A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or mythical figure , that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer . Puppetry is an ancient form of theatre which dates back to the 5th century BC in ancient Greece .
90-734: The Harlequin Puppet Theatre (founded 1958) is a puppet theatre at Rhos-on-Sea , Wales. Britain's oldest permanent puppet theatre, the Harlequin was built in 1958 by Eric Bramall and was later run by his former puppeteer partner, Chris Somerville, who died in 2023. The small, 100-seat theatre is home to a collection of approximately 1,000 marionettes that featured in puppet shows during Britain's school holiday seasons. Theatre founder Eric Bramall (born in Wallasey , Merseyside, England) began putting on touring puppet shows in 1946, with
180-639: A "sack-body" puppet, is built with the puppet's arms directly connected to its base. Popular examples include the Sesame Street characters Cookie Monster and Oscar the Grouch , and the Muppet character Rowlf the Dog . The Swedish Chef , another Muppet character, is operated in a unique way; both of his hands are actual human hands, supplied by the second performer. The technique of the main puppeteer performing
270-520: A Civic Trust Award for its design. Its construction marked the first time in British history that a permanent theatre had been specifically designed and built for puppet playing. Since 1958 Bramall's marionette skills had been regularly featured on a children's television show; he and co-puppeteer Chris Somerville were subsequently given a weekly 15-minute puppet programme on BBC Wales , which continued until 1984. This and other outside work helped enable
360-544: A black background, with the background and puppeteer's costume normally made of black velvet . The puppeteers manipulate the puppets under the light, while they position themselves unseen against the black unlit background. Puppets of many sizes and types may be used. The original concept of this form of puppetry can be traced to Bunraku puppetry. Bunraku puppets are a type of wood-carved puppet originally made to stand out through torch illumination. Developed in Japan over
450-405: A box) who would talk when Wences opened the box. Similarly, chinface puppetry involves puppet features drawn or attached onto an upside-down chin. A pull string puppet is a puppet consisting of a cloth body where in the puppeteer puts his/her arm into a slot in the back and pulls rings on strings to make certain movements such as waving the arms or moving the mouth. A push puppet consists of
540-717: A central rod and strings for the arms and legs. In France, the most famous puppet is the Guignol which is a hand puppet created in Lyon in 1808. In the United States, several groups have established permanent theatres or touring programs dedicated to spotlighting marionette performances. The Cole Marionettes were founded by George and Lucille Cole in Chicago circa 1934. The Bob Baker Marionette Theater in Los Angeles
630-451: A character's head with an assistant performing both arms is also used for Rowlf playing the piano. Light curtain puppet presentations use light to highlight small portions of a performance area, allowing the puppet to be seen while the manipulators remain invisible. The puppets stand on a stage divided into an unlit background and a well-lit foreground, meeting to form a "curtain" of light. The puppeteer dresses in black and remains hidden in
720-515: A country's established ruling dynasty or was unrecognised by its nobility. "Puppet government", "puppet regime" and " puppet state " are derogatory terms for a government that is in charge of a region or country but only through being installed, supported and controlled by a more powerful outside government. An example is Vidkun Quisling , a Norwegian fascist leader during the Second World War who collaborated with Nazi Germany and led
810-618: A decade, including their contribution to film and television with the famous Lonely Goatherd scene from The Sound of Music . The Frisch Marionettes in Cincinnati were founded by Kevin Frisch, who has been considered one of the best stage marionette artists of his time. His manipulation and ability to transfer lifelike movement to the inanimate has been compared to the German master puppeteer, Albrecht Roser . Joseph Cashore has been touring
900-698: A finger, glove or rod puppet. The puppet play performed by the Von Trapp children with Maria in The Sound of Music is a marionette show. Prominent marionette theaters operating today include: Salzberg Marionette Theater , Bob Baker Marionette Theater , Center for Puppetry Arts , Melchior Marionette Theater, the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre in Central Park , New York, and Le Theatre de Marionette . The marotte
