When I was a kid, I grew up watchingSesame Street,The Muppet ShowandFraggle Rock, and just about anything from the mind ofJim Hensonand The Jim Henson Company that I could get my hands on. At the time, I never really thought about the logistics, challenges or technical complications that come from puppets interacting with the world. Since then, as someone who covers entertainment as a journalist, I’ve been on sets where I’ve gotten to see it happen, first-hand, and getting to watch the puppeteers work is truly remarkable.
On July 17, 2025, Collider (along with a handful of other online outlets) was invited to the Santa Clarita, Calif. set ofThe Happytime Murdersto watch directorBrian Hensonand the human and puppet cast work, learn about what goes into pulling off something like this production, and get to tour the incredibly cool Creature Workshop where the puppets get built and repaired, on a daily basis. The adult comedy, set in the underbelly of Los Angeles where puppets and humans co-exist, follows two clashing detectives – a human named Connie Edwards (Melissa McCarthy) and a puppet named Phil Philips (played by puppeteerBill Barretta) – who are forced to work together to solve the mystery of who is brutally murdering the former cast ofThe Happytime Gangpuppet show.
During our time on set, we did interviews with some of the cast and creative team, who talked about what it was like to shoot the raunchy, R-rated hybrid. Here is a collection of everything we learned about the production during our visit to the set ofThe Happytime Murders, out in theaters on August 24th.
The Happytime Murdersopens in theaters on August 24th.
