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Barbara Mandrell Christmas - CBS TV

In late 1986, following right on the heels of Little Shop of Horrors, I got a call to ask if I could come down and created a 8-foot tall Teddy Bear for the Barbara Mandrell Christmas show.

Of course, production on the special had been underway for some time and it was now down to the final month before the scheduled taping date. When I got down to the costume shop I learned that there needed to be not one, but four of these giant teddy bears. 

I loved this assignment because it gave me a chance to really showcase the potential of my technique in polyurethane. After I completed a ruff sketch of what I wanted the bear to look like, I began the wirework construction and established a working scale. From this stage my muslin pattern was made and a production crew was assemble. 

This crew, much like Little Shop, consisted of two foam technicians and two seamstresses. My association with NBC, was an enormous help here because I was able to call on people I had previously worked with.

By the second week there were four foam body fabrications under construction and I was able to start with my pattern work on the fur skin suit. Around the beginning of the third week however, the powers that be rethought the process in lieu of our time frame and it was deemed that the other three bears would be dropped from the lineup. This left us with a sigh of relief and enough breathing room to complete the wonderful costume you see to your left.

Here are a number of production photos of the process.