To keep fans apprised of Big Tex's progress, the fair has released YouTube videos of his new face.

WSJ: In Dallas, a Makeover for 'Big Tex'

And instead of a puppetlike jaw that moves up and down, Big Tex's new mouth will move more like a human's.

WSJ: In Dallas, a Makeover for 'Big Tex'

Fair officials promise the new Big Tex will embody the folksy spirit of the original, but are making what they say are some improvements.

WSJ: In Dallas, a Makeover for 'Big Tex'

After Mr. Tex burned, fair patrons placed flowers and get-well cards in a makeshift shrine at Big Tex circle, a landscaped mound where he perched every year.

WSJ: In Dallas, a Makeover for 'Big Tex'

But some Texans are calling for a boycott if officials don't rehire Mr. Bragg, who was known for posing with fair patrons during breaks in his 12-hour days and was televised in tears the day Big Tex burned.

WSJ: In Dallas, a Makeover for 'Big Tex'

Big Tex "was an icon we could look at in the midst of this city that has changed so much, but now it will be new and it will be different, " said Naomi Pevsner, a 54-year-old jewelry designer from Dallas.

WSJ: In Dallas, a Makeover for 'Big Tex'

Unlike many companies--and their investors--that enjoy a big one-day pop, Austin, Tex.

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Because who needs Palm Springs when you can shrinkwrap yourself in Gore Tex and stare at icebergs as big as New York City?

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To stop any attack from wiping out a big piece of the operation, the Plano, Tex.

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Tex spoke with Forbes writer Steven Bertoni about how he saw his first big gusher at age 10 when his father Monty Moncrief sunk a well in the East Texas field.

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