Paul McGinnis

Actor · Born July 23, 1973 (53) · Huntington Beach, California, USA

Paul McGinnis (born July 23, 1973) is an American puppeteer for Sesame Street and The Muppets. He has also performed in various non-Muppet television productions such as The Book of Pooh, Julie's Greenroom, The Wiz Live!, Crash & Bernstein, Crank Yankers, Warren the Ape, Greg the Bunny, It's a Big Big World, Between the Lions and Dog with a Blog. McGinnis performed on stage in the 2004–2005 Broadway tour of Little Shop of Horrors, as well as Walking with Dinosaurs − The Arena Spectacular. McGinnis also creates his own works of puppetry on YouTube. In September 2017, McGinnis was an additional Muppet performer on The Muppets Take the Bowl live show at the Hollywood Bowl. In July 2018, he was an additional Muppet performer for The Muppets Take the O2 live show at the O2 Arena. Description above from the Wikipedia article Paul McGinnis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Biography from TMDB.

Born: July 23, 1973 (53)
From: Huntington Beach, California, USA
Works as: Actor
Titles: 22 on MovieCove · 38 credits in all
Links: IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 65 days to Oct 28Up 3% in 30 days

What are Paul McGinnis' films like?

Across their 8 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Bonds.

Themes

share of theme weight

Society

37%

Bonds

29%

Self

18%

Morality

11%

Ideas

Community6 Friendship4

Roles they play

1 analyzed role

Heroas Winnie the Pooh in The Book of Pooh (2001)

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Joyful

Warm

Absurd

Hopeful

Contemplative

Other

How their films linger

Feel-good6 Fun4 Cozy2

How their films end

Happy2
Bittersweet3
Ambiguous1
Cyclical2

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Paul McGinnis' films?

As of October 24, 2026, 14 of their 22 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Disney+ (5).

Also on these channels

PBS KIDS2 titles, show their 2 titles on PBS KIDS

Subscription and free streaming for Paul McGinnis' titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

38 credits, 22 with a MovieCove page.

The Muppet Show(2026)
as Supporting Muppet Performer
Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all films
Lake Effect (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
as Frank
Skeleton Xylophone (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2023)
as Spoopy Guy/ Ringmaster
Tall Poppy (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2022)
as Tall Poppy (Head)
Darkness Binds (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)
as Professor Cromwell
Donkey Hodie(2021)
Show as Additional Puppeteer
Midcredits score: 39th percentile of all shows
Confessions Of A Homicidal Prostitute: Demonatrix (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2018)
as Jackson
The Muppets Take the O2(2018)
as Additional Muppet Performer (voice)
Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Julie's Greenroom(2017)
Show as Additional Puppeteer
Midcredits score: 77th percentile of all shows
Frankenstein's Patchwork Monster (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
as Percy Shelley
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver(2014)
Show 2 episodes · as Cat Puppeteer · as Dog Paws Puppeteer · as Mascot · as Unicorn
Midcredits score: 93rd percentile of all shows
Lady Gaga & the Muppets' Holiday Spectacular(2013)
as Additional Muppet Performer
Midcredits score: 48th percentile of all films
Dry Bones(2013)
as Tom
Midcredits score: 13th percentile of all films
Bigfoot and Gray on the run (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2013)
Associate Producer
Sesame Street: Singing with the Stars(2012)
Actor
Midcredits score: 6th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Crash & Bernstein(2012)
Show as Puppeteer #2
Midcredits score: 15th percentile of all shows
The Muppets(2011)
as Additional Muppet Performer (voice)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Portlandia(2011)
Show 1 episode · as Additional Muppets
Midcredits score: 78th percentile of all shows
Sesame Street: Wild Words and Outdoor Adventures(2011)
Actor
Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Warren the Ape(2010)
Show as Warren Assist
Midcredits score: 73rd percentile of all shows
Sesame Street: Elmo and Friends: The Letter Quest and Other Magical Tales (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
Actor
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: All About Faces (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
as Muppet Performer
Sesame Street: Being Green (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
as Additional Muppets
Sesame Street: Elmo and the Bookaneers: Pirates Who Love to Read! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)
as Additional Muppet Performer
A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa(2008)
as Additional Muppets (voice)
Midcredits score: 52nd percentile of all films
Abby in Wonderland(2008)
as Additional Muppets (voice)
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
The Muppets - Studio DC - Almost Live (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
as Additional Muppet Performer (voice)
Sesame Street: Love the Earth! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2008)
as Additional Muppet Performer
Elmo's Christmas Countdown(2007)
as Additional Muppet Performer (voice)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all films
Sesame Street: Kids' Favorite Country Songs (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2007)
as Additional Muppet Performer
Sesame Beginnings: Exploring Together (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2006)
as Additional Muppet Performer
It's a Big Big World(2006)
Show as Puppeteer
Midcredits score: 49th percentile of all shows
Sesame Street: Elmo's World: The Street We Live On! (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2004)
as Additional Muppets (uncredited)
Sesame Street: What's the Name of That Song?(2004)
as Additional Muppet Performer
Midcredits score: 54th percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Elmo's World: Happy Holidays!(2002)
Actor
Midcredits score: 53rd percentile of all films (provisional, few ratings)
Crank Yankers(2002)
Show as Puppeteer
Midcredits score: 18th percentile of all shows
The Book of Pooh(2001)
Show as Puppeteer
Midcredits score: 25th percentile of all shows
The West Wing(1999)
Show 1 episode · as Elmo's Right Hand
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all shows

Career shape

Star power in the 6^th percentile of 239,109 people with a billed film role, over a full career of 31 titles from 1999 to 2026.

Highest rated

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (2014)

Midcredits 93^rd

Film career

2008Screen debut· A Muppets Christmas: Letters to Santa

By role

only this rolewith another role

Acting30 of 31 · 54^thProducing1 of 31

By decade

1990s1 · acting2000s14 · acting2010s11 · 10 acting · 1 crew2020s5 · acting

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Who does Paul McGinnis work with?

People who share at least 2 of Paul McGinnis' MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Dean Gordon shares the most, 2.