Toby Philpott

Toby Philpott (born 14 February 1946) is an English puppeteer best known for his work in motion picture animatronics during the 1980s in such films as The Dark Crystal and Return of the Jedi. Born into a family of entertainers, Philpott dropped out of school and traveled the world during the 1960s, squatting in various locations and surviving off money he earned from his work as a street performer, which included juggling, fire eating, magic shows, clowning and acrobatics. He began his film career after Jim Henson personally selected Philpott to work on the 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal, in which he worked side-by-side with Henson.

The next year, Philpott was approached to serve as one of the puppeteers controlling Jabba the Hutt in Return of the Jedi. Philpott controlled the left arm, head, tongue and body of the giant Hutt puppet. Philpott would lend his puppetry skills to other such movies as The Company of Wolves (1984), Labyrinth (1986), Little Shop of Horrors (1986) and Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) before leaving the film industry. Reflecting upon his movie career, Philpott describes himself as a "street juggler that got lucky".

Biography

Early life

Toby Philpott was born 14 February 1946 in London, England into a family of performers and teachers. His father, A. R. Philpott, also known as "Pantopuck the Puppet Man," was a well-known puppeteer who would go on to become a writer and teacher on the subject of puppets. Toby's mother, Sheila Moriarty, was a singer and actress who taught voice lessons and Shakespearian verse speaking. At an early age, Toby Philpott discovered an interest in the performing arts and a particular love for magic. He also developed an interest in puppetry in part by reading a diary his father kept about using puppets throughout the Great Depression of the 1930s. Nevertheless, his parents did not encourage him to pursue a career in show business.

In the 1960s, Philpott became swept up in the youth movement that rose with the end of the British Empire. Philpott dropped out of school and began to travel the world, living what he would later describe as a "Bohemian" lifestyle. By his late teens, he was splitting his time between archaeological jobs and various odd jobs at fairgrounds; he began the latter working an octopus ride for one season at a fair in Yorkshire. By 1967, at age 21, he was living mostly on other people's floors and sofas in Notting Hill Gate in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea; The Dark Crystal included groundbreaking animatronics, the use of electronics and robotics in mechanized puppets to make them appear alive. The ad called for a variety of performer types because it was unknown what kind of physical abilities and stamina would be necessary for this relatively new artform. But he also played various other characters and races in the film, including the Garthim, Pod People and other swamp creatures. Philpott said the puppet designs alone gave the creatures a great deal of characters, which helped him prepare for the roles. He found an inner peace and deep patience while wearing the tall, luminescent Mystic suits; similarly, the suits for the hulking crustacean-like Garthims made Philpott and the other actors feel "wired up and raring to go."

The rest of the puppet team included Barclay on the right arm and mouth; Mike Edmonds on the tail; and John Coppinger, who controlled the eyes via remote control and gave the others feedback based on what he saw from the outside. so much so that other cast and crew members did not know who they were during breaks. The two would only occasionally leave the suit to discuss Jabba-related business, but preferred to remain in character within the suit. Philpott and Barclay employed an approach by Jim Henson in which they took direction while in character; director Richard Marquand agreed to give Jabba direction as if the character was the actor, and they talked back to the director as if the puppet itself were a live performer.

Labyrinth Toby Philpott served as president of the International Jugglers' Association from 1982 to 1983, and also did animatronic work for the 1984 film, The Company of Wolves. He said that "Finding Jabba the Hutt working in a library is no more unusual than the rest of my life."

Jabba the Hutt sculptor John Coppinger with Jabba puppeteers Mike Edmonds, David Barclay and Toby Philpott at a Star Wars fan convention.

Following the 1997 Star Wars Special Edition theatrical re-release of A New Hope, Philpott said he did not like the new animated Jabba the Hutt featured in a previously-cut scene and, although he was interested in the future possibilities brought about by computer-generated imagery, he lamented the increased use of computer animations rather than animatronics and real performers. Philpott did not dismiss CGI altogether, especially when it appears seamless and convincing as he believed it did in Steven Spielberg's 1994 film, Jurassic Park. However, he felt puppetry and animatronics often lent a more convincing look to the movies than the "slick hyper-reality" of some computer effects, and feels puppeteers have the unique ability to improvise and interact with the performers, unlike computer-generated images. Philpott would later admit, however, that the animated Jabbas that appeared in the 2004 DVD re-release of Return of the Jedi and the 1999 prequel The Phantom Menace were significant improvements over the special edition incarnation.

Toby Philpott lives with his long-time girlfriend, the artist Julie Shackson, and has a son named Keili Pentaphobe and a daughter named Yo, who gave birth to his granddaughter, Matilda. Philpott's favorite band is The Grateful Dead; his favorite books are The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Catch-22, The Sirens of Titan, The Magus and VALIS; and his favorite writers are Kurt Vonnegut, Robert Anton Wilson, Joseph Heller, Henry Miller and Tom Robbins.

Filmography