Kelowna born puppeteer heads to Fraggle Rock

It was Jan. 10, 1983, when Jim Henson's 'Fraggle Rock' premiered. Last year, we spoke with a Kelowna lady who had the experience of a lifetime, journeying to Fraggle Rock herself!

While travel for many was paused during the pandemic, Ingrid Hansen had the opportunity to spend four months in Fraggle Rock.

Or at least a version of it on a Calgary sound stage.

The Kelowna native is part of a reboot of the 1983 Jim Henson classic, which was designed to both entertain and encourage, understand and embrace diversity.

Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, which will air exclusively on AppleTV+, contains all the original characters – Red, Gobo, Wembley, Boober, Mokey and Uncle Travelling Matt.

Hansen puppets several side characters in the program, including the body of Ma Gorg, and the hands of Marjory the Trash Heap.

She told Kelowna10 the experience was something truly memorable.

“Working with all these gorgeously constructed puppets made by the Henson Creature shop, they’re the Cadillac of puppets and they had multiple versions and we had so much support from every aspect of production,” she said. “It was like we were teleported into the Fraggle universe for four months and got to live in Fraggle Rock … I will treasure it forever, absolutely.”

She said the scale of the show is massive and intertwined with “gorgeous” elements. Henson’s stated goal with Fraggle Rock was to promote world peace. Thus, she said, the show and characters have diverse layers and live together in symbolic relationships.

Hansen said having the chance to work alongside some of the original cast members was a real treat, too.

“Getting to watch Karen Prell work, who was the original Red Fraggle and played her again in the reboot, is absolutely masterful and humble and intensely dedicated,” she said. “She makes it look effortless. Her character work is so charming and so real. I loved Red as a kid, and she is a global treasure.”

Growing up, Hansen was a big fan of the original show and everything Jim Henson touched.

As a child, she and her siblings loved puppetry so much, they would create their own shows. But not having access to puppets, they would grab teddy bears and craft outfits, write scripts with elaborate storylines, and even get the neighborhood kids involved, helping with other characters and special effects.

“Everybody’s got a different route to how they landed in puppetry,” she said.

And while it appears all fun and games on the TV or in a theatre, the job can be taxing, both physically and mentally.

Despite it all, Hansen has lived out her dream as a professional puppeteer for the last 13 years.

“I think you’d have to be a little insane to want to be a puppeteer you know?” she said with a laugh.

Puppeteers must endure being shoved into uncomfortable positions for long hours, she said, and enjoy the thrill of making something come to life that isn’t alive and give it a personality.

“There’s a bit of voodoo in puppetry because you’re channeling this character through yourself into this thing that’s actually alive and making it appear to be alive, breathing and thinking. I love it.”

Hansen’s no stranger to major steaming service productions, having worked on programs like Amazon Prime’s Miss Persona, and another Apple TV+ show, Helpsters.