I’ve always thought of Banjo-Kazooie fondly; it’s always been one of my favourite games for the Nintendo 64 and is loved by gamers the world over. It’s usually something I associate with being utterly terrified, but that’s all changed after I discovered this animatronic puppet of Kazooie from the 90s. I’ve never felt uncomfortable looking at a puppet, and I have to walk past a creepy doll shop every day, but this thing looks like it’s staring right into my soul! It looks more like a Skeksis from the Dark Crystal than Kazooie, and there could be a good reason for that.
The puppet itself actually appeared in a Banjo-Kazooie commercial in the US back in 1998, shared recently by Dustin Bailey over at Games Radar. Honestly, I’ve never seen a commercial that has less to do with the game, and I’m including the US commercial for Donkey Kong 64 in that too. The Banjo-Kazooie advert shows some criminals chatting around a campfire before being carried off by the duo, something that doesn’t happen in the game whatsoever! What’s more, if kids had seen this puppet properly they would have had to go to therapy for years – did Rare want anyone to buy this game?
If you look closely enough, you’ll see a split-second appearance from the horrifying puppet pictured in this article. It recently appeared in a Banjo-Kazooie appreciation group on Facebook in pictures posted by the puppet’s new owner Andrew Olsen. A quick search brings up the Live Auctioneers page where the puppet was listed back in December 2024 with details about the item, including the fact that it was made by AnimatedFX, which as a huge Jim Henson fan with more Dark Crystal and Kermit the Frog items in his house than I can count, I know is the brain-child of Muppet Workshop alumni Norman Templa along with Dave Nelson. While Templa didn’t work on the Dark Crystal, the inspiration is definitely there in Kazooie’s eyes and plumage, and there are definitely hints of Wilf and the Quetzal from The Song of the Cloud Forest (though Kazooie is definitely more frightening!).
The puppet sold for a whopping $2,100 and was part of an auction that featured puppets from the Team America movie Templa and Nelson worked on. Imagine what people would pay for Banjo-Threeie if they’re paying that kind of money for a spooky puppet!
