Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem One Night Only
September 19, 2011 8:06 AM   Subscribe

Retro Muppet Concert Posters (Five total, one for each character). Beautifully simple and possibly available as posters for sale soon.
posted by mathowie (44 comments total) 30 users marked this as a favorite
 
For once, a minimal retro poster trend that isn't stupid and awful.
I love these. Gets the energy and feeling right and communicates it beautifully with swoop and curve and color.
And it's not an obvious "retro" motif either.

I wish there were more.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 8:10 AM on September 19, 2011


Guy has a cool name too.
Michael Depippo.
It's like the night we saw Inglourious Basterds and I couldn't stop saying Dominic Dicoco.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 8:12 AM on September 19, 2011


Can't wait to order. Awesome, awesome!
posted by pointystick at 8:14 AM on September 19, 2011


Animal looks disarmingly like the Hausu poster.
posted by mykescipark at 8:14 AM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Dominic Dicoco
posted by Senor Cardgage at 8:16 AM on September 19, 2011 [4 favorites]


I like these, but I wonder why the registration is different on the last three? The first two look much prettier without that white edging.
posted by anigbrowl at 8:25 AM on September 19, 2011


Sweet, linkbait that you can actually pay for!
posted by Threeway Handshake at 8:26 AM on September 19, 2011


Yes.
posted by ob at 8:32 AM on September 19, 2011


This is going to be a great lawsuit.
posted by Jairus at 8:33 AM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


WANT POSTER! WANT POSTER! WANT POSTER!
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 8:35 AM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


This is going to be a great lawsuit.

Not necessarily. If you read down into the comments you'll see that Bill Barretta, one of the Muppets cast members who actually animates Dr Teeth, is among the fans of the posters.
posted by scalefree at 8:39 AM on September 19, 2011


I will be surprised if Mr. Barretta has any influence over the legal department.
posted by aramaic at 8:51 AM on September 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


I like the faux bad registration, especially the misaligned text on the fourth poster. You can look at it and imagine going to a Mayhem show back when they were so underground they couldn't pay for decent screen printing, and they just went to the cheapest printer who could put ink to paper ... and that worked, man, because it was ragged, it was ragged just like they used to be ... just like we used to be ...

That kind of fake nostalgia would be a perfectly valid reason to hate it, but today I'm going the other way.
posted by Honorable John at 8:51 AM on September 19, 2011 [3 favorites]


Bill Barretta doesn't own the Muppets. Disney owns the Muppets. Disney like to sue people. Awesome posters, though.
posted by Optamystic at 8:52 AM on September 19, 2011


Why would he ever advertise the fact that he will sell these?
So so so dumb.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 8:53 AM on September 19, 2011


Were the Electric Mayhem modelled on any specific bands/musicians, or were they just meant to be a caricature of the freaky end of rock'n'roll circa the Sixeventies?
posted by acb at 8:56 AM on September 19, 2011


A little of both, acb.

Dr. Teeth - Dr. John
Janis - Janis Joplin, Carole King, etc.
Floyd - I dunno
Animal - Keith Moon, John Bonham, et al.
posted by Optamystic at 9:07 AM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


Much better than the typical throwback band posters that have been cropping up all over. I was impressed, when I expected to be meh.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:08 AM on September 19, 2011


Floyd Pepper's costume and last name are a reference to the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Also, I'm a bit colorblind, but isn't his skin pinkish?
posted by Edogy at 9:22 AM on September 19, 2011 [2 favorites]


For the record, I love these and would buy them...but Disney will crush him. Disney has no sense of humor or whimsy. They own the IP, and no fan is going to get away w/ making money on a Disney property. I bet the cease and desist is already written, and I'll bet money that his isp banks the site as soon as they get the inevitable DMCA letter. Copy the images now if you want a copy.
posted by dejah420 at 9:35 AM on September 19, 2011


I want a T-shirt of the Animal one.
posted by fetamelter at 9:41 AM on September 19, 2011


Floyd Pepper's costume and last name are a reference to the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Huh, I can't believe I never made the Sgt. Pepper conncetion.
He always reminded me of Jeff "Skunk" Baxter.
posted by chococat at 9:52 AM on September 19, 2011


I will purchase these as postcards/miniposters, and hang them on my wall next to this, which I commissioned.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:53 AM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think Disney is WAY too protective of their trademarks, copyrights, etc. to let these live very long, but there might be a brief window where these are available for sale before it meets it's fiery C&D doom.

That said, these are magnificent, really nicely done. It would be brilliant if Disney just bought the artwork and put them out, but I'm certainly not going to hold my breath on that.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 10:16 AM on September 19, 2011


Also, I'm a bit colorblind, but isn't his skin pinkish?

