“ | Oh my stars! | ” |
- Gypsy |
Gypsy, also known as Gypsum and GPC/GPC 1/GPC 2, is one of the robotic companions built by Joel Robinson to keep him company during the Mystery Science Theater 3000 experiment.
Biography[]
Like her fellow robots Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, Gypsy was built by Gizmonic Institute janitor Joel Robinson from parts scavenged from the Mystery Science Theater presentation controls. In the early days, her personality had not quite gelled and she would often be referred to as a male or with the name "Gypsum". Despite her immense length, she has her own room, which she decorated herself.[1]
For a short period of time, Gypsy was physically connected to the Umbilicus and items sent up to the SOL from Deep 13 would arrive via her mouth.[2]
Following the crash landing of The Satellite of Love, Gypsy chose not to join Mike, Tom and Crow in their small apartment. She founded the successful company ConGypsCo, a venture in which Mike and the Bots failed to join her.[3]
When Kinga Forrester restarted the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" experiment, a version of Gypsy was once again on board the SOL. Like her fellow returned Bots, she appears to have all the memories of the original, although she now descends from the ceiling instead of rising up from the floor.[4]
Some time after the destruction of Moon 13, Gypsy produced a smaller version of herself by shedding her outer structure like a reptile's skin.[5] Eventually, both models worked independently of each other, with the original referring to herself as "GPC 1" and the smaller being called "GPC 2". GPC 2 would eventually be deployed aboard the Simulator of Love alongside new versions of Tom and Crow.[6]
Traits[]
Gypsy operates the higher functions on board The Satellite of Love. In the early days, she needed to use most of her computing power to handle this responsibility, which generally made her appear slow-witted when dealing with others. When those functions were disabled, she was capable of clear thinking and communication.[7] This limitation gradually diminished over time and was entirely overcome when later test subject Jonah Heston reprogrammed her, allowing her to communicate normally.[8]
Relationships[]
Like the other Bots, Gypsy typically treats Joel as a father figure, while viewing Mike and the other human test subjects as siblings or friends.
However, as the only "female" aboard the SOL, Gypsy also often acts as mother figure to Crow and Servo or even the human subjects, such as breaking up fights,[9] warning them about playing ball on the satellite,[10] or when Tom once chided Crow for not appreciating all she does for them.[11].
Crow and Tom also often view Gypsy in a more romantic light, such as when Tom took her out on a date[12] or when both Crow and Tom attempted to woo her with song.[13]
Appearance[]
Gypsy's most common form is a large, purple and black robotic head with a long connecting tube that allows her to access all areas of The Satellite of Love. Although she does not have any arms, she has often found ways around this limitation, such as making herself a foot[14] or spontaneously growing a temporary arm to wrap around Servo's shoulder.[15] Later, she gained access to a mannequin body that she can hang from just under her chin to give herself a humanoid appearance.[16]
She would often wear "makeup" in the form of giant red lip attachments to simulate lipstick.
"GPC 2" form looks much like GPC, only smaller.
Behind the scenes[]
Performers[]
- Josh Weinstein (1989 - 1990)
- Jim Mallon (1990 - 1997, 2007)
- Mallon took over Gypsy when the series moved to The Comedy Channel and stayed throughout the show's run on Comedy Central. He left the role midway through Season 8, last appearing in Episode #813 on The Sci-Fi Channel.
- Mallon voiced Gypsy in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, with puppeteering by Patrick Brantseg.
- In 2007, Mallon returned to voice Gypsy in two episodes of the animated series of MST3K.
- Patrick Brantseg (1997 - 1999)
- Brantseg took over the voice of Gypsy when Mallon stepped away, continuing in the role through the rest of the run on The Sci-Fi Channel.
- Rebecca Hanson (2017 - present)
- Hanson has performed Gypsy/GPC in the series and most related additional material since the show's revival. For Seasons 11 and 12, the puppet was operated by Tim Blaney.
- She also performed Gypsy for the Watch Out for Snakes and the 30th Anniversary tours.
- Yvonne Freese (2019 - present)
- Freese performed Gypsy/GPC for the Great Cheesy Movie and Time Bubble tours.
- She performs GPC 2 for Season 13 of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Additional[]
- Sabine Bulthaup voiced Gypsy in the German dub of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.
Body and name change[]
For the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour, Gypsy was performed by Yvonne Freese. This Gypsy, sometimes referred as "Travel Gypsy", was redesigned to be a more compact and usable puppet.[17]
This version of the character was eventually renamed "GPC 2" at the same time the original was renamed "GPC 1" due to concerns that the term "Gypsy" can be offensive to some people of Romani origin.[18][19] Joel has since begun referring to the smaller version of GPC as "GPC 2", and retroactively referring to the larger version formerly known as "Gypsy" as "GPC 1".[20]
Construction[]
Gypsy (GPC 1)[]
Gypsy's head was built out of a now difficult-to-find "Century Infant Love Seat," an infant car seat from the late 1970s to the early 1980s; the inner seal of the seat was used for her jaw. Parts of an Eveready "All American Lantern" flashlight were used for her eye; the flashlight's hood (which was also used to make Tom Servo's shoulder pauldrons) was left on Gypsy's eye initially but removed for most of the series. Foam pipe insulation was used on her lips, and her neck was made of long 4-inch drainage tubing over a skeleton made from 1 1/2 inch CPVC pipe. She was painted with Testors Purple Metalflake Hobby Spray Paint. In Season 11, her eye was made from a RAYOVAC-EFL6V-BA Flashlight.
GPC 2[]
GPC 2's design was inspired by the work of a fan who'd made a smaller hand-puppet version of Gypsy.[17]
References[]
- ↑ MST3K 420 - The Human Duplicators
- ↑ MST3K 601 - Girls Town
- ↑ MST3K 1013 - Diabolik
- ↑ MST3K 1101 - Reptilicus
- ↑ The Cheesy Movie Circus Tour
- ↑ MST3K 1303 - Beyond Atlantis
- ↑ MST3K 207 - Wild Rebels
- ↑ MST3K 1101 - Reptilicus
- ↑ MST3K 415 - The Beatniks
- ↑ MST3K 306 - Time of the Apes
- ↑ MST3K 320 - The Unearthly
- ↑ MST3K 503 - Swamp Diamonds
- ↑ MST3K 417 - Crash of Moons
- ↑ MST3K 1004 - Future War
- ↑ MST3K 1007 - Track of the Moon Beast
- ↑ MST3K 1104 - Avalanche
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 https://twitter.com/JoelGHodgson/status/1175785593181224960
- ↑ https://twitter.com/JoelGHodgson/status/1157855281617022976
- ↑ http://www.mst3kinfo.com/?p=29204
- ↑ https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/makemoremst3k/posts/3181033