Wendy Froud (''née'' Midener; born 1954) is an American doll-artist, sculptor, puppet-maker, and writer. She is best known for her work fabricating
Yoda
Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...
for the 1980 film ''
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'', for which she has been called "the mother of Yoda",
and creatures for the
Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
films ''
The Dark Crystal
''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The J ...
'' and ''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
''.
Early life
Froud was born in
Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, Michigan, in 1954
to painter and 3D-
collage
Collage (, from the french: coller, "to glue" or "to stick together";) is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole. ...
artist Margaret "Peggy" (née Mackenzie; 1925–2016) and sculptor and artist
Walter Midener (1912–1998).
Her father was a German expatriate
and her mother was from Detroit.
Froud began making her own dolls from the age of five based on her favorite stories, including "lots of fauns, satyrs, centaurs and things with wings"
from
Greek mythology
A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the Cosmogony, origin and Cosmology#Metaphysical co ...
and
fairy tales
A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful beings. In most cult ...
.
She studied art and music at the
Interlochen Center for the Arts
Interlochen Center for the Arts is a non-profit corporation which operates arts education institutions and performance venues in northwest Michigan. It is situated on a campus in Interlochen, Michigan, roughly southwest of Traverse City.
In ...
.
She attended the College of Art and Design at the
Center for Creative Studies
College for Creative Studies (CCS) is a private art school in Detroit, Michigan. It enrolls more than 1,400 students and focuses on arts education. The college is also active in offering art education to children through its Community Arts Part ...
, focused on fabric design and
ceramics
A ceramic is any of the various hard, brittle, heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant materials made by shaping and then firing an inorganic, nonmetallic material, such as clay, at a high temperature. Common examples are earthenware, porcelain ...
. She graduated with a
BFA in Fine Arts
in 1976.
Career
After graduating, Froud moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
, where
The Muppets
The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety- sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they are the focus of a media franchise that encompasses ...
art director
Michael Frith attended a gallery show of her dolls and bought several as a Christmas presents for
Jim Henson
James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, cartoonist, actor, inventor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notice as the creator of The Muppets and '' Fraggle Rock'' (1983–1987) and ...
in 1978.
Impressed by Froud's work, Henson recruited her to build puppets for his film ''
The Dark Crystal
''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The J ...
''.
Froud designed and sculpted the film's two main protagonists,
gelflings
The characters from the 1982 cult fantasy film '' The Dark Crystal'' series were created by puppeteer Jim Henson and concept artist Brian Froud, most of the information about specific characters and species names that were not mentioned in the fil ...
Jen and Kira. She went on to work on several other Henson projects including ''
The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...
'', ''
The Muppet Movie
''The Muppet Movie'' is a 1979 American musical road comedy film directed by James Frawley, produced by Jim Henson, and the first theatrical film featuring the Muppets. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the film w ...
'', and ''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
''.
While working closely with Jim Henson and
Frank Oz
Frank Oz (born Frank Richard Oznowicz; May 25, 1944) is an American actor, puppeteer, and filmmaker.
He began his career as a puppeteer, performing the Muppet characters of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Animal, and Sam Eagle in ''The Muppet Show ...
on various projects at the Henson Studios, Froud was asked by the pair to join the team responsible for developing and building the character
Yoda
Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...
for the 1980 ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' film ''
The Empire Strikes Back
''The Empire Strikes Back'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back'') is a 1980 American epic film, epic space opera film directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan, based o ...
''.
Her contribution included sculpting the
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototyp ...
puppet for Yoda.
Nick Maley, who worked on Yoda with Froud under
Stuart Freeborn, recalled that "Wendy’s contribution creating the character was second only to Stuart who was overseeing ''all'' the creatures. She single handedly formed the body out of 1 inch sheet foam. She constructed the puppet armature from wooden dowel which gave structure to Yoda’s arms and legs. If I remember correctly, she modeled Yoda’s hands and feet and single handedly fabricated the 'stand-in Yoda', made entirely from cut foam, which was used to line up shots during camera setup. I do remember her spending some time working on the clay model of Yoda's head too." Froud later became referred to as "the mother of Yoda".
She assisted in Yoda's puppeteering, controlling the pointed ears.
Wendy Froud worked on the 2009 animated documentary ''
Mythic Journeys Mythic Journeys is a performance festival and conference gathering held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2004, it began as a celebration of the works of Joseph Campbell and has expanded into a celebration of the role of myth and sto ...
'', sculpting and fabricating puppets based on designs by her husband
Brian Froud
Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book ''Faeries (book), Faeries'' with Alan Lee (illustrator), Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson fil ...
.
Froud served as a concept, character, and costume designer for the 2019
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
series ''
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''.
