Tobias Matthew Froud (born 27 June 1984) is an English-American artist, special effects designer, puppeteer, filmmaker, and performer. He rose to prominence for his role as the baby who was wished away to the

goblins A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous humanoid creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances dep ...

in the 1986

Jim Henson James Maury Henson (September 24, 1936 – May 16, 1990) was an American puppeteer, animator, actor, and filmmaker who achieved worldwide notability as the creator of the Muppets. Henson was also well known for creating ''Fraggle Rock'' ( ...

film ''

Labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth () is an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by the h ...

''. He became a puppeteer, sculptor, and fabricator for film, television, and theatre. He wrote and directed the 2014 fantasy short film ''

Lessons Learned Lessons learned (American English) or lessons learnt (British English) are experiences distilled from past activities that should be actively taken into account in future actions and behaviors. Definition There are several definitions of the ...

''. He was the design supervisor of the 2019 streaming television series '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance''.

Early life

Toby Froud was born in 1984 in London, to English painter

Brian Froud Brian Froud (born 1947) is an English fantasy illustrator and conceptual designer. He is most widely known for his 1978 book '' Faeries'' with Alan Lee, and as the conceptual designer of the Jim Henson films '' The Dark Crystal'' (1982) and ...

and American puppet-maker Wendy Froud. His maternal grandfather was the German-American sculptor Walter Midener (1912–1998), and his maternal grandmother was Margaret "Peggy" Midener (''née'' Mackenzie; 1925–2016), a painter and

collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

artist in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. His parents met in 1978 while working on preproduction for the 1982

film ''

The Dark Crystal ''The Dark Crystal'' is a 1982 dark fantasy, dark fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. It stars the voices of Stephen Garlick, Lisa Maxwell (actress), Lisa Maxwell, Billie Whitelaw, Percy Edwards, and Barry Dennen. The film was prod ...

'', for which Brian was the conceptual designer and Wendy a puppet fabricator. They married in 1980. Froud was born during preproduction of his parents' second film with Henson, ''

'' (released in 1986), and at the age of one he was featured in the film as the baby who is wished away to the Goblin King by his older sister

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

. The name of the baby in the script had originally been Freddie, but was changed to Toby so as not to confuse Froud. Due to ''Labyrinth''s popularity Froud has garnered a

cult status A cult following is a group of fans who are highly dedicated to a person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The latter is often called a cult classic. A film, book ...

and been described as one of the most famous babies in cinema and of the 1980s. Froud was raised in

Chagford Chagford is a market town and civil parish on the north-east edge of Dartmoor, in Devon, England, close to the River Teign and the A382, 4 miles (6 km) west of Moretonhampstead. The name is derived from ''chag'', meaning gorse or broom, an ...

, Devon, on the edge of

Dartmoor Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, South West England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers . The granite that forms the uplands dates from the Carb ...

. He developed an interest in puppetry from a young age due to exposure to his parents' artwork.

Career

Froud apprenticed at the Muppet Workshop in New York in 1999, and in 2004 worked at Weta Workshop in New Zealand as a sculptor, fabricator, and

miniature effect A miniature effect is a special effect created for motion pictures and television programs using scale models. Scale models are often combined with high speed photography or matte shots to make gravitational and other effects appear convincing t ...

s artist for the 2005 films '' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'' and ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

''. He graduated from

Wimbledon School of Art Wimbledon College of Arts, formerly Wimbledon School of Art, is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college specialises in theatre, screen and performance arts and design ...

in 2006 with a BA in technical arts and special effects. In 2007 he built props and sets for the British children's television show ''

What's Your News? Jocelyn Stevenson is a British-American writer and producer, largely for children's shows. She has received the BAFTA Special Award. Screenwriting credits Television * ''Fraggle Rock'' (1983-1987) * ''Sesame Street'' (1987-1989) * '' Charlie Chal ...

'', and created masks and puppets for the London theatre productions of ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' and ''

Cinderella "Cinderella", or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a Folklore, folk tale with thousands of variants that are told throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsin Press, 1988. The protagonist is a you ...

