Don Sahlin Don Sahlin ( pronounced " Sa - " lean " " ) ( June 19 , 1928 - February 19 , 1978 ) was Jim Henson ' s main designer and puppet builder in the 1960s and ' 70s , and a key influence on the overall aesthetic of the Muppets . Early Work . Don Sahlin ' s work in puppetry spanned the worlds of television , film , stage , and even stop - motion animation . Born in Stratford , Connecticut , his interest in puppetry led to a brief tutelage under Rufus Rose , puppeteer and builder for " The Howdy Doody Show " . Drafted into the army but released in 1953 , Sahlin put his puppet experience to work on Michael Myerberg ' s stop - motion animated version of the operetta " Hansel and Gretel " . This led to other assignments in Hollywood as a stop - motion or effects animator , notably working with the company Project FX on several of George Pal ' s films . ( Pal was the creator of the Puppetoons , whose influence can be seen in many similar " Sesame Street " vignettes , like " King of 8 " ) . Sahlin ' s work with Pal included scenes for " Tom Thumb " ( animating various playroom toys ) and " The Time Machine " , for which Sahlin provided effects shots and even appeared on - camera , as the clothing store ' s window dresser in a pixillation sequence . By 1960 , Sahlin had moved to New York and was working with puppeteer Burr Tillstrom of " Kukla , Fran and Ollie " fame , building and re - building Kukla , Colonel Crackie , and Tillstrom ' s other characters for a Broadway show . It was around this time that Sahlin first met Jim Henson , at a Detroit puppetry convention . In 1962 , Henson contacted Sahlin to build a dog character he had sketched for use in commercials , Rowlf . Don Sahlin soon became Henson ' s primary designer and builder , beginning with and early projects such as " Tales of the Tinkerdee " . He also provided special effects for " Time Piece " , and assisted on stop - motion projects , such as the animated ham used in the second Wilson ' s Meats Meeting Film ( in which Sahlin has a cameo ) . In " The Muppets on Puppets " , Henson introduced Sahlin to the viewers as " doing some of our backstage effects and working some of the puppets " in the 1968 special . In a story - telling skit , he alternated between puppeteering Rowlf ' s right hand and operating effects like an " explosion " . Don Sahlin went on to create and build Muppets for " Sesame Street " , " The Muppet Show " , " Emmet Otter ' s Jug - Band Christmas " , " The Muppet Movie " , amongst many others . Don Sahlin also helped Jim Henson with two of his stop - motion " Sesame Street " films , " The King of 8 " and " The Queen of Six " . In a Closeup Magazine interview from 1976 , Don Sahlin said " Jim Henson supervised the filming , but he gave me all the freedom in the world to do what I wanted . " Muppet Principles . Sahlin is the designer credited among Henson staff as the creator of Ernie and Bert , Grover , Cookie Monster and other classic " Sesame Street " characters . He is " the inventor " of the Muppet look , from a design point of view . As discussed in the book " Jim Henson ' s Designs and Doodles " , many of the Muppets began as Henson ' s rough sketches , which Sahlin then built and modified as needed . This often included special mechanisms or effects ; for the La Choy Dragon commercials , this meant " devising a system for this early full - body character to actually breathe fire . " Sahlin was known to refer to himself as the " guardian of the essence " of the Muppets . Beyond building specific characters , Sahlin contributed two significant concepts to the Muppet aesthetic , " the Magic Triangle " and " the Henson stitch . " The former was a simple but effective approach to positioning eyes , creating a triangle in relation to the nose and mouth . Jim Henson explained the importance of eye placement : " It would be the last thing [ Sahlin ] would do , and he always wanted me there , to make sure it was right for both of us - - making sure the eyes had a point of focus , because without that you had no character . " The stitch is a specific method of sewing cloth as tightly as possible so the seams would be " nearly invisible , " thus aiding the illusion of stylized " reality " when characters were filmed in close - up . This technique , dubbed the " Henson stitch " by Sahlin , does not in fact create a truly invisible seam , but worked sufficiently for television purposes ( hiding , for example , the seam down the middle of Kermit the Frog ' s snout ) . Experiments and Explosions . In addition to building assorted monsters and other bizarre characters , Sahlin had his own eccentricities and unique sense of humor , which often resembled the antics of the Muppet characters themselves . Indeed , the character of Crazy Harry was originally named Crazy Donald , after Sahlin ' s tendency to rig explosions and other intricate devices in people ' s desks . At , Dave Goelz recalled this side of Sahlin : Another trick , recalled by Goelz , involved crafting a spring - loaded mouse from gray fabric and yarn wrapped around a bolt , and wound with a reel of rubber band around furniture legs . " He ' d just wait until the right moment - wait until everyone was in the right position , and then just pull the ring . " At the same event , Jerry Nelson recalled that Don Sahlin once rigged up a hose over Jerry Juhl ' s desk . He waited until Juhl was in the office for an hour and a half , then left the room and whispered through the hose : " Jerrrrry . . . Jerry Juuuuuuuhl . . . " Goelz remarked that these jokes may seem weird , but " it ' s a key part of what " The Muppet Show " was . Don would never be working on what he was supposed to be working on . . . That spirit permeated everything that he did , and we caught it . It was all about having fun , and it became very passionate . " Sahlin ' s creativity was not limited to building puppets or frightening his co - workers . At the New York Muppet Workshop , a group of mice , freed from a hospital , resided in an aquarium in the office . Don Sahlin constructed an elaborate environment for the mice , first using a clear plastic sphere and an assortment of lines and pulleys to create an elevator for the mice . Sahlin later created an aerial highway , " like a mouse freeway " , by which the rodents could travel independently across cupboards , to chandeliers , and down to the desks , riding in a Slinky vehicle . Don ' s Bench . Sahlin died on February 18 , 1978 . In his honor , Jim Henson had a bench with an inscription placed in Sahlin ' s favorite spot on Hampstead Heath , the highest point which overlooked the city of London . ( Following his own death in 1990 , the same bench was dedicated to Henson himself . ) The bench was renewed with new wood and engravings in the summer of 2012 . The final episode of " Fraggle Rock " was also dedicated to Sahlin ' s memory . Jocelyn Stevenson recalled that the two tributes were not unrelated . The production team had been stumped in trying to find a name for the small , industrious creatures of " Fraggle Rock " . Walking on the Heath to clear their minds , Stevenson and Henson stopped to sit on " Don ' s bench . " " And the minute we both touched wood , we said , out loud simultaneously - Doozers ! Perfect name ! ' I knew Don would figure out a way to work on this show , ' said Jim . So we thanked him and went back to work . " Sahlin also continued to receive posthumous credit for his work in creating the " Muppet Show " and " Sesame Street " characters , in such productions as " The Muppet Movie " , " Big Bird in China " and " Follow That Bird " . 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