Puppeteering - Blog Posts

42 years ago, the "Mother of Yoda" conquered Hollywood — then she vanished

You might not recognize the name Wendy Froud (née Midener), but in the practical effects world, she’s a legend. Her work even earned her one of pop culture’s greatest monikers: the Mother of Yoda.

“Despite what history may tell you, this long-haired, aetherial puppeteer with a Fleetwood Mac aesthetic played a crucial role in the birth of animatronics, providing the puppet design for groundbreaking films The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Crystal, and Labyrinth. A Froud original can go for $4,500, and her work even earned her one of pop culture’s greatest monikers: the Mother of Yoda.“

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“The beginning of Froud’s film career was also the start of a new chapter in her personal life. Jim Henson met British illustrator Brian Froud while filming The Muppet Show in 1977 and eventually recruited him to work on The Dark Crystal. Brian and Wendy met while making the movie, married shortly after, and returned with son Toby in tow for Labyrinth. Toby Froud, who played the striped-pajama-clad baby abducted by David Bowie’s Goblin King, would later work with his parents on Netflix’s Dark Crystal prequel series, Age of Resistance, as Design Supervisor almost four decades later.”