IF
Puppet Kitchen worked with the production VFX team Framestore to create on-set proxies of many of the Imaginary Friends (IFs), including: Blue, Blossom, Louis, Unicorn, Flower, Cosmo, The Art Teacher, Ally, and Magician Mouse.
During Production, our very own Eric Wright doubled for Blue in all his scenes, holding space for Steve Carell to voice the character in this new Paramount Feature film written and directed by John Krasinski.
The Puppet Kitchen IF Team
During our work on the film, we were able to collaborate with a great group of puppet builders, costumers, administrators, and fabricators, all bringing their best work to the project.
Project Lead
Eric Wright, Lead Designer
Project Administration
Eric Wright, Puppet Kitchen - President, co-Founder
Katrina Denney, Puppet Kitchen - Administrative Manager
Spencer Lott, Simple Mischief Studio - Associate Designer
Grace Townley, Simple Mischief Studio - Associate Designer
Proxy Team Lead Fabricators
Ben Durocher
James Godwin
Aaron Haskell
Natalie Loveland
Additional Fabricators
Katrina Denney
Spencer Lott
Rowan Magee
Nicholas Mahon
Laura Manns
Heather Rose Piper
Sebastiano Ricci
Keely Snook
Grace Townley
Additional Support
Hailei Call, Robin Frohardt, Nick Lehane, Jess Simon,
Jack Keum & Andrew Chiang - iMakr Group,
On Set As Blue
During filming, Eric Wright doubled for the character of Blue.
Using stilts, suits, and a custom backpack, Eric provided reference for the VFX team to animate upon, held space for Steve Carell to voice the character, and gave the other actors a sense of the character and timing in each scene.
The purple carpet
NYC Premiere
The PK's own Eric Wright brought Blue to life on the purple carpet for IF's New York premiere May 13, 2024. This fully realized Blue walkaround character was expertly created at Jim Henson's Creature Shop in New York.