990-569: A human, designed to be part of a large spectacle or parade . Puppetry was practiced in ancient Greece and the oldest written records of puppetry can be found in the works of Herodotus and Xenophon , dating from the 5th century BC. The Greek word translated as "puppet" is "νευρόσπαστος" ( nevrospastos ), which literally means "drawn by strings, string-pulling", from "νεῦρον" ( nevron ), meaning either "sinew, tendon, muscle, string", or "wire", and "σπάω" ( spaō ), meaning "draw, pull". Aristotle (384–322 BC) discusses puppets in his work On
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#17327727982251080-425: A life with marionettes? Is it the pleasure of performing? The appeal of mastering an 'instrument' to the point of virtuosity? The transformation of one's own self? For me, it is the process of empathizing with mind and soul, of feeling at one with music and movement that bring these much-loved creatures to life." The Salzburg Marionette Theatre performs mainly operas such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute and
1170-603: A marionette play. It opened the theatre in 1961 and was revived for the 50th anniversary in 2011. The Norwich Puppet Theatre founded by Ray & Joan DaSilva sometimes presents marionette shows and the Puppet Theatre Barge , founded by Gren Middleton and Juliet Rogers, continues to perform using long string marionettes throughout the year. The barge is based in Little Venice, London during the winter months and tours to places such as Richmond Upon Thames during
1260-475: A marionette production of Mozart's famous Don Giovanni . The production has period costumes and a beautifully designed 18th-century setting. There are numerous other companies including, Buchty a Loutky (Cakes and Puppets) founded by Marek Bečka . Rocky IX and Tibet are just two works in the repertoire. In Australia, like in many other countries, there is a continuing tradition of marionette puppetry. Norman Hetherington OAM, Peter Scriven (founder of
1350-465: A marionette, as well as some other characters. In the 1950s, Bil Baird and Cora Eisenberg presented a great number of marionette shows for television, and were also responsible for the Lonely Goatherd sequence from the classic film The Sound of Music . Bil Baird also wrote a classic book on his work. In Australia, a program called Mr. Squiggle , using a marionette central character of
1440-405: A medium to convey cultural and social messages to the audience. The word puppet can mean a political leader installed, supported and controlled by powerful external forces without legitimacy in the country itself. In modern times, that usually implies no democratic mandate from the country's electorate; in earlier times, it could have meant a monarch imposed from outside, who was not a member of
1530-414: A number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer. The control bar can be either horizontal or vertical. Basic strings for operation are usually attached to the head, back, hands (to control the arms) and just above the knee (to control the legs). This form of puppetry is complex and sophisticated to operate, requiring greater manipulative control than
1620-411: A permanent puppet theatre. Architects drew up plans based on Eric Bramall's detailed ideas. The Harlequin was built in eleven weeks, using wood, glass, and local stone salvaged from derelict servants' quarters which had occupied the site. Bramall painted the murals on the auditorium walls in a single week. The Opening Ceremony was performed by Sir Clayton Russon on 7 July 1958. The resulting building won
1710-427: A production. The following are, alphabetically, the basic and conventional forms of puppet: The black light puppet is a form of puppetry where the puppets are operated on a stage lit only with ultraviolet lighting , which hides the puppeteer and accentuates the colours of the puppets, which are normally designed using colours that respond to UV light by glowing brightly. The puppeteers perform dressed in black against
1800-412: A puppet government. In a more general sense, a puppet is any person who is controlled by another by reasons of (for instance) undue influence, intellectual deficiency, or lack of character or charisma. Science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein 's novel The Puppet Masters depicts alien parasites who attach themselves to human beings and control their actions. Poppet , a word that sounds similar,
1890-605: A puppet, illustration, painting, or other visual medium is accompanied by rhythmical speech or song that describes or reenacts events to tell a story. Carnival puppets (also known as body puppets ) are usually designed to be part of a large spectacle. These are often used in parades (such as the Mayday parade in Minneapolis , United States and The Cape Town Carnival in South Africa) and demonstrations, and are at least
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#17327727982251980-399: A segmented character on a base which is kept under tension until the button on the bottom is pressed. The puppet wiggles, slumps and then collapses. Push puppets are usually intended as novelty toys , rather than as part of professional puppet theatre. A rod puppet is a puppet constructed around a central rod secured to the head. A large glove covers the rod and is attached to the neck of
