Barff is 3 Years Old Today!

This weeks marks the 3rd Anniversary of the Wippets! So here's a big thanks to all the viewers, subscribers, and fans out there!
Become Barff's friend on Facebook!

Wippets Movie Promos by Justin

Razzle has his own Website!
See it here.

Episode 139

Razzle and Floyd introduce their new high-definition setup.
Peachy and Razzle do "The Word Of The Day".



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Runaway Hits

I thought it would be interesting to showcase the episodes that became unexpected hits. Strangely enough different video-hosting venues have different stats for different episodes, some hit it off better than others. I'm always surprised as to which ones end up being viewed the most.

The "Fart" Episode (over 3100)


The Littlest Hobo Episode (Almost 7000 views)


Spafford tries to make Caroline smoke (Over 6500 views)


Betty's Disturbing STD Education Episode (Over 5800 views)


Jimmy and Floyd meet Baby Abigail (Over 2000 views)

Clip Shows & Facebook

So far we have 75 fans on our Facebook page, make sure to join up here!

Next week we premiere the first all-High-Definition episode!!!

A few weeks after that we'll be showcasing our first Best-of-the-Wippets episode. We've never done a clip show yet, I figured it's high time we made one.

Commercial

Below is our first Wippets Promo Ad.
Download the MP3 audio here.
Download the Quicktime version here.
Anyone is welcome to use either one of these to tag onto
their podcast or video.
We'll be making more of them soon.

We have over 100 subscribers on our YouTube Channel,
along with 29 followers (and growing) on Twitter.
The iTunes account is being updated this week, with the
latest 20 episodes being uploaded to the iTunes video
podcast feed. So make sure to subscribe to which ever
online tool you prefer to satisfy your Wippets addiction.

Episode 138

"The Life of Burnaby" is showcased.
Doug the policeman teaches his first french lesson.
Oswald and Doug have an altercation.
Dogtor Paw M.D. tries to help out Floyd.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Update

YouTube is by far the largest ratings we have out of all the online sites I upload to, with 100 Subscribers, 123,000 Video Views, and 7,000 Channel Views. THANK YOU EVERYONE for subscribing and for coming back to keep up with the show!!! DailyMotion is definitely the most personable and supportive of our cause with their MotionMaker and CreativeContent avenues, they really love to promote original content.


Both video-hosting sites have changed their design a bit, it makes for the channel homepages to appear a bit nicer.


As you can tell, I've upgraded the BLOG a little bit, just to make it easier for people to subscribe to the feed. Don't be afraid to become a "FOLLOWER" of this site by going to the the sidebar and signing up. We have over 18,000 visitors on this blog so far, a big thanks to everyone who visits regularly. Coming soon: The BRAND NEW WIPPETS ONLINE STORE!!!

Remember, we're on Twitter... we don't know why, but we are!

Here's some old classics that had to get reallocated due to silly "copyright issues" with music publishers, but here they are, back with a vengeance. Most of these happen to be some of my all-time favorites because we had so much fun making them, make sure to check them out:

Episode 73


Episode 93


Episode 59


Episode 50


Episode 110

Episode 137

Murray and Hep C get acquainted.
Razzle confuses Barff with his new make-up.
Monkalope and Spafford have another senseless conversation.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Episode 136

Razzle poses as Barff & Oswald meets Murray the Sasquatch.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Fan Art by James Nobes

Building New Sets

I've been attempting to setup some locations (beyond just the couch set) to have different rooms in our re-established Wippets Studios (code named Wippetscope). I'm not much of a set-builder, and the resources are limited for now, but I always wanted to make a typical sitcom-style set to have a couple Wippets living together (ala Bert & Ernie) in a crammed basement apartment.

Here's a quick video record, testing two different lighting schemes.



So here's the set. It's rare we can actually construct something that the puppeteers can actually walk around, so thanks to the taller ceillings, it looks like a crammed basement apartment of sorts. Still needs some work, I don't know anything about set dressing, but there's lots of old junk in this former animation studio, I've been salvaging things here and there. Notice the spongebo clock, posters for Secret World of Og, Incredibles, old school Spiderman, a print from Ian Gallant's Ghostbusters tribute watercolor art, a SuperGover image by Alex Ross, and even a ceramic cookie jar from the show Busytown Mysteries.

Here's the old Commodore monitor I've had from the beginning,
a nicely setup little rig for the puppeteers
under the table for this set.

Jerry laying on his re-structured set (very simple) for his newscast.

Here's just half of the desk lamps for lighting Jerry
on his news anchor set, Don't worry I have a fire
extinguisher nearby in case of electrical fire.

Here's couchy, he's back for now, we raised it up on a table
so we don't have to crouch down like we did for the
past couple years now, with a new textures
bamboo-blinds background, and steps for any humans
who wish to sit on the couch for a quick interview.

