How does that mouth work?

[mummytomb]

It may be something so simple, But I've been trying to figure out the mechanics of Pepe or the Rats or other similar small mouthed muppets. How is it put together? I have a plan for a duck with a large beak and a skinny neck and I'm hoping these clues will help me finnish!

 

[DannyRWW]

I'm not sure if this is true of pepe or the raqts but I have seen some puppets with a rod that has a trigger that operates the mouth. It pulls down on a spring and when you let go it closes again. There is a similar string pulling mechanism on page 71 of John Kennedy's Puppet Mania book. I wish I could help more but I'm a performer and not a builder.

 

[Iokitek]

Sounds to me like it's similair to a ventriloquist puppet. You can find some info on how to build one here:

http://www.alstevens.com/ventriloquism/fred.html

Nick Barone also has some very simple rodpuppet designs that are very easy to make.

http://www.puppetbuilder.com/index2.html

hope that helps Make sure you post pictures when you're done and show it to us. Especially picture of how you made it and how it works. I'm sure everyone here would like to know.