2070-475: A series of dances. Not all forms of puppetry need specially created items to puppet. Object puppets can be created with found everyday objects either assembled in advance or during performance. Señor Wences was a Spanish ventriloquist who became popular through his appearances on the American program The Ed Sullivan Show . His characters included Johnny (a face drawn on his hand) and Pedro (a gruff head in
2160-476: A singing and dancing marionette called Lizzie Dreams, sometimes paired up with another marionette called Nick. Team America: World Police is a 2004 movie made by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker which uses a crude, naive, childlike style of Supermarionation as in Thunderbirds . Matt Stone and Trey Parker dubbed their version "Supercrappymation" due to the fact they intentionally left
2250-657: A small number of ballets such as The Nutcracker . The Salzburg Marionette Theatre productions are aimed at adults although children are welcome. There is also a marionette theatre at Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna. In the Czech Republic marionette theatre has a very long history in entertainment in Prague . An important organisation is the National Marionette Theatre. Its repertoire mainly features
2340-425: A surface similar to a table top (hence the name). Shares many characteristics with Bunraku. A Ticklebug is a type of hand puppet created from a human hand to have four legs, where the puppet features are drawn on the hand itself. The middle finger is lifted as a head, and the thumb and forefinger serve as a first set of two legs on one side, while the ring finger and little finger serve as a second set of two legs on
2430-427: A thousand years ago and formalised and combined with shamisen music at the end of the 16th century, the puppeteers dress to remain neutral against a black background, although their presence as a kind of 'shadow' figure adds a mysterious power to the puppet. Bunraku traditionally uses three puppeteers to operate a puppet that varies from 1/3 to 1/2 life size. Cantastoria is a form of visual storytelling in which
2520-429: A variant of this style for its human characters. This type of control is an upright bar that has various smaller bars inserted at right angles from which the head, shoulder, back etc. strings etc. are attached to. This control usually has a detachable leg bar that controls walking when held in the opposite hand. The arms are controlled by wires which are inserted into a hole in the shaft bent at approximately 45 degrees to
2610-514: Is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist . Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience by using a vertical or horizontal control bar in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used in films and on television. The attachment of the strings varies according to its character or purpose. In French, marionnette means 'little Mary'. During
2700-438: Is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Bunraku puppets are a type of Japanese wood-carved puppet. A ventriloquist's dummy is a puppet, often human-shaped, operated by a ventriloquist performer's hand; the performer produces the puppet's voice with little or no movement of her mouth, which creates the illusion that the puppet is alive. Carnival puppets are large puppets, typically bigger than
2790-428: Is a form of glove or hand puppetry and rod puppetry. Many puppeteers, particularly those for Jim Henson's Muppets , get their start assisting on a human-arm puppet; this is often known as "right-handing". Some of Henson's Muppets, such as the Muppet character Fozzie Bear and the Sesame Street characters Ernie and Count von Count , are live-hand puppets, as are Yoda and ALF . A variation of this puppet, called
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2880-534: Is a kind of shadow puppet theater known in Sundanese, Javanese, and Indonesian as 'wayang (kulit)', that is, (leather) shadow puppet. While most shadow puppets cast black silhouettes from behind a screen, motekar shadow puppets can be in full color. They use plastic materials, transparent dyes, a special light system, and a special type of screen to make this happen. Motekar puppet shows can be performed by one or several puppeteers and usually feature music, singing, and
2970-407: Is a method of puppetry invented by Gerry Anderson , which he used in his television shows Stingray and Thunderbirds . The puppets were marionettes with electronically moving mouths to allow for lip-synchronised speech . The marionettes were still controlled by human manipulators with darkened strings. A table top puppet is a puppet usually operated by rod or direct contact from behind, on
3060-427: Is a simplified rod puppet that is just a head and/or body on a stick. It was used by jesters in renaissance times. In a marotte à main prenante , the puppeteer's other arm emerges from the body (which is just a cloth drape) to act as the puppet's arm. Some marottes have a small string running through the stick attached to a handle at the bottom. When the handle is squeezed, the mouth opens. Motekar or wayang motekar
