Building faces

A recurring sketch performed by Jim Henson and his associates on various talk shows and Muppet series involves puppeteers or assistants interacting with the features of a blank Muppet's face and wardrobe. Typically, changing the facial features and hair result in the puppeteer shifting the personality of the puppet through a wide range of tones and attitudes. This was often done with Whatnots and Anything Muppets, and usually as a demonstration of the versatility of the Muppets to convey different characters and emotions.
==The Muppets==
 	The Mike Douglas Show (1966)Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Jerry Juhl play with The Southern Colonel and his facial features.
 	The Muppets on Puppets (1968)Jim Henson (with Frank Oz assisting) performs a Whatnot puppet, in the form of the Southern Colonel, which transforms into various characters as Don Sahlin changes the facial features.
 	The Muppets Make Puppets (1969)Jim Henson (with Frank Oz assisting) performs a Whatnot puppet which transforms into various characters as Don Sahlin changes the facial features - changing from a riverboat captain to a librarian, to a cowboy, to a "bad guy," to an alien, to a feminine character, and back to a riverboat captain.
center	The Ed Sullivan Show "A Change of Face" (1969)A doctor, played by Rex Robbins, prescribes a change for a Whatnot Muppet whose life has gotten into a rut. Robbins changes him from an old man to a teenage boy, then a hipster, then a poet, then a mobster, then a drunk, and then an alien. Robbins is freaked out by this last and tries to change him back to an old man, but gets his features upside down.
 	The Dick Cavett Show (1971)Jim Henson, Frank Oz and Don Sahlin play with the Southern Colonel and his facial features.
 	The Flip Wilson Show (1971)Flip Wilson gives faces to two Muppets (performed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz) in a bit similar to Gordon's interaction with the Anything Muppets in the first episode of Sesame Street.
 	The Muppet Show Episode 123 (1976)Vendaface gives an ugly-looking Whatnot woman a face-lift, replacing her unsightly facial features with more feminine ones. Another Whatnot woman tries the machine, which gives her the ugly woman's facial features.
 	Muppet Meeting Films "Nobody's Perfect" (1985)Leo and Grump change features on a Whatnot employee.
 	Telling Stories with Tomie dePaola (2001)Bill Barretta changes the appearance and personality of a Whatnot by adjusting its facial features in the eighth episode of the series.
 	Today (2008)The hosts (Al Roker, Meredith Vieira, and Matt Lauer) add features to three Whatnots (performed by Bill Barretta, Tyler Bunch and Stephanie D'Abruzzo) as Kermit the Frog promotes The Muppet Whatnot Workshop as part of The Muppets Take Over Today.
 	The Early Show (2008)Promoting The Muppet Whatnot Workshop.
==Sesame Street==
	Sesame Street "Consider Yourself" Gordon puts some features on some Anything Muppets, forming them into a family. They all sing "Consider Yourself".
	Sesame Street A blank Pumpkin Anything Muppet is on the verge of sneezing. Gordon puts ears and eyes on it, then finally a nose, which helps him sneeze. The Muppet returns later, once again blank, and Gordon gives him some eyes, then a nose, then some ears (which help him hear music), and announces that there will be music after the next segment.
	Sesame Street Gordon encounters four Anything Muppets, who have no eyes and noses. Gordon puts mouse-faces on the Anything Muppets. Afterwards, they sing a round of "Four Blind Mice".
	Sesame Street "Swinging on a Star" Susan dresses three Muppets as the animals mentioned in the song while she sings.
	Sesame Street "Spinning Wheel" Gordon puts some features on some Anything Muppets, forming them into a band. They all sing "Spinning Wheel".
	Sesame Street Gordon encounters Ernie, who is sad because everyone is too busy to play with him. Gordon produces a blank Anything Muppet, names him "Harvey" and puts some facial features on him — first he's a poet who would rather think of rhymes than play with Ernie, then he's sad, then he's angry. Gordon solves this by modifying Harvey's face to look more like Ernie's, and sees that the two of them seem to have everything else in common. "I think Ernie just made a friend," says Gordon.
	Sesame Street "The Miss Muffet Play" In the sketch, Lance tries to keep control of his cast: Little Miss Muffet and a blank-faced Fat Blue Anything Muppet who can't seem to find the right costume - changing the puppet to a rabbit, duck, fish and spider.
	Sesame Street Bob asks a blank-faced Large Lavender Live Hand Anything Muppet how he feels. The Muppet answers, "I don't feel anything." Bob sticks a nose and angry eyes on the Muppet, who then starts to feel mad. He walks off in a huff, and we hear a crash off-screen. The Muppet comes back and ad-libs, "It's okay, Bob, I just dropped my watch!"
	Sesame Street "I Want to Hold Your Ear" When Maurice, a hapless casanova, puts an Anything Muppet woman's head together, he tells her that he loves her, but it turns out she doesn't love him. He then proceeds to take her head apart, bit by bit, as he sings "I Want to Hold Your Ear" (as well as eyes, nose, tooth, and hair). After she walks off in a huff, he notices to his shock that the parts he set aside have attached themselves to the tablecloth, who thinks he's kinda cute.
	Sesame Street A blank Anything Muppet approaches Bob, not feeling anything at the moment. Bob changes his feelings by giving him various new facial features.
	Sesame Street Bob is approached by an Anything Muppet (Jim Henson) with no face, so he gives him eyes to see what a lovely day it is and a nose to smell a flower. The AM thanks him and leaves to gift the flower to a friend.
	Sesame Street Bob meets a blank Anything Muppet, who feels "dreamy" today. Bob adds more and more facial features to make him into an aged poet, waxing lyrical the whole time. He then begins to read a poem from his book: "How much do I love thee / let me count the ways," segueing to a counting film.
==Honorable mentions==
* Muppet Workshop Puppet 'n Parts, The Muppet Whatnot Workshop and Elmo's Monster Factory
* Elmo's Monster Maker app
* The Jim Henson Exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image, visitors can dress the features of the blank Fat Blue AM.
==See also==
*Body part removal
*"I Feel Pretty"
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Category:Puppetry Techniques
Category:Sesame Street Character Sketches
Category:Variety Show Sketches
Category:Repeated Sketches