Books
Froud's artwork is featured in three books for children, paired with stories by fantasy author
Terri Windling
Terri Windling (born December 3, 1958 in Fort Dix, New Jersey) is an American editor, artist, essayist, and the author of books for both children and adults. She has won nine World Fantasy Awards, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoke ...
: ''A Midsummer Night's Faery Tale'' (1999), ''The Winter Child'' (2001), and ''The Faeries of Spring Cottage'' (2003).
Her first solo art book, ''The Art of Wendy Froud'', was published in 2006 by Imaginosis.
She is a writer of short fiction and poetry, published in two anthologies: ''Sirens and Other Daemon Lovers'' (1998) and ''Troll's-Eye View'' (2009).
She collaborated as writer, with her husband Brian Froud as illustrator, on two books, ''The Heart of Faerie'' (2010) and ''
Trolls
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human bei ...
'' (2012), both published by
Abrams Books
Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery.
The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michael ...
.
Awards and nominations
In 2001, she and her husband were awarded the
Inkpot Award
The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual c ...
by
Comic-Con International
San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...
. She has been nominated for the
Chesley Award
The Chesley Awards were established in 1985 by the Association of Science Fiction and Fantasy Artists to recognize individual artistic works and achievements during a given year. The Chesleys were initially called the ASFA Awards, but were later re ...
for Best Three-Dimensional Art twice: in 2001 for her piece, "Goth Faery", and in 2002 for "Narnia's Friend". She has won 4th place in the
Locus Award
The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...
for Best Artbook with her husband twice: for ''Trolls'' in 2013, and for ''Brian Froud's Faeries' Tales'' in 2015.
Froud received a Lifetime Achievement award at the
Portland Film Festival
Portland Film Festival is a non-profit organization which hosts events and programs in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2013 by Joshua Leake with the help of Jay Cornelius. Their main event called the Portland Film Festival is an annual indep ...
in 2015. She was a finalist for the 2020
World Fantasy Award
The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy literature, fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year a ...
for
Best Artist.
Personal life
![10](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/10.14.12BrianWendyFroudByLuigiNovi.jpg)
Froud lives and works in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
with her husband
Brian Froud
Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book ''Faeries (book), Faeries'' with Alan Lee (illustrator), Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson fil ...
, whom she met in 1978 while working on ''The Dark Crystal'', for which he was the conceptual designer.
They married in 1980 in
Chagford
Chagford is a market town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign and the A382, 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name is derived from ''chag'', meaning gorse or broom, and ...
. Their son
Toby
Toby is a popular, usually male, name in many English speaking countries. The name is from the Middle English vernacular form of Tobias. Tobias itself is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew טוביה ''Toviah'', which translates to ''Good i ...
is a visual artist, performance artist, and filmmaker. He starred in ''Labyrinth'' at the age of one, playing Sarah's baby brother Toby. Through her son, Froud has one grandson, Sebastian.
Filmography
Film
* ''
The Muppet Movie
''The Muppet Movie'' is a 1979 American musical road comedy film directed by James Frawley, produced by Jim Henson, and the first theatrical film featuring the Muppets. A co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States, the film w ...
'' (1979) – muppet designer
* ''
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) – fabricator ("
Yoda
Yoda () is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' universe, first appearing in the 1980 film ''The Empire Strikes Back''. He is a small, green humanoid alien who is powerful with the Force and is a leading member of the Jedi Order until ...
")
* ''
The Dark Crystal
''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was produced by ITC Entertainment and The J ...
'' (1982) – creature design and fabrication supervisor ("
Gelflings
The characters from the 1982 cult fantasy film '' The Dark Crystal'' series were created by puppeteer Jim Henson and concept artist Brian Froud, most of the information about specific characters and species names that were not mentioned in the fil ...
")
* ''
Labyrinth
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the ...
'' (1986) – creature workshop artist ("Junk Lady", "
Goblins
A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
", "Fairy Lichen" and "Birds")
* ''
Mythic Journeys Mythic Journeys is a performance festival and conference gathering held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2004, it began as a celebration of the works of Joseph Campbell and has expanded into a celebration of the role of myth and sto ...
'' (2009) – character designer and fabricator
* ''
Lessons Learned
Lessons learned (American English) or lessons learnt (British English) are experiences distilled from past activities that should be actively taken into account in future actions and behaviors.
There are several definitions of the concept. The ...
'' (2014) – script/story editor
Television
* ''
The Muppet Show
''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...
'' (1976-1982) – muppet designer for 5 episodes between 1978-1979
* ''
The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'' (2019) – character/concept designer
and assistant costume designer
References
External links
The World of Froud website
Wendy Froudon
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Froud, Wendy
American puppeteers
Living people
Artists from Detroit
Fantasy artists
American speculative fiction artists
Sculptors from Michigan
1954 births
American women sculptors
American women short story writers
American women poets
Inkpot Award winners
College for Creative Studies alumni
21st-century American women