3150-399: Is a tiny puppet that fits onto a single finger, and the sock puppet , which is formed and operated by inserting one's hand inside a sock, with the opening and closing of the hand simulating the movement of the puppet's "mouth." The sock puppet is a type of hand puppet , which is controlled using one hand that occupies the interior of the puppet and moves the puppet around. A "live-hand puppet"
3240-498: Is an acknowledged master puppeteer and teacher of traditional Czech marionette-making skills. A BBC article explains how this craft saved Czech culture and language from being eradicated in favor of German. Burmese marionettes are all string operated and are a popular art in Burma. Marionettes are called Yoke thé (lit. miniatures) and are almost always performed in operas. A Burmese marionette troupe must have 27 characters, including
3330-409: Is fixed rigidly to the control, The leg bar is inserted through the main upright but pivots on a pin to allow movement of the legs. They have eight strings that are attached to the legs, hands, head, shoulders, and back. The controls are horizontal. British marionettes are similar to German marionettes. The usual human form has nine strings — one string to each knee, hand and shoulder, two strings to
3420-477: Is larger and requires two puppeteers. One puppeteer places their dominant hand inside the puppet's head and operates the puppet's head and mouth, while putting their non-dominant hand into a glove and special sleeve attached to the puppet to operate one of the arms. The second puppeteer puts their hand into another glove/sleeve attached to the puppet in order to operate the other arm. This way, the puppet can perform hand gestures and interact with objects with ease. This
3510-465: Is mentioned in Tamil literature Silappadikaram , which is written around 2nd century B.C. Puppetry by its nature is a flexible and inventive medium and many puppet companies work with combinations of puppet forms and incorporate real objects into their performances. They might, for example, incorporate performing objects such as torn paper for snow , or a sign board with words as narrative devices within
3600-619: Is now considered a historical landmark, presented a variety of cabaret marionette shows. The Puppetworks theatre in New York under the direction of Nick Coppola has been in operation since 1980. The Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta develops and fosters marionette performers from across the globe. Le Theatre de Marionette in Dallas has recreated a traditional marionette theatre with puppeteer bridge and full stage productions. The theatre
3690-524: Is open year-round. The National Marionette Theater with David Syrotiak at its helm has developed some of the most artistically staged shows to grace the American stage. The Fratello Marionettes of Danville, California stage shows that are well crafted and display an almost Disney-esque quality. The Bil Baird theatre in Greenwich Village closed in 1987 but was a nationally recognized treasure that presented countless shows to families for over
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3780-418: Is similar to a hand puppet but is larger and requires two puppeteers for each puppet. A marionette is a much more complicated type of puppet that is suspended and controlled by a number of strings connected to the head, back and limbs, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer. A rod puppet is constructed around a central rod secured to the head. A shadow puppet
3870-532: Is sometimes a term of endearment, similar to "love", "pet", "doll" or "dear". It alludes to folk- magic and witchcraft , where a poppet is a special doll created to represent a person for the purpose of casting healing, fertility, or binding spells . Sock puppet is used on social media as a term to describe fake accounts used to spread political disinformation. Marionette A marionette ( / ˌ m ær i ə ˈ n ɛ t / MARR -ee-ə- NET ; French : marionnette [maʁjɔnɛt] )
3960-430: Is used mainly in pre-schools or kindergartens for storytelling with young children. A hand puppet (or glove puppet ) is a puppet controlled by one hand, which occupies the interior of the puppet. The Punch and Judy puppets are familiar examples of hand puppets. Larger varieties of hand puppets place the puppeteer's hand in just the puppet's head, controlling the mouth and head, and the puppet's body then hangs over
4050-499: The Marionette Theatre of Australia ) Richard Bradshaw OAM and David Splatt (Smallpox Theatre), David Hamilton and Murray Raine are notable puppeteers. The late Phillip Edmiston performed with his Queensland Marionette Theatre a range of productions including the spectacular The Grand Adventure . In Picardy , Lafleur is a marionette from Amiens . The Cabotans d'Amiens are hand-carved, using wood, with
