Greetings! My name is Miriam and I just joined the Muppet Central Forum. I am involved in a developing kids show that will use all types of puppets. My job is to make an apple tree puppet, and I would like to do it in the style of my favorite Muppets. It would also be great if I could have the Muppet pick at least one apple off itself. Any advice? Materials? Shape? How-to?
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How to make an apple tree...muppet-style?
- Thread starter mircat18
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Jinx
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Hi Miriam! Welcome to the forum. There are certainly a lot of ways to approach your project, but the first question that comes to my mind is scale. Will this be a hand puppet? Or might it be more like one of the apple trees from The Wizard of Oz having a life-size tree with performer inside? This might help us to better advise you for your needs.
MuppetLabsBoy
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Apple tree idea
A simple way to have the tree grab an apple off itself is to use velcro. Just put some velcro on the hand of the puppet and then on the apple too. You could make a perch that looks like a branch for the apple to rest on. Also, attach some invisible thread to the bottom of the apple and then to the tree. This is useful because in case the apple falls,
it won't roll and you can grab it fast.
To make it look like a Muppet, you need Muppet style eyes. Take a ping-pong ball and cut it in half. Draw a circle as the pupil on the halfs. The cut a half of a circle and put it at the top half of the half as an eylid. The draw a thick black line underneath the eyelid to make it look Muppet like.
A simple way to have the tree grab an apple off itself is to use velcro. Just put some velcro on the hand of the puppet and then on the apple too. You could make a perch that looks like a branch for the apple to rest on. Also, attach some invisible thread to the bottom of the apple and then to the tree. This is useful because in case the apple falls,
it won't roll and you can grab it fast.To make it look like a Muppet, you need Muppet style eyes. Take a ping-pong ball and cut it in half. Draw a circle as the pupil on the halfs. The cut a half of a circle and put it at the top half of the half as an eylid. The draw a thick black line underneath the eyelid to make it look Muppet like.
practicecactus
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I was always a fan of the surface texture seemingly random, but when a mouth opened you suddenly realised it looks like a face.
My thoughts are make the tree out of one big cylinder big enough for someone to stand inside [even just the facade of the tree] sturdy enough to support foam branches and have one of the branches hollow for the arm of the performer. The shape of it, and other branches, should camoflage together so when the arm reaches for the apple it's not obvious there's an arm inside. The end of the branch should fork off so the branches are like long finger and hand can grip the apple, and the free hand can even work a mouth on the front.
Texture wise, maybe cut slivers of foam and glue them onto the foam shape so it gives it a barky trunk surface.
Plastic apples, and just about anything could be used for leaves.
This is a quick sketch that might make more sense.
Might be too big, but those are just my thoughts.
My thoughts are make the tree out of one big cylinder big enough for someone to stand inside [even just the facade of the tree] sturdy enough to support foam branches and have one of the branches hollow for the arm of the performer. The shape of it, and other branches, should camoflage together so when the arm reaches for the apple it's not obvious there's an arm inside. The end of the branch should fork off so the branches are like long finger and hand can grip the apple, and the free hand can even work a mouth on the front.
Texture wise, maybe cut slivers of foam and glue them onto the foam shape so it gives it a barky trunk surface.
Plastic apples, and just about anything could be used for leaves.
This is a quick sketch that might make more sense.
Might be too big, but those are just my thoughts.
Hi, Jinx! The apple tree will be a hand puppet. Yes, I also thought of the human-size trees from The Wizard of Oz! But the scale for the whole show is on the small side. The puppets range from four inches tall to 1.5 feet tall.
SesameKermie
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Since it is a hand puppet, I would make a 'tree' glove with a main trunk and 3 branches. One branch would be the thumb, the middle branch/trunk would enclose the index, middle and ring fingers, and then the litte finger would be in the remaining branch. As far as picking an apple, I would attach it with magnets. Put a magnet in the tree, a magnet in the apple, and a magnet on the end of the branch to pick it. If magnets aren't feasible, you might try velcro.