I had an idea about the WildThing...
He/She could be the Yeti (Abominable Snowman/woman of the Himilayas). Puppeteer could be dressed as a climber/mt.explorer or even Santa Claus. The Yeti could even team up with the "Frosty" style snowman for a buddy act ("Who's the REAL Snowman here?").
Also, a color change (brown/rust/grey/tan) could turn the WildThing into a Bigfoot ("Sasquatch" to his friends)... same with Bongo Gorilla (with slightly larger feet).
-Travis |