4140-694: The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 by Professor Anton Aicher . Aicher was heavily influenced by Count Franz Pocci who founded the Munich Marionette Theatre in Germany in 1855. Until 2012, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre was under the artistic direction of his granddaughter, Gretl Aicher , who commented on her lasting interest in marionettes, "What then is the fascination of
4230-406: The "Múa rối nước". Múa rối nước literally translates to "dance underwater" or "dancing underwater". This is an ancient tradition that dates back to the 10th century. The puppets are built out of wood and the shows are performed in a waist-deep pool. A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers to control them. The appearance is of the puppets moving over the water. When
4320-666: The Frankish romantic poems, such as The Song of Roland . These same tales are enacted in traditional puppet theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood, an art form called l'opera deî pupi 'opera of the puppets' in Sicilian. The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî (singers of tales) are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition in Sicily during the reign of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor , in
4410-579: The Greek plays with puppets played to the "common people" in the 5th century BC . By the 3rd century BC these plays would appear in the Theatre of Dionysus at the Acropolis . In ancient Greece and Rome clay and ivory dolls, dated from around 500 BC, were found in children's tombs. These dolls had articulated arms and legs, some of which had an iron rod extending up from the tops of their heads. This rod
4500-602: The Harlequin Puppet Theatre to stay in business, despite declining attendance over the decades. Eric Bramall died in July 1996. As of 2012 his theatre continued to operate under Chris Somerville's stewardship until his death early in 2023. The theatre was subsequently granted Grade II listed building status to secure its future . In an interview for The Telegraph , Somerville commented on the increasingly endangered status of marionette artistry: I worry that
4590-965: The Middle Ages, string puppets were often used in France to depict biblical events, with the Virgin Mary being a popular character, hence the name. In France, the word marionnette can refer to any kind of puppet, but elsewhere it typically refers only to string puppets. Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they predate actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to act kneading bread and other string-controlled objects. Wire-controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have been found in Egyptian tombs. Marionette puppetry
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#17327727982254680-523: The Motion of Animals . The movements of animals may be compared with those of automatic puppets, which are set going on the occasion of a tiny movement; the levers are released, and strike the twisted strings against one another. In India, puppetry was practiced from ancient times and is known by different names in different parts of the country. Excavation of clay dolls from Indus valley sites serve as an indication. The art of puppetry called Bommalattam
4770-517: The Motion of Animals : The movements of animals may be compared with those of automatic puppets, which are set going on the occasion of a tiny movement; the levers are released and strike the twisted strings against one another. Archimedes is known to have worked with marionettes. Plato 's work also contains references to puppetry. The Iliad and the Odyssey were presented using puppetry. The roots of European puppetry probably extend back to
4860-627: The Salzburg Marionette Theatre continues the tradition of presenting full-length opera using marionettes in their own theatre. The Opera di Pupi , Sicilian puppet theatre, was relisted on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. Marionettes are sometimes referred to as puppets, but the term marionettes is more precise, distinguishing them from other forms of puppetry, such as finger, glove, rod, and shadow puppetry. In
4950-407: The Sicilian marionette but also have strings for the arms and legs. Sometimes they also use string to control a mouth or movable ears. These require more skilled manipulation. Czechs also have marionettes that have no central rod and strings that are attached to the head, shoulders, and back. These are the most difficult marionettes to manipulate due to the absence of the central rod. Miroslav Trejtnar
5040-450: The TV screen, Coca-Cola have used marionettes to create a series of adverts based in an office and music videos use them regularly as metaphors. Marionettes are featured in the 1999 film, Being John Malkovich . John Cusack played a manipulator who referred to himself as a puppeteer. The BBC children's show Playbus (later Playdays ) used many puppets during their commission, notably
