PERFORMER	Shari Weiser body
	Brian Henson face/voice
DEBUT	1986

Hoggle is a dwarf who is a resident of Jareth's Labyrinth. He has various odd jobs, such as exterminating fairies, and collects shiny objects.

Although at first he acts callously toward Sarah, when she tricks him into helping her through the labyrinth, they develop a budding friendship, and soon Hoggle finds that he has to overcome his cowardice and choose between that friendship and his fear-induced loyalty to the Goblin King.

Hoggle is also terrified of the Bog of Eternal Stench, which makes it Jareth's most effective threat against him.

In the film, Jareth and Sarah often have difficulty remembering Hoggle's name, so he is referred to as Higgle, Hogwart, Hedgewart, and Hogbrain, to which he retorts "(It's) Hoggle!"

Notes

• At the Museum of the Moving Image, Brian Henson spoke a little about Hoggle during production of the film:
  • Early on in production, Hoggle had a camera in his stomach to allow Shari Weiser to see out from inside the puppet. Weiser apparently hated the system, and the camera was eventually removed. Unfortunately, this meant that she could only see out when his mouth was open. So whenever Hoggle was about to walk into a large object, he would always let out a loud grunt so Weiser could see what was ahead of her.
  • The Henson Company was not aware that the puppet was at the Unclaimed Baggage Center: Henson had lost it while the puppet was on tour.
  • Terry Jones was meant to do the voice of Hoggle while the puppeteers did the movements. However, after four days, it was decided this was too complicated to do, and Henson ended up taking over as the voice and principal puppeteer.

Hoggle photo from The Jim Henson Company Archives

Jim Henson with Hoggle, Ludo and Sir Didymus on Ambrosius

Hoggle on display at a public exhibit

Jim Henson on set with Hoggle

Production art by Elliot Scott showing Hoggle meeting Jareth in the hedge maze.

Baby Gonzo as Hoggle in "Nice to Have Gnome You"

The full-bodied Hoggle puppet, along with a few other items from the production, is currently owned by and on display at the Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama. Extreme decay resulted in a need for restoration, initially done by dollmaker Gary Sowatzka in 2005, resulting in a complete resculpt of Hoggle's face over the mechanical skull missing most of the original wrinkles and detail. In 2022, a more accurate sculpt of the head was produced by Storyland Studios for the display with the original head being turned around to show interior mechanics.

Improved Hoggle display in 2022

External Links

• Unclaimed Baggage Center
• NBC 11Alive Atlanta - "The Case of the Missing Muppet" - report on why Hoggle is not part of the collection on display at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta (2015-11-13)