What characters have you created?

[ashberg]

I see a lot of discussion about the building of puppets on a technical level, but I haven't found much info on the creation of characters and personalities.

My white fluffy monster I had (the one with the long arms and legs) was a simpleton. He spoke really slowly and didnt know much about anything. He was naive to the max, and had a humourous love for animals. (He told many rude animal jokes... tsk tsk) I really enjoyed developing his character at the age of 14. Almost 6 years later I'm really looking forward to developing the personalities of the puppets I will create.

Whats your puppet's personalities like?

 

[Beebers]

We have a bunch of wicked chefs; we built a killer Swedish Chef which we can't use, obviously; he's identical to the real deal, but just for our own fun at home; and several other chefs including a hilarious Julia Child.

We have used-car salesmen, newscasters, an annoying accident-prone individual based on a real friend of ours, mountain men (hillbillies), old guys (not Statler-Waldorf knockoffs), hippies, mob guys, critters, delivery people, etc., etc., etc. We strive for originality -- while our admiration for things Henson is boundless, our own preference is to be as unusual and new as possible. That is absolutely not to be read as a criticism of any other forms, it's simply our own artistic preference. As for personalities, because this is a part of how we make a living, we don't really get too detailed about them out on forums and such, sorry. For us it's rather like giving away recipes that could have been sold as a cookbook.

It's a cool question, I hope you get some other posts here.

Do you still have your white fluffy monster?

 

[buckshot]

the first puppet given to me was a purple monster-type character about 10 years ago. at the time i was mesmerized by Bobcat Goldthwait, so i gave the puppet (Walter) a voice and characteristics very similar to Bobcat's.

i have a few characters in the works including a nervous robot, a smart-alec monkey, an eagle from the Bronx, and more.

 

[Phantom]

My puppets are themselves, little actors. Each performance, a character description directs the puppeteers in how the puppet plays the part. The puppets then become the actors.

Now, certain puppeteers interact well will certain puppets and I let them develop a character for the puppet, but they still change the character to fit the part.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

built a killer Swedish Chef which we can't use, obviously; he's identical to the real deal

Mine isn't too identical, but useful and fun. I used him at ChickFilA for kids' night for a quick segment on making a sandwich, and when he added the 'chicken' to the sandwich, a chicken (borrowed from a church) that was sitting there attacked him.

Photos of my puppets, the main one being Muley the Mule, can be seen at www.picturetrail.com/muleythemule

As far as developing personalities and characteristics for certain characters, there's several different methods.

Charles Schulz said he never told Charlie Brown and Snoopy what to do, he would sit around and doodle until something popped up that made him think of a comic strip, so then the characters told HIM what they wanted to do.

You can base characteristics off people you know. Bill Baretta based the way Pepe talks on his wife's aunt, who ends all her sentences with "Okay?" Come to think of it, I have a Korean customer who does the same thing.

I used to have a cheat sheet I created for folks who asked me this question, and now I don't remember what I've done with it. If you have a puppet made, you can pretty much base what its personality is on the look of the character; if it's a character you plan to build, then think about these items: what would it do in a particular situation (crossing the street, trying to buy something and not enough money, being followed by an alternate species, etc); what emotions does it have toward certain items (anger, knowledge, attack). Pretty much, put the character in YOUR place throughout the day and think about what he/she might do.

Muley is his own personality stuck in the back recesses of my subconscious now. I'm me the rest of the time, but when I've got the puppet/costume on, he comes out. He's funnier, more entertaining, more outgoing, and a lot less worried about saying things than I am. He's a very VERY well developed personality, even such that everyone that knows me and knows him talks about Muley in 3rd person (even me). And that's either very talented or very crazy! LOL!!

Finally, there are books for writers about developing characters and that is always useful; not to mention that one set of audio tapes by Stephen King which discusses story telling and character development (which I've not heard but did hear that it's VERY good)!

 

[buckshot]

i totally agree with the fact that a puppets personality comes from it's physical characteristics. i have some puppets where the design alone spawned the voice and behavior. then there are some puppets that are based on people that i've known at one time or another. the puppets' personalities are identical to the person that i've molded them after. it's a very natural process.

 

[Beebers]

Just looked at your site, most .

Muley is adorable and apparently quite the babe magnet.

You're a good cartoonist, Fozzini.

 

[doctort13]

Giving characters "character"

All my puppets start out on a sketch pad. I doodle various ideas until one clicks with me. Then I bounce the idea off my wife, and get her feedback since she is very good at suggesting ways to improve on my doodles.

After the puppet is built I play around with it and try to "find it's voice". My latest creation "Cryril" MC- the monster of ceremonies, was going to have a light British accent. This didn't fit him, so I merged the voices of a oldies radio DJ and a guy who was once in a rock band with me. That voice, with a little adjustment, worked! Cyril's personality evolved as I played around with him. He's a wiseguy who loves a good (or bad) pun. He has performed at a puppet slam and a regional puppetry weekend retreat, both times he got BiG LAUGHS!
Cyril's future "job" will be the MC of the cable television series "Wump Mucket".

Take a look at a photo here: http://profiles.yahoo.com/doctort13

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Muley is adorable and apparently quite the babe magnet.
You're a good cartoonist, Fozzini.

THANKS!! You got any piccies online of your puppets, etc? There's a freebie part of picturetrail.com you can use without paying!

 

[ashberg]

Cool... thanks to everyone for letting us know of your thoughts about character development. Puppetry is becoming more amazing with each day I read up on it... I mean, sure its just a bunch of foam and material... but these things we manipulate are alter-egos of one's self... A form of expression so peculiar and unique in each performance and in each puppet.

My white fluffy monster exists somewhere, THAT I'm sure of. But where exactly, is another paradox all together.