Bonnie Erickson

Bonnie Erickson (b. September 20, 1941), aka Bonnie Lewis, was part of the original design team for The Muppet Show. She first joined Jim Henson's team as a costume designer for The Frog Prince, became head of the workshop and continued to work with the Muppets team for many years.
Erickson is credited as the designer and/or builder of Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Statler and Waldorf, the Newsman, Janice, Zoot, and the caricatures of Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Jerry Nelson for the Country Trio. 
Erickson then moved to become Creative Director of the Product Division of Children's Television Workshop, a position which she held for 13 years.
Erickson now owns her own design and marketing company, Harrison/Erickson, Inc., where she creates characters for television and theater, as well as mascot programs for major league sports teams. Her best known mascots are the Phillie Phanatic and Youppi. Her advertising work includes the development of the first Happy Meal puppets for McDonald's as well as a line of plush animals for Applause. 
==Design credits==
*The Frog Prince: Puppet costumes
*The Muppet Musicians of Bremen: Character designer/builder of puppets and body puppets and heads for Caleb Siles, Mean Floyd, Mordecai Sledge, and Lardpork; co-built T.R. (with Don Sahlin)
*The Muppets Valentine Show: Designed George the Janitor, Mildred Huxtetter
*The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence: Designed The San Francisco Earthquake and other wrestlers, The Electric Mayhem's Zoot, Statler and Waldorf; built Janice, and co-built The Swedish Chef (with Jim Henson)
*Saturday Night Live (The Land of Gortch): built Vazh
*The Muppet Show: Character designer; built Fozzie Bear
*Ice Follies (1977 season): Muppet costumes designer and builder
*The Muppet Movie: Muppet designer
*Barrio Sésamo: built Espinete
*Rechov Sumsum: built original version of Kippi Ben Kippod
*Fraggle Rock: Muppet design consultant
*The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: Creative advisor
*The Christmas Toy: Muppet design consultant
Bonnie Erickson and Jim.jpg
Bonnie Erickson and Jim in the workshop.jpg
Jim & Bonnie.jpg
==External links==
* The New York Times "NEW YORKERS & CO.; Mascots R Them" by Erin St. John Kelly, February 1998
* Smithsonian Magazine "The Woman Behind Miss Piggy" by Anika Gupta, October 2008
* Creative Times interview, February 24, 2010
* Tough Pigs interview, January 2012
* Victory Journal, "Master of Puppets" by Mike Rubin, Winter 2015
* Arts ATL, "Miss Piggy's creator, Bonnie Erickson, speaks about her work as a woman of The Muppets" by Gail O'Neill, Feb 27, 2018
* The Strong Museum of Play, "'It's Time to Light the Lights' - Spotlight on Bonnie Erickson" by Julia Novakovic, March 9, 2018
* Laughing Place, "10 Things We Learned from Muppet Designer Bonnie Erickson During WDFM Happily Ever After Hours", June 11, 2020
* Detroit Free Press, "Longtime Jim Henson associate helped bring the Muppets, Tickle Me Elmo, 'Fraggle Rock' to life" by Ryan Garza, Aug 2, 2021
* The Atlantic, "The Phillie Phantatic's Biggest Phan" by Elaine Godfrey, November 2, 2022
* Gothamist "A look inside Miss Piggy’s creator's art-filled Brooklyn duplex" by Ryan Kailath, Nov 25, 2023
* The Cut "Meet the Woman Behind Miss Piggy and the Phillie Phanatic" by Nell McShane Wulfhart, June 13, 2024
* Career timeline provided by Erickson
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Category:Designers