A little work bench, maybe brainstorm some new puppet designs?
Repair old puppets, brainstorm new puppets?
Just a desk for now, nice to have.

Where the puppeteers kneel down and work their magic.
Behind ol' couchy we got a big old TV for our monitor,
Cushions from another couch make for good padding.

So I guess I'm not so much "building" sets, as I am just piling stuff together till it looks like something, so I'll have more pics soon to show, soon we'll actually try to write stuff for the news anchor and apartment sitcom bits, 'ol couchy will be our regular "Wippet Snippet" stuff for generic skits. Writing is hard to do. Stay tuned for more stuff soon.

Episode 135

Murray and Peachy are introduced.
Spafford and Monkalope have a
visual thinking session.
Jerry Sterling has a not-so-successful newscast.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Inspiration - Part 12

Behind-the-Scenes footage can be quite fascinating, it seems to me that awesome-puppetry is a big, well kept secret. As well it should be, there's not as many shows & movies using puppetry anymore as there were 20 years ago, but watching these old clips offer glimpses of what goes on to make these amazing skits. It can be incredibly inspiring to witness some of the work that goes into making these. Here's a bunch of Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Sesame Street, Muppet Show and a bit of Avenue Q clips and interviews with cast and crews.

We're on Twitter!

Barff & Spafford don't really know what twitter can do exactly, but Barff knew it involved birds (which he likes), and Spafford likes to tweet at girls in the park, so they figured it was something they had to get into. Here's the Wippets Twitter site, not much there yet, but hey, it's a miracle they know how to use the computron at all!

New Wippets Sets

Here's the first one, nothing special, but better than what we had before, we have our own space with more room to move and build with more natural light, we're excited.
Old Couchy is back, now lifted off the ground for more easy puppet maneuverability.

Inspiration - Part 11

Episode 134

Razzle and Barff go on a treasure hunt.
Jerry reports some disturbing weather patterns.
Jimmy and Dogtor Paw are caught in the act.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Episode 133

Jerry Sterling has more exciting news coverage.
Razzle and Hep C discover a disturbing trend with Jimmy.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

More Priceless Portraits from Burnaby

Burnaby draws The Wippets

Episode 132

Monkalope visits the optometrist.
Razzle spots a new lady on the block.
Monkalope has a doctor's appointment.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

New Members for the Wippets Army

Murray

Peachy

Fabricated by Justin Porter!

Episode 131

Abigail hangs out with Jimmy and Floyd.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Episode 130

Behind the scenes interviews with some of the cast members.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Inspiration - Part 10

Episode 129

Betty & CJ have a discussion. Floyd and Razzle teach us about the word of the day.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Episode 128

Oswald and Floyd make their first appearances.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Post #199

Here's an awesome collage by Justin Porter

(our newest puppeteer and puppet builder).

I found these old photos from January 2006. Here's me and 'Peachy' ...the very first puppet that me and a roommate of mine built when I was in college ten years ago. Some how Peachy got lost in a move soon after, but I'll always remember him from these three pics, photographed by Stephanie Nairn at the animation studio I used to work at.

Episode 127

Barff & Monkalope have some hallucinations. Phil is introduced to Monkalope's new hand puppet. Burnaby locks out Phil from the office. Barff meets Monkalope's new friend.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Episode 126

Monkalope has a strange encounter
with G.I. Bear the Optometrist.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

Inspiration- Part 9

It's no surprise that Jim Henson's The Muppet Show is probably the number one source of inspiration for all of us here at The Wippets. Below is the rare unaired pilot episode of the original Muppet Show. The characters and style of the show changed very little compared to the actual first episode and series that eventually premiered, this is a great example of a variety show's test pilot made during its last stages of development. It feels even more like a Monty Python style puppet show than ever, pure genius!

Muppet Show Original - PART 1
Muppet Show Original - PART 2
Muppet Show Original - PART 3

See also the clips below,
The Jim Henson Hour Original Pitch Tapes:

Episode 125

Hep Cat meets up with G.I. Bear.



Watch the Quicktime Video here.

New Cast Members!

After a two-month hiatus, we're back!
Unfortunately we lost the location we usually film at, and now it's a bit more difficult for the puppeteers to get together with conflicting schedules and new day jobs and all that. However, we're making a conscious effort to get re-motivated and start shooting some scenes again, sorry for the delays.

Introducing new Wippets: Oswald and Simon (shown above), created by Justin Porter, he's our newest puppeteer, and was also the creator of Razzle, Burnaby, and G.I. Bear. We're glad to have him on board and he's constantly working on new characters. So keep your eyes peeled, he'll be fabricating new puppets for the Wippets Army over the next coming months.

Also, check out Betty's new hair!