Ed Christie

Ed Christie (b. May 20th, 1956) is a puppet designer & builder who has worked with SESAME STREET & JIM HENSON Associates since an internship with JIM HENSON in 1978. Christie graduated from UMass Amherst with a BFA / Education in 1979.

The 1st Muppet Christie created was Butch, originally designed as a sabertooth tiger used in the "Toothbrush" skit of the Caveman Days series on SESAME STREET.^[1]

After years of learning Muppet design techniques, & building many of the classic Muppet characters, he was promoted to Muppet Supervisor in charge of SESAME STREET (1991 - 1996). He was later promoted to Vice President/NY Muppet Workshop Supervisor (1997 - 2004) as well as Art Director for HENSON on SESAME STREET. He also contributed his skills to JIM HENSON Licensing & Publishing.

In 2004, Christie left HENSON & was contracted by SESAME Workshop where he is currently designing characters for the domestic version of SESAME STREET & SESAME STREET International. He has designed the Muppet characters for SESAME in the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Israel, South Africa, Egypt, China, Poland, France, Mexico, Canada, Japan & others. Christie is featured in the 2006 documentary The World According to SESAME STREET.

He has won 8 Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on SESAME STREET & many nominations for other HENSON productions. Christie's work was also seen in the Broadway productions of Doonesbury, Peter Pan, Sugar Babies & Encores! Carnival. He also designed, built & performed in the 2007 production of Carnival! at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. From December 5th to January 25, the Provincetown Art Association & Museum displayed the exhibit Rods & Monsters: the Puppets of Ed Christie.

Christie lives on Cape Cod & is an artist represented by the Alden Gallery in Provincetown, MA.

InterviewsEdit

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation interviewed Christie in 2004 for the Archive of American Television. The hour & a half interview was posted on YouTube in 2009.

Part 1 28:57	Part 2 29:13
Part 3 30:21	Part 4 14:03

Muppet CreditsEdit

DesignerEdit

For Productions

• The Muppet Show - Muppet designer; built Mr. Dawson, Caterpillar, others
• The Muppet Movie - Muppet Designer/Film Crew - built Camilla the Chicken
• The Great Muppet Caper - Muppet Builder/Designer
• Fraggle Rock - Designer/Builder/Film Crew
• The Muppets Take Manhattan - Muppet Constructor/Designer, built Baby Piggy & others
• Little Muppet Monsters - Project Supervisor, built Tug Monster
• The Tale of the Bunny Picnic - Designer/builder/ Film Crew - built the Dragonbunny, Great-great-great-great Grandmother Bunny, Snort
• A Muppet Family Christmas - builder of The Snowman
• The Christmas Toy - Muppet Design Group supervisor - built Belmont, Jack-in-the-Box
• The JIM HENSON Hour - Muppet Designer (Jojo & others), builder for Beard
• Dog City - built Bugsy Them, Mad Dog & Eddie the Dalmatian Puppy
• Muppet Meeting Films - built various characters
• The Muppet Christmas Carol - Designer/Builder - built The Ghost of Christmas Present head
• Muppet Treasure Island - NY Workshop Manager
• The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss - built original The Cat in the Hat for pilot
• Bear in the Big Blue House - built Luna
• Muppets from Space - Workshop Manager
• It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie - Muppet Workshop - NY Manager
• Carnival - NY City Center Encores - designed Carrot Top, Horrible Henry, Renaldo & Marguerite

For SESAME Workshop/International

• SESAME STREET (1978-2004) - Designer/Supervisor/Art Director; designed Abby Cadabby, Curly Bear, Rosita, Zoe, The Elephant, Lulu, built Aristotle
• BIG BIRD in China - Designer/Builder
• Follow That BIRD - designed the Board of Birds, built Daddy Dodo's head
• SESAME STREET Jam: A Musical Celebration - Workshop Manager
• Elmo Saves Christmas - Muppet Workshop supervisor, designed Lightning the Reindeer
• The Adventures of Elmo in GROUCHland - Character Design Supervisor - designed BUG, Pesties, GRIZZY
• Alam Simsim (Egypt): designed Nimnim, Filfil & Khokha
• Sesamstrasse (Germany): designed Feli Filu, Pferd, Wolle
• Sesamstraat (Holland): designed Purk
• Zhima Jie (China): designed Hu Hu Zhu, Xiao Mei Zi
• Galli Galli Sim Sim (India): designed Boombah, Chamki, Aanchoo & Googly
• Sisimpur (Bangladesh): designed Ikri Mikri, Halum the Tiger, Tuktuki & Shiku the Jackal
• SESAME Tree (Northern Ireland): designed Potto, The Weatherberries, Hilda & Archie
• Jalan SESAMA (Indonesia): designed Tantan the Orangutan, Momon, Putri, & Jabrik the Rhino
• SESAME STREET (Japan): designed Mojabo, Teena & Pierre
• Ulitsa Sezam (Russia): designed Kubik, Zeliboba & Businka
• SESAME Park (Canada): designed Chaos the cat
• Rechov Sumsum/Shara'a Simsim (Israel/Palestine): designed Dafi, Haneen & Kareem the Rooster
• Takalani SESAME (South Africa): designed Moshe, Zuzu, Kami & Zikwe
• SESAME English (EFL): designed TINGO
• The Furchester Hotel (UK): designed Funella Furchester, Furgus Fuzz, Phoebe Furchester-Fuzz, Isabel the Bell
• Iftah Ya Simsim (United Arab Emirates): redesigned No'Man & Shams
• Cleaner, Healthier, Happier campaign: designed Raya

PerformerEdit

• The Muppet Show - Additional Muppet Performer
• SESAME STREET - Fred the Wonder Horse in "I'm Proud to Be a Cow", Uncle Ned, Baby Hungry
• BIG BIRD in China - Puppeteer
• DON'T Eat the Pictures - Puppeteer & wrangler
• The Muppets Take Manhattan - Additional Muppet Performer
• The JIM HENSON Hour - Himself (Secrets of the Muppets)
• The World According to SESAME STREET - Himself - Featured as Muppet Character Designer

Non-Muppet CreditsEdit

• Carnival! - 2007 Kennedy Centre production of the Broadway musical
• "Big City Park" BBC - designed Rauiri, Dara The Fox, & Billy Badger
• Alden Gallery - www.aldengallery.com

ProofEdit

1. ↑ Goldstein, Meredith. "Muppet master", The Boston Globe, Boston, MA. December 12, 2008.

External linksEdit

• Ed Christie on IMDb
• Ed Christie on Internet Broadway Data Base
• Provincetown Banner "Christie builds puppets for the world, no strings attached" Dec 4th, 2008
• The Boston Globe "Muppet master: A Truro artist breathes life into residents of SESAME STREET" by Meredith Goldstein, December 12th, 2008

See alsoEdit

• Ed Christie on the Muppet Wiki
• Ed Christie on the OSCAR THE GROUCH Wiki

Page NavigationEdit