5130-647: The UK the renaissance of Marionettes during the late 19th and early 20th century was driven by Harry Whanslaw and Waldo Lanchester , two of the co-founders of the British Puppet and Model Theatre Guild . In 1936 Lanchester and his wife Muriel opened the Lanchester Marionette Theatre in Malvern, Worcestershire , “the only theatre in the country exclusively to be used for marionettes” at
5220-463: The United States for over 30 years with a collection of self-designed marionettes. With the rise in popularity of television and film, marionettes found a rise in popularity, especially in children's programming. The story of Pinocchio and its Disney adaptation ( Pinocchio ), which was released in 1940, is a story about a marionette. In 1947, Howdy Doody introduced marionettes to children's television, with Howdy Doody (the main character) being
5310-418: The audience's attention away from the performer's activities and heighten the illusion that the dummy is speaking. They are called dummies because they do not speak on their own. The ventriloquist dummy is controlled by one hand of the ventriloquist. Ventriloquism acts are not always performed with a traditional dummy; occasionally other forms of puppetry are used. A water puppet is a Vietnamese puppet form,
5400-408: The body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet's mouth with this spoken part. The actions, gestures and spoken parts acted out by the puppeteer with the puppet are typically used in storytelling . Two simple types of puppets are the finger puppet , which
5490-617: The classic example of this. In China, it became popular from the Song dynasty . A sock puppet is a puppet formed and operated by inserting a hand inside a sock. The hand is opened and closed to simulate the movement of the puppet's "mouth" and give the impression of speaking. Sometimes eyes and other facial features are added to the sock in order to make the puppet more realistic. Sock puppets are popular in many puppet performances, as they are simple to make and easy to use. They are mostly used in satirical or children's works. Supermarionation
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#17327727982255580-413: The dholak (a double-headed drum) and the sarangi (a bowed string instrument). Rajasthan puppetry performances are typically accompanied by lively folk songs and dances, creating a vibrant and engaging atmosphere. The stories depicted in the puppet shows often revolve around historical events, mythological tales, social issues, and moral lessons. The performances are not only entertaining but also serve as
5670-402: The entire arm. Other parts of the puppet (mainly arms) are usually not much larger than the hand itself. Often the mouth can also open and close, and special variants exist with eyelids that can be manipulated. A sock puppet is a particularly simple type of hand puppet made from a sock. Also called a "two-man puppet" or a "live-hand puppet", the human-arm puppet is similar to a hand puppet but
5760-552: The first half of the 13th century. A great place to see this marionette art is the puppet theatres of Palermo , Sicily. In the 18th century, operas were specifically composed for marionettes. Mozart as a child had seen marionettes. Gluck , Haydn , de Falla and Respighi all composed adult operas for marionettes. Lewis Carroll composed marionette operas and plays for his siblings' entertainment. Today in Salzburg in Austria,
5850-480: The fisherman getting the short end (often capturing his surprised neighbor by mistake). Besides village life, scenes include legends and national history. Lion dogs romp like puppies while dragons exhale fire and smoke and shoot sprays of water at the audience. Performances of up to 18 short scenes are usually introduced by a pig-tailed bumpkin known as Teu, and accompanied by a small folk orchestra. Painted wooden heads, hands made just by stuffing clothes or cotton into
5940-456: The head and one string to the lower back. The control is usually the British upright control with separate leg bar. Optional stringing includes elbows, forehead or nose. Pelham Puppets are a commercially made British puppet who usually have seven strings that are attached to the legs, hands, head and back. The controls are usually a horizontal folding cross bar. Bob Pelham developed the British marionettes in 1947. Sicilian marionettes are among
6030-471: The head strings; likewise, a detachable clip usually holds the leg bar. This style of control is generally used in the US for human figures and is also known as the American control. A similar control is almost universally used for quadruped animals; as it emulates the basic shape of the animal, rocking it from side to side will control the leg movements in unison. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre in Austria also uses
6120-467: The help of his mother. From 1951 to 1956, Bramall performed increasingly elaborate puppet shows each summer in a temporary theatre built onto an existing bandstand in Colwyn Bay , North Wales . After Colwyn Bay Council said he could no longer use the bandstand, a fellow puppet enthusiast named Millicent Ford who lived on the seafront at Rhos-on-Sea offered him a portion of her land on which to build
