and met Jim Henson, who persuaded him to join the Henson Company. Designing and being co-creator on “Fraggle Rock” was his high point with the company. “It was an extraordinary project . . . it was designed to be an international children’s show. . . It was an amazing opportunity for all of us and one that I think no one who was involved will ever forget.”
Prell: “[The collaboration] echoed the ideas of the show . . . different types of people working together. . . we were all an equal part of this wonderful recipe that we were concocting. Jim did an excellent job as he always did of selecting a wonderful group of people and let them do the work they were hired to do and just trust them to have fun.”
Frith: “He let the Fraggles play.”
Prell “We just had our 30 year reunion in Toronto . . . prop people, sound people, camera people, everybody and it was like we were working together yesterday . . .The spirit is still there.”
The highlight, of course, was the moment Prell and Mullen brought out the actual Fraggles Red and Mokey and spoke in character.
Red Fraggle’s thoughts on Dragon Con: “There’s these places called cons where all the silly creatures get together . . . Silly creatures are even sillier than we thought . . . This great hall is called Dragon Con, but I haven’t seen any dragons yet.”
What are you doing now?
Mullen: “We have a company called No Strings. We do puppetry for kids in at-risk and developing countries . . .” Their latest projects are shooting films for refugee children in Syria. “It’s been incredibly successful for getting our message across to kids.”
Karen Prell has worked in computer animation since the mid-1990’s, using her puppeteer’s eye to get life and a performance out of the computer character. Her work has been seen in “Enchanted,” “A Bug’s Life,” and the game Portal 2.
How do you feel about the Muppets beyond Jim Henson?
Firth: “That’s about evolution . . . and moving on . . . we wish them all the very very best. Really looking forward to the next film.”
Some of the original Fraggles have been restored and are on display at The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. I just visited the center recently for its anniversary and a showing of “The Muppet Movie,” and if you are in the Atlanta area and a Henson fan, it’s worth a look.
All in all, it was an incredible experience meeting Red and Mokey Fraggle. Let the Fraggles play, down in Fraggle Rock.