Must be a fan of Pink...Floyd

YEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHH
posted by anigbrowl at 10:29 AM on September 19, 2011


Any lawsuit could be defended with a claim of transformative work. It would indeed make for an interesting lawsuit, since the characters themselves are parodic.
posted by anigbrowl at 10:37 AM on September 19, 2011


So basically, Henson and his crew are in the same boat as this guy because they created new characters loosely based on a parody of assorted rock bands and musicians? And that's why it is OK for this guy to make and sell stuff with Henson's characters on it?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 10:47 AM on September 19, 2011


Did you know Janice started life as a dude?
posted by roger ackroyd at 12:30 PM on September 19, 2011


And that's why it is OK for this guy to make and sell stuff with Henson's characters on it?

I'm not saying it's OK, I'm saying that it's a viable argument that might succeed - I don't know. More important is the fact that he created distinctively new work of his own (as opposed to, say, cutting and pasting photographs of the characters into a collage). Though it would be an unauthorized derivative work, it might qualify as fair use. You can read more about the issues in essay or checklist form. Unless the images turn out to be tracings from a photograph or video frame, I'd give the guy a 60% chance of prevailing in court, but IANAIPL.
posted by anigbrowl at 1:09 PM on September 19, 2011


So unlicensed merchandise, featuring the character names, as long as it isn't traced, is ok?
posted by Threeway Handshake at 1:25 PM on September 19, 2011


Unless the images turn out to be tracings from a photograph or video frame, I'd give the guy a 60% chance of prevailing in court, but IANAIPL.

This is honestly the most absurd thing I've read on Metafilter in years. Even with an unlimited supply of lawyers, he wouldn't stand a chance in hell. This is as straight-up as copyright infringement gets.
posted by Jairus at 1:27 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is some great artwork. I would love to own some of this stuff if I had the room.

Gosh I wish these legal trolls will stop raining on people's parade in admiring this art. I think he knows the risk involved. So let him deal with it, and not bicker about it amongst ourselves.
posted by LilSoulBrother85 at 1:31 PM on September 19, 2011


So unlicensed merchandise, featuring the character names, as long as it isn't traced, is ok?

What part of 'I'm not saying it's OK...I don't know' don't you understand?

This is honestly the most absurd thing I've read on Metafilter in years. Even with an unlimited supply of lawyers, he wouldn't stand a chance in hell. This is as straight-up as copyright infringement gets.

Oh really.
posted by anigbrowl at 2:30 PM on September 19, 2011


Oops! Use this link to the case (Campbell v. Acuff-Rose) instead, the Justia one is borked.
posted by anigbrowl at 2:51 PM on September 19, 2011


The biggest problem isn't copyright which will eventually expire & has fair use exceptions, but trademark. Time-Warner's trademarked Hogwarts and it turns out Disney's trademarked Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem for use on posters and postcards (and rubber stamps, modeling clay and mouse pads).
posted by morganw at 5:01 PM on September 19, 2011 [1 favorite]


ANIMAL! ANIMAL! ANIMAL!
posted by deborah at 5:28 PM on September 19, 2011


That kind of fake nostalgia would be a perfectly valid reason to hate it, but today I'm going the other way.

Yeah, this is actually pretty good. He does a really good job isolating the one characteristic that defines the character and using it as a color-wash. Really nice stuff.

Oh really.

Unfortunately… yeah, really. You can't use the character names without violating copyright. If he got rid of the words it'd likely be in the clear as fair-use derivative work.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 5:53 PM on September 19, 2011


I think Guitar Janice is a much better name the Janice.
posted by BurnChao at 7:25 PM on September 19, 2011


The law on copyright of fictional characters outside of their original context is surprisingly unclear. Again, the rather obvious parody aspects of the Electric Mayhem, not least in nomenclature, makes the issue even more complicated. For one thing, it might put Disney in the position of owing money to Dr. John.
posted by anigbrowl at 7:39 PM on September 19, 2011


No offense, Janice.
posted by BurnChao at 7:39 PM on September 19, 2011


Having them appear in a concert poster which features their names and what instruments they play, advertising them playing at The Muppet Show, is not "outside of their original context."

"Disney" clearly made a parody of Dr. John: they did not name this character "Dr. John," for one. A reasonable person would never believe that Dr. Teeth is Dr. John.

These posters, if you saw them on the street, can and would be confused with real Disney marketing. This is why it is not a parody.
posted by Threeway Handshake at 9:27 AM on September 20, 2011


These posters, if you saw them on the street, can and would be confused with real Disney marketing. This is why it is not a parody.

That sounds more like an argument for trademark than copyright infringement. And if they were being sold on the street, you'd have a point, because (applied-for, not registered) trademark #77841723 does include posters; the artist would be better off licensing his work to Disney. To some extent, it depends on how he sells the material on Etsy (if he were to actually do so) - as merchandise or as one-off artwork.

However, I was musing over the copyright issues. Next time you have an opinion, state it instead of trying to put words in my mouth.
posted by anigbrowl at 11:19 AM on September 20, 2011


I think you mistakenly replied to another poster instead of me? I didn't say anything of copyright, and I only asked questions, never stated somebody else's opinion, other than the "reasonable person."
posted by Threeway Handshake at 11:35 AM on September 20, 2011


Rubbish. You solicited my agreement with a premise that I was not asserting to begin with.
posted by anigbrowl at 3:14 PM on September 20, 2011


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