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United States Kirk Thatcher is an Emmy Award-winning writer/producer, director, and creature maker known for his extensive contributions to iconic film and television franchises.
I was Creative Producer and Writer on Green.com from inception and blue sky period through Beta launch. This involved creative direction and writing for the website.
Kirk Thatcher has continued to work on Muppet productions for Disney, including directing Muppet commercials for Disney theme parks. He has also been involved in other Disney projects like Star Wars, and Muppets productions for Disney+.
Thatcher has a long-standing collaboration with the Muppets, having co-written films like Muppet Treasure Island and directed numerous specials, movies, and viral videos, including 'It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie' and 'Muppet's Bohemian Rhapsody'.
Kirk was one of the three regular judges on the Syfy channel series, Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge.
He has directed numerous Muppet commercials for Subway.
He has directed Muppet commercials for Toyota.
He has directed Muppet commercials for Lufthansa Airlines.
In 2018, Kirk created and executive-produced a series for Netflix entitled The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell with Christine McConnell and the Jim Henson Company.
He has worked on the Star Wars franchise, specifically "Return of the Jedi", designing, creating, and puppeteering creatures at Industrial Light and Magic.
Kirk R. Thatcher was born on February 14, 1962, in Los Angeles, California. He began his career at a young age, displaying an early interest in filmmaking, creatures, and comedy. By age 19, he was working at Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), where he applied his self-taught skills in creature effects. During his time at ILM, he contributed to major films such as “Return of the Jedi” (1983), “Star Trek II” (1982), “Star Trek III” (1984), “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” (1982), “Poltergeist” (1982), and “Gremlins” (1984), designing, creating, and puppeteering creatures. This early experience laid the groundwork for a career spanning diverse roles in the entertainment industry, including a memorable cameo in “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” (1986) as the “Punk on the Bus,” for which he also wrote and sang the punk anthem “I Hate You!”
Thatcher’s career then expanded significantly into writing, directing, and producing, particularly within the Muppet universe. He co-wrote “Muppet Treasure Island” (1996) and directed several television movies, including “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie” (2002), “The Muppets’ Wizard of Oz” (2005), and “A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa” (2008). His directorial work on television also includes episodes of “Sid the Science Kid” (2010–2015) and “The Curious Creations of Christine McConnell” (2018), which he also created and executive produced, receiving a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. He was a supervising producer for the Emmy Award-winning ABC series “Muppets Tonight” (1996–1998) and co-producer on “Dinosaurs” (1991–1994), where he designed many of the characters while working with Jim Henson.
Throughout his career, Thatcher has helmed numerous commercial and web projects, showcasing his versatility. He directed over 30 Muppet commercials and web shorts, including the widely viewed “Muppet’s Bohemian Rhapsody,” which garnered over 72 million views. He also directed all episodes of Neil Patrick Harris’ web comedy series “Neil’s Puppet Dreams.” More recently, he was a regular judge on the Syfy channel series “Jim Henson’s Creature Shop Challenge” (2014) and co-wrote and co-directed “Muppet Live Shows” which played at the Hollywood Bowl and London’s O2 stadium. In 2021, he wrote and directed “Muppets Haunted Mansion” for Disney+ and made a cameo in “Spider-Man: Homecoming” (2017) as ‘Punk Rock Guy’, a nod to his ‘Punk on the Bus’ role, and appeared in “Star Trek: Picard” (2022).
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