Editing Crow T. Robot (section)

== Behind the scenes ==

Crow is a gold-colored [[puppet]] composed of, among other things, a soap dish eye cowl, ping pong ball eyes, a split plastic [[bowling]] pin mouth, a [[lacrosse]] face mask webbing (Cooper XL7-FG), and [[Tupperware]] panels for the body. The original puppet for Crow was built by Joel Hodgson in a single night before filming the pilot episode. At the beginning of Season One, the puppet was redesigned and built by Trace Beaulieu, adding a second Tupperware tray to Crow's torso as well as movable eyes. Another version of Crow is used for the theater segments. This version is painted flat black. Of all the bots, Crow was the least changed from his KTMA incarnation to when the series became nationally broadcast. He is the only one who retained his general primary color.

Trace Beaulieu operated Crow in the initial [[KTMA]] season and throughout the [[Comedy Central|Comedy Channel/Comedy Central]] years of seasons 1–7, as well as in ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie]]''. During KTMA and season 1, Trace slowly refined Crow's voice. Originally, it was somewhat babyish, with a pronounced Minnesota accent. By season two, Crow's voice had become more sharp. Upon Trace's departure, [[Brooklyn]]-raised Bill Corbett took over Crow's operation. Corbett jokingly mentioned that during his time alone on the SOL, Crow suffered a [[stroke]], thus explaining the change of his voice and his initially less-than-graceful handling of the puppet.<ref name="cf-801">{{cite web
| url = http://www.castleforrester.com/mst3k/experiments/801/  
  | title = Episodes: #801: The Revenge of the Creature
  | work = CastleForrester.com
  | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207081852/http://www.castleforrester.com/mst3k/experiments/801/
  | archive-date=February 7, 2012
  | url-status=dead
}}</ref>
Despite initial concerns from the fanbase regarding Beaulieu's departure, the reception for Corbett's performance was very positive and he quickly became a fan favorite. The show's writers later made a joke of the change in episode 904, ''[[Werewolf (1996 film)|Werewolf]]'', by suggesting that Crow's inherent characteristics included a change of voice every seven years. When [[Joel Hodgson]] returned for a guest spot in episode 1001, ''[[Soultaker (film)|Soultaker]]'', he offhandedly suggests that Crow "changed his bowling pin" (that is, his mouth). From Season 8 onward, in the opening theme during the "Robot Roll Call", Crow can be heard exclaiming "I'm different!"

Many first-time viewers of the series are confused by Crow's appearance during the movie segments. Only the outline of his head can be seen, and (due to [[multistable perception]]) it can appear as if Crow is facing ''toward'' the viewer.  This phenomenon was addressed in ''The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide'' with illustrations comparing Crow to a [[Necker cube]].<ref name="necker">{{Cite book | author-link = Best Brains | year = 1996 | title = The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide |page = 159 | publisher = Bantam | isbn = 0-553-37783-3 | author = Trace Beaulieu ... }}</ref>

At [[Dragon Con]] in 2009, Beaulieu and Corbett made a joint appearance for a "Crow vs. Crow" panel discussion, in which they discussed their respective work with the character. The discussion is included as a bonus feature on the ''Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XX'' DVD set from [[Shout! Factory]].

For the series revival, a new Crow was built with much larger hands, controlled with arm rods, similar to Kermit the Frog, which makes the puppeteering more complicated, so two puppeteers are dedicated to Crow, with Yount controlling the opening and closing of Crow's beak and providing the voice off-camera.