Guðmundur Þór Kárason
Guðmundur Þór Kárason (born in 1974 in Reykjavik, Iceland) is the son of director Kari H. Thorson and visual artist Jenny E. Guðmundsdóttir. He grew up around visual art and theater and from an early age he knew he wanted to combine the two. He found his answer in television puppetry and in 1994 he founded Wit Puppets. The company's goal was to conceive and build creatures and make them come alive with character and humor. Since then, Wit Puppets has worked for some of the largest production companies in Iceland on commercials, theater and television programs. The company has performed and produced over a hundred puppets in the process. Although the projects have become more elaborate and complex, Wit Puppets remains a small company. Guðmundur's involvement in Wit Puppets ranges from character development and design to construction and performing some of the puppets himself.
In 1998 Guðmundur started working for LazyTown Entertainment. He soon became one of the core creative people, earning him the title of creative director. He is involved in everything from performing one of the key characters to developing concepts and consulting on the show as well as designing visuals for the company.
Guðmundur is the creator of a children's television show called The Sidekicks. In the spring of 2003 he produced and directed an 18-minute pilot for the show. The Sidekicks did not get picked up.
In January 2004 LazyTown Entertainment started filming 22-minute episodes of the children's television series LazyTown. The show premiered in the US on Nick Jr. in 2004. Guðmundur was the puppet performer and voice of Ziggy, one of the main puppet characters in LazyTown.