6210-459: The main cast of Fraggle Rock . A shadow puppet is a cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen. Shadow puppets can form solid silhouettes or be decorated with various amounts of cut-out details. Colour can be introduced into the cut-out shapes to provide a different dimension and different effects can be achieved by moving the puppet (or light source) out of focus. Javanese shadow puppets known as Wayang Kulit are
6300-457: The marionette is not the puppet of choice any more – you see a lot of hand puppets in the West End shows but marionettes take time to learn the craft. Why would people spend the time training when there are no jobs and no money? I don't earn enough to pay tax and I only go home to sleep, I work the rest of the time. But I'm one of the lucky ones; if you've got some way of being creative then it's
6390-559: The most satisfying thing in life. I get the same thrill out of this as I got when I was a kid playing with toys. 53°18′24″N 3°44′23″W / 53.30667°N 3.73972°W / 53.30667; -3.73972 Puppet There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made from a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They range from very simple in construction and operation to very complex. The puppeteer buses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move
6480-609: The mouth of a marionettes. The technique was patented and called " supermarionation ". The programs have been shown all around the world and are now widely distributed on DVD. Anderson also made two films, Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6 . During the 1970s in the UK TV series using marionettes include The Adventures of Rupert Bear , Mumfie and Cloppa Castle . Some marionettes appear in Pipkins namely Octavia Ostrich. More recently marionettes are starting to re-emerge on
6570-405: The opposite side. The toy theatre is a puppet cut out of paper and stuck onto card. It is fixed at its base to a stick and operated by pushing it in from the side of the puppet theatre. Sheets of puppets and scenery were produced from the 19th century for children's use. The Ventriloquist's Dummy is a puppet shaped like a small human which is operated by a ventriloquist performer to focus
6660-415: The outer edge of the paddle and are used by selecting each string with the opposite hand and pulling to control the figure which hangs below. This control is a bar that is held in the hand in a horizontal plane. There can be numerous bars at right angles to the central bar, which in turn attach via wires to the hands, shoulders, back, etc. A smaller plate is usually hung under the main bar, and this carries
6750-487: The puppet. A rod puppet is controlled by the puppeteer moving the metal rods attached to the hands of the puppet (or any other limbs) and by turning the central rod secured to the head. The best known examples of rod puppets are Jim Henson 's Muppets , most notably Muppet characters such as Kermit the Frog , Miss Piggy , Gonzo and others, many Sesame Street characters such as Elmo , Bert , Grover and Abby Cadabby , and
6840-413: The rice fields would flood, the villagers would entertain each other using this puppet form. The water also provides the setting for traditional stories depicting day-to-day village life. Water puppets bring wry humor to scenes of farming, fishing, festival events such as buffalo fights, and children's games of marbles and coin-toss. Fishing turns into a game of wits between the fisherman and his prey, with
6930-686: The same name, ran for just over 40 years (1959–1999). Another program for children using puppetry was the Magic Circle Club featuring puppets Cassius Cuckoo and Leonardo de Funbird. From the 1940s onward, the BBC in the United Kingdom, produced a wide series of marionette programmes for children and then created The BBC Television Puppet Theatre based in Lime Grove Studios from 1955 to 1964. They were usually shown under
7020-457: The shaft and hang loosely with a loop at the end to attach the hand strings, these are then moved by the fingers holding the main shaft. A tilt of the main upright controls the head and body with a fine nuance, This type of control is usually called the British control. Another variation of the vertical control is found in Europe usually a rigid wire rod extends from the centre of the head upward and
7110-402: The simplest marionettes to operate. They are usually carved out of wood and have a sturdy rod that extends up through the body into the head. This rod, and one string attached to the hand, controls the manipulation of the puppet. Czech rod marionettes are similar to Sicilian ones though they are more complex. They are hand-carved, usually using lime wood. The marionettes have the central rod-like
