Terri Hardin

Terri Hardin Jackson (born June 21, 1957) is an American puppeteer, artist, and former Disney imagineer.

Her first Hollywood job came during her college years in which she built the stillsuits for the film version of Dune and acted as a stunt double for Sean Young. A job on the Columbia Pictures Ghostbusters followed in which she played both of the demon dogs at the "Temple of Zuul" and served as a puppeteer for both the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man and the ghost librarian seen at the opening of the film.

Hardin was hired by Disney Studios in 1987 during her time working with Universal Studios Hollywood as a sculptor creating "walk-around" character costumes. She helped design the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and La Tanière du Dragon (The Dragon's Lair) attractions at Disneyland Park Paris.

Hardin later worked for Disney's sculpting team, where she contributed to the Splash Mountain attractions and to Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D. She has also created sculptures Disney collectables and for Mattel, Nickelodeon and Applause.

Hardin worked for The Jim Henson Company for over 30 years, performing in Dinosaurs, The Flintstones, The Indian in the Cupboard and The Country Bears. In 2015, the book A Galaxy All Their Own was published with Hardin on the cover and had over two pages dedicated to her inside.

Walt Disney Imagineering

Walt Disney Imagineering credits: Star Tours - When the attraction first opened, the seats were made out of a foam-type material over which were cloth covers. If a guest became ill while on the attraction, a Cast Member would pull off the cover and take it out for cleaning. Meanwhile, a new cover was put on the seat. The foam would sometimes absorb the liquids into it before the cover could be removed and replaced. It was not very clean. Hardin was brand new to Imagineering at the time when Disney asked her to make a "vomit seat." She sculpted a seat that could fit buttocks but was shaped to "gather" the liquids that might end up on the seat. And, it had to be made out of non-absorbent material. This was Hardin's first project in Imagineering. Muppet*Vision 3D - In Jim Henson's Muppet*Vision 3D, she was the puppeteer for the It's a Small World dolls in the ensemble at the end of the film. That means there was more than one puppeteer huddled down underneath the characters. When the animatronic penguins were installed in the orchestral section up front, they needed someone to do the puppeteering for them. Hardin did the movements for them, and the movements were recorded and then used for playback during the show.

Filmography

King Kong (1976) - Extra in the crowd McDonald's - McDonald's came out with new battered Chicken McNuggets and started making commercials with the new McNuggets. Hardin created the McNugget puppets and puppeteered them from 1982 to 1986. They are called stick puppets. There were so many commercials made with them that it is unknown exactly which commercials she worked on. Nissin Noodle Cups - Going back to the early 1990s, the Jim Henson Workshop did a series of commercials for Nissin Noodle Cups. Hardin was the puppeteer for the face of the caveman's son. The face was radio-controlled.

Personal life Terri married Lindsey Jackson, son of sports commentator Keith Jackson, on January 4, 2000.