Karen Leigh Prell (b. July 26, 1959)^[1][2] is a puppeteer and animator. Born in Florida, she first worked with Jim Henson in 1979, performing Deena and other small roles on Sesame Street. She subsequently worked on the final season of The Muppet Show, assisting and playing various bit parts (such as the title character in "Rockin' Robin"). However, Prell made her greatest contribution performing Red Fraggle on Fraggle Rock, a role she has reprised for various events and ancillary productions.

Prell also performed on the Creature Shop films Dreamchild and Labyrinth. During the latter film, she first became romantically involved with future husband Mike Quinn, as they made each other's goblins flirt during lulls in shooting. She was later one of the Creature Shop unit's Falcon puppeteers on Stuart Little 2.

In 1997, Prell transitioned into computer animation, working on several Pixar projects, including the shorts Geri's Game and For the Birds and features A Bug's Life and Toy Story 2. Other credits have included some of the CGI animation in Disney's Enchanted, work for Tippett Studio on The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Son of the Mask, and Frank Oz's The Stepford Wives.

Demonstrating that her affection for the Muppets has not waned, however, Prell attended MuppetFest in 2001, resplendent in a homemade Red Fraggle cap, and also participated in the Fraggle Rock: Complete First Season bonus features. Prell, along with Dave Goelz, is a co-executive producer of the Apple TV+ series Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock. She also made a brief return to Sesame Street for its 50th season.

She later worked as an animator with video game company Valve Corporation, where she was able to apply her experience with puppets to bring realistic movements to the robot characters of the award-winning game Portal 2.

Henson/Muppet credits[]

for a complete character gallery, see Karen Prell characters

• The Muppet Show (season 5): The Robin
• Sesame Street (seasons 11, 12, 50): Deena, Masha, and others...
• Fraggle Rock: Red Fraggle, Fluffinella, and others...
• Rocky Mountain Holiday: Various singing roles
• The Fantastic Miss Piggy Show
• The Muppets Take Manhattan: Yolanda Rat
• Dreamchild: The Dormouse (puppeteer)
• Labyrinth: Firey 2 (lead puppeteer), The Junk Lady (puppeteer), The Worm (puppeteer), Helping Hands, Goblins (puppetry only)
• The Tale of the Bunny Picnic: Babble, Baby Bunny, Great-great-great-great Grandmother
• A Muppet Family Christmas: Red Fraggle, Maureen the Mink
• The Ghost of Faffner Hall: Mimi and others...
• Mother Goose Stories: Gosling #1 and others...
• The Muppet Christmas Carol: The Ghost of Christmas Past (puppetry only), Daughter Mouse
• The Animal Show: Ollie the Tapir (first season only), Tizzy (first season only), and others...
• Muppet Treasure Island: Pirates and background characters (uncredited)^[3]
• The Muppet Show Live: Chickens and other background characters^[4]
• Sesame Street 4-D Movie Magic
• Fraggle Rock DVDs, "Fraggle Challenge" bonus feature: Red Fraggle (voice-over)
• Late Night Buffet with Augie and Del: Spank
• The Muppets (2011): Chickens, Penguins, background roles (all in "Life's a Happy Song" finale)^[5]
• "Do It Anyway" music video: Red Fraggle
• Fraggle Rock-a-Thon promos: Red Fraggle
• The Muppets (2015)^[6]
• The Muppets Take the Bowl
• The Muppets Take the O2
• Fraggle Rock: Rock On!: Red Fraggle
• Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock: Red Fraggle, Icy Joe, Queen of the Merggles (puppetry)^[7]

Notes[]

• Prell originally auditioned for Mokey Fraggle on Fraggle Rock, footage of which can be seen in the Fraggle Rock: Complete First Season DVD.

• She is credited as an illustrator on the coloring book titles Kermit's Summer Fun and Muppet Fun All Year 'Round.

External links[]

• Official site
• Muppet Central's interview with Karen
• IMDb
• 12/15/1979 - Karen Prell comes in from Washington State

Sources[]