Harry Potter World Diagon Alley Puppets

[gooby1244]

Hi! so I just wanted to pique the brains of the puppeteers here...have you seen the puppets used in a street show at the new Diagon Alley theme park at Universal Orlando? here's a video clip

i read that the puppets were made by Michael Curry. but just curious if any knew how they were constructed or with what materials? the Death puppet is particularly fascinating...im wondering how the head moves when the main control rod is attached to the belt harness. and the rest of the puppets-does anyone know anything about their construction? they look fairly lightweight

 

[ashkent]

I could be completely wrong with this but the head movement reminds me very much of a nodding dog/bobble head. Possibly with only a vertical pivot though. If you watch the movement it is mostly instigated by the angle the puppet is held and the movement of the body so a pivot of some kind would be my guess.

And to be as light as it is i would have thought it to be made from a carved closed cell foam - possibly styrofoam or similar so it floats easily.