7200-602: The size of a human and often much larger. One or more performers are required to move the body and limbs. In parades, the appearance and personality of the person inside is not relevant to the spectator. These puppets are particularly associated with large-scale entertainment, such as the nightly parades at various Disney complexes around the world. Similar puppets were designed by Julie Taymor for The Lion King . The Jim Henson Company also has their version of these puppets called full-bodied puppets . The Sesame Street characters Big Bird and Mr. Snuffleupagus , as well as
7290-465: The sleeve of the dress, with painted appearances, angled eyebrows, mustache for men and nose ring for ladies, and huge expressive eyes all over, manikins are hung with dresses produced using sequined old textures. The puppeteers, known as " Kathputliwalas " skillfully manipulate the puppets while also providing voice and narration for the characters. They use their hands and feet to control the strings and often perform with live music, using instruments like
7380-463: The strings visible, among other reasons. Also appearing in 2004 was the full-length, award-winning marionette fantasy film Strings , directed by Anders Rønnow Klarlund . A marionette was also used in the Doctor Who episode " The Shakespeare Code ". This type of control has many strings attached to a rounded rectangular paddle with a short handle, all the strings are attached and hang from
7470-679: The summer. In Scotland, Dr Malcolm Knight has championed the art form and over the last 25 years, the Scottish Mask and Puppet Centre has acted as a catalyst, a lead agency, and as a resource centre for all those with an interest in mask and puppet theatre. In Germany, the Augsburger Puppenkiste since 1948 has produced theatrical adaptations of fairy tales and serious pieces. In 1953, it began producing television series with productions such as Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivführer and Urmel aus dem Eis . In Austria,
7560-581: The time. The only purpose-built UK marionette theatre is The Harlequin Puppet Theatre (built 1958) in Rhos on Sea, North Wales, Founded by Eric Bramall FRSA and continued by Chris Somerville. Other theatres that occasionally perform with marionettes are the Little Angel Theatre founded by John and Lyndie Wright in Islington, London, whose first-ever show The Wild Night Of The Witches was
7650-538: The title Watch With Mother The various programmes included Whirligig , The Woodentops , Bill and Ben , Muffin The Mule , Rubovia a series created by Gordon Murray and Andy Pandy . Later in the 1960s, Gerry Anderson with his wife, Sylvia Anderson and colleagues made a number of hit series, Fireball XL5 , Stingray and Thunderbirds , which pioneered a technique combining marionettes and electronics . This allowed for radio control moving of
7740-617: The titular character from Bear in the Big Blue House , are popular examples of this type of puppet (Snuffleupagus, in particular, requires two puppeteers; one in the front of the puppet, and one in the back). The Little Girl Giant Puppet is an initiative by the MJF Charitable Foundation to promote Puppetry and to spread the message of female empowerment in Sri Lanka. This giant puppet measured 14 ft and
7830-403: The unlit background of the stage while the puppet is held across the light curtain in the lit foreground of the stage. "Light curtain puppet" is an umbrella term, and any puppet which is extended into a well-lit area where its handler remains separated from the puppet by a division of light may be called a light curtain puppet. Marionettes , or "string puppets", are suspended and controlled by
7920-494: Was built under the direction of Swedish artist Felix Widen Norgren (Director, Compania Pirata) in collaboration with Power of Play PVT LTD, Sri Lanka. The finger puppet is a simple puppet variant which fits onto a single finger. Finger puppets normally have no moving parts, and consist primarily of a hollow cylinder shape to cover the finger. Finger puppets are often decorated with eyes and mouths made out of fabric or other materials. This form of puppet has limited application and
8010-692: Was used to display rituals and ceremonies using these string-operated figurines back in ancient times and is still used today. Puppetry was practiced in Ancient Greece and the oldest written records of puppetry can be found in the works of Herodotus and Xenophon , dating from the 5th century BC. The Greek word translated as puppet is νευρόσπαστος ( nevróspastos ), which literally means 'drawn by strings, string-pulling', from νεῦρον ( nevron ), meaning either 'sinew, tendon, muscle, string', or 'wire', and σπάω ( spáō ), meaning 'draw, pull'. Aristotle (384–322 BC) discusses puppets in his work On
8100-514: Was used to manipulate the doll from above, exactly as is done today in Sicilian puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of the rods. Some researchers believe these ancient figures were mere toys and not puppets due to their small size. The Indian word sutradhara , from sutra , refers to the show-manager of theatrical performances (or a puppet-player), and also means literally 'string-puller' or 'string-holder'. The sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes from
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