[FOUND] 90s VHS childrens' show "Jumper"

@ lostinthewavesauce - That Bubba frog puppet is definitely smaller. If the Jumper puppet were created by Axtell it would more likely be Webster the Frog from the video timbo303 posted.

Although if Jumper were the exact same Webster the Frog puppet by Axtell, I don't think I'd know for sure until I saw something from the show in context, because there's a lot of similar looking frog puppets.

I was browsing Axtell's website, they made puppets in the 80s and 90s and are still making them today. However they have retired some of their puppet designs since then. So even if Webster the Frog isn't the same frog used as Jumper, he could still have been made by this company. There probably weren't a whole lot of companies selling high quality puppets, it's kind of niche.

I was also browsing Axtell's collections of monster puppets, but nothing in particular jogged my memory. However they could have also created the monster puppets and any others that were used on the Jumper show.

I don't think the guy in the show was doing a ventriloquist act, I think Jumper had his own voice actor off screen. If he were a ventriloquist he'd be a really talented one to make two different voices and without moving lips, and I'm just not sure if someone with that talent would be performing on such an obscure and probably low-budget show... although I guess I wouldn't entirely rule out the ventriloquist idea, it is possible.


I tried searching eBay and Craigslist for old VHS tapes in the SF Bay Area and in general, but no Jumper came up. Facebook Marketplace I have not tried as I don't have a Facebook account. If anyone else searches Facebook Marketplace that would be great.

@ starstriker - Unfortunately I can't remember any logos, I thought there was a title screen that said "Jumper" but I can't think of any more details. I have no idea where the tapes originated other than probably within the US. My family just happened to find it in San Jose.

@ bigholmes - Searching libraries are a great idea! I don't live in the Bay Area anymore, I moved overseas, so any searching I do irl is pretty limited unless I fly over to visit my family (not sure when that will be). So if anyone else wants to search libraries in the Bay Area or elsewhere in the US that would be cool.

I really have no idea if this series was distributed across the country, or if it was locally produced for schools, or if it was created out of someone's house for homeschooled kids or something... It's so freaking obscure that I'm wondering if the number of tapes was *super* limited. I don't even know if it ever aired on TV (if so it was probably a local public access show like someone in the Youtube comments suggested). I've come to believe that it's probably not on the internet at all.

I don't recall the quality being *too* bad though, there was some effort put into the production, I just think it was kind of minimal and simplistic. Like even if it were made by only a couple of people, they at least had some knowledge of video special effects.

@ MantleM - Recording a melody of what I recall of the monster song is a great idea! I can't play piano but I tried to re-create the tune using an online piano anyway. Here's two variations:

Virtual-Piano-5_30_17 pm.wav (824.04 KB)

Blue and yellow,
Green and purple,
Monsters are just make believe~

(It was a more upbeat song though, not sure if there was actually any piano in it)

s-l1600.webp (110.4 KB)

Not sure this is it, this was up for sale in Oakland on eBay, Called The World of Teddy Ruxpin if anyone wants to comb through the catacombs of the internet. (sorry, still figuring out how to work with this site, so here's an attachment instead, i swear it's not malicious, it's just an image)

Can you ask your mother the specific neighborhood she found the VHS in, that is if she can remember, that can help us narrow down the radius of the search, since if it is a "Public Access" show, it can help give us a specific location to find a PATC (or a Public Access Television Channel). My thinking is, assuming we can know a neighborhood, we can contact local TV stations or Libraries in that general area and see if they'd have anything, which would help with @ bigholmes suggestion of searching Libraries, and even contacting universities nearby about the program; you know, get the word out beyond the interwebs basically. It's a stretch, but i think it's worth a shot.

Don't think this is it. Teddy Ruxpin was a huge 80s toy franchise and I have a strong feeling OP wouldn't be on such a wild goose chase here if it was something as famous as that.

It said that it was used to an ending for a show called "High Desert AM", if we can get a look into who produced it we can definitely go from there

In the interview show it listed two networks, KHIZ and KVVT, and both of them go back to California. However, the locations are Inglewood and Barstow, which are pretty lengthy to San Jose, but it is still possible.