''. Michael Curry Design Inc. in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

hired Froud in 2009 as a puppet fabricator and video artist on several productions, including Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour. In 2010 Froud worked for

Legacy Effects Legacy Effects, LLC is an American visual effects studio specializing in creature design, prosthetic makeup, animatronics, and specialty suits. History Founding partners Lindsay Macgowan, Shane Mahan, John Rosengrant, and Alan Scott supervised p ...

San Fernando, California San Fernando (Spanish language, Spanish for "Ferdinand III of Castile, St. Ferdinand") is a General-law municipality, general-law city in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. It ...

as a fabricator on the film ''

Cowboys & Aliens ''Cowboys & Aliens'' is a 2011 Space Western, space western Action film, action thriller film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer in his final fil ...

''. Since 2010, Froud has worked for the

stop-motion animation Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

studio

Laika Laika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into lo ...

in Portland, sculpting and fabricating puppets for the studio's films ''

ParaNorman ''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American animated comedy horror, comedy horror film produced by Laika, LLC, Laika. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (filmmaker), Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler, the film ...

'' (2012), ''

The Boxtrolls ''The Boxtrolls'' is a 2014 American animated fantasy comedy film produced by Laika and loosely based on the 2005 novel '' Here Be Monsters!'' by Alan Snow. Directed by Graham Annable (in his feature directorial debut) and Anthony Stacchi an ...

'' (2014), ''

Kubo and the Two Strings ''Kubo and the Two Strings'' is a 2016 American animated fantasy film directed by Travis Knight and written by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler. Produced by Laika, the film stars the voices of Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, Roone ...

'' (2016) and ''

Missing Link Missing link may refer to: Biology * Missing link (human evolution), a non-scientific term typically referring to transitional fossils * Piltdown Man, a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the "missing link" between ape and man Geog ...

'' (2019). Froud established the production company Stripey Pajama Productions, named for the outfit he wore as the baby in ''Labyrinth''. He wrote and directed the 2014 fantasy short film ''

'', produced by Heather Henson's company IBEX Puppetry for its Handmade Puppet Dreams series. He served as a creature designer on the 2016 film ''

I Am Not a Serial Killer ''I Am Not a Serial Killer'' is a 2009 horror novel written by American author Dan Wells, originally published by Tor Books. It is Wells' debut novel and the first installment in the John Cleaver series. It is followed by five books, and has ...

'', and alongside Heather Henson was executive producer of the 2017 film '' Yamasong: March of the Hollows''. Froud spent two years serving as design supervisor on the 2019

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...

series '' The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance'', a prequel to ''The Dark Crystal'', and in 2019 he began work as a puppet sculptor on the

Guillermo del Toro Guillermo del Toro Gómez (; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, Gothic fiction, gothicism and horror fiction, horror often blending the genres ...

film ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

''.

Performing arts

Froud's performance skills include stiltwalking and fire juggling. He performed in various productions with

William Todd-Jones William Todd-Jones (born 1958) is a Welsh puppeteer, puppet designer, performer, director, movement consultant and writer for film, television and theatre in the UK and abroad. As an environmentalist, Todd-Jones is a longstanding patron of the w ...

and music group Daughters of Elvin. He puppeteered as the opening act for

Scissor Sisters Scissor Sisters are an American pop rock band formed in 2000. The band's current line-up consists of Jake Shears (vocals), Babydaddy (various instruments), Del Marquis (guitar, bass) and Randy Real (drums). Former members include vocalist A ...

at the

2005 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2005 was the 25th edition of the Brit Awards, an annual pop music awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, which for this edition was marketed as "Brits 25 - The 25th Show". The show was broadcast on the UK ITV network, and attracte ...

, and has performed at

Faerieworlds Faerieworlds was an annual music and arts festival currently held annually in the U.S. state of Oregon. The festival's primary theme was the "realm of the faerie". As of 2015, the festival moved to Hornings Hideout near Portland after many rece ...

. As of 2007 and 2011, Froud was working as a stilt-walker and dancing bear with a troupe touring throughout England.

Personal life

Froud is married and has a son, Sebastian. He resides in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Froud, Toby Living people 1984 births Alumni of Wimbledon College of Arts Film male child actors English male child actors English puppeteers English filmmakers British production designers Stop motion animators Miniature model-makers British visual effects artists American male child actors American puppeteers Filmmakers from Oregon American production designers