How the Jim Henson Company brought Five Nights at Freddy’s Puppets to life
When it came to making the stars Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza Blumhouse and Universal brought to life the great puppetry weapons of the Jim Henson Company.
Five nights at Freddy’s director Emma Tammi I recently joined Down with io9 to discuss bringing the highly anticipated video game adaptation to life on the big screen. Quite fervently FNAF The filmmaker knew he had to get the iconic characters right – and who else could do them justice but the Jim Henson Creature Shop?
“Working with Jim Henson’s company to bring them to life was absolutely incredible and they made sure they had a uniqueness and a soulful quality,” Tammi told io9. We’ve seen these animatronics in person and they’re incredibly creepy and cute – exactly how you’d imagine them to be. Tammi continued: “Each of the characters has such a personality, and of course that applies to the game as well.” But bringing them to life in a three-dimensional way has always been a little different. So it was the perfect fit to work with them on the characters.”
In real life, the film’s puppets are currently on display to the public at Universal Studios Halloween Horror Nights Hollywood. Freddy and his companions are very large, fluffy and so mechanical-looking – almost as if they could come to life if possessed by the children’s spirits. But don’t worry, it’s a lot to handle and actually bring to life. Tammi explained that several dolls were available for the shoot. “We had several different versions of it depending on what action needed to take place in the scene we were in. But you know, they were completely animatronic and that required a handful of off-screen puppeteers operating their eyebrows, arms and necks via remote control. So it was a big team effort to get it up and running.”
She went on to describe the unique qualities of each of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza’s stage show crews (think Chuck E. Cheese band from the late ’80s to early ’90s, but darn): “As far as scares go, Foxy is easy naturally perceptive. A lot of what I love about the animatronics now also ties into the sound design we’ve added and posted, which is so great and brings them to life in a completely different way.” Tammi proudly shared more about her on-screen creations , which she can hardly wait for FNAF Fans see: “Chica’s little feathers that move too are definitely my favorite part of her and Cupcake is an absolute favorite too.” Freddy is just like the boss – the heart and soul of the whole gang. So, I mean, it’s classic and funny and just makes me smile, always makes me laugh, [and] is completely terrifying at times, big and clunky in the scariest and silliest way. I love all these characters very much.”
What’s not to love except the predisposition for inanimate threats to invade their pizza palace empire when they fall asleep?
Five nights at Freddy’s opens Friday, October 27th and streams the same day on Peacock.
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