Increase in Commercial Television Puppetry

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D'Snowth

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I'm sure they do that on purpose to emphasize the imperfections of puppetry... think back to when Tyler Bunch did that Barnone dog, you could see like half his entire arm in those commercials. It's kind of like Danny Antonucci's approach to Ed, Edd n Eddy by emphasizing imperfections of cartoons from the golden age of animation.

And not all commercials that use puppetry do this; back in the early 2000s, there was an Eggo commercial with a dude whose roommate was a lizard puppet: while the puppet itself was kind of crudely made (sloppy, visible seams, the fabric that covered him was plaid, his eyes were crooked), the illusion of the puppet itself was done really well: there were no rods, no strings, plenty of full-bodied shots, so there was probably a lot of chromakey used. Plus, it was funny...

LIZARD: Hey, Hal... are those Eggo waffles?
HAL: (Scoots plate away) Yeah, they are...
LIZARD: Aren't we forgetting something?
(The lizard reaches for the waffles, but Hal moves them away further)
LIZARD: It's always nice to share!
(The lizard reaches around, but Hal grabs his hands, and literally ties his wrists together; then ties his shoe laces together, and flops his legs over his head)
LIZARD: You got some serious issues, pal!
 
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mupcollector1

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D'Snowth said:
I'm sure they do that on purpose to emphasize the imperfections of puppetry... think back to when Tyler Bunch did that Barnone dog, you could see like half his entire arm in those commercials. It's kind of like Danny Antonucci's approach to Ed, Edd n Eddy by emphasizing imperfections of cartoons from the golden age of animation.

And not all commercials that use puppetry do this; back in the early 2000s, there was an Eggo commercial with a dude whose roommate was a lizard puppet: while the puppet itself was kind of crudely made (sloppy, visible seams, the fabric that covered him was plaid, his eyes were crooked), the illusion of the puppet itself was done really well: there were no rods, no strings, plenty of full-bodied shots, so there was probably a lot of chromakey used. Plus, it was funny...

LIZARD: Hey, Hal... are those Eggo waffles?
HAL: (Scoots plate away) Yeah, they are...
LIZARD: Aren't we forgetting something?
(The lizard reaches for the waffles, but Hal moves them away further)
LIZARD: It's always nice to share!
(The lizard reaches around, but Hal grabs his hands, and literally ties his wrists together; then ties his shoe laces together, and flops his legs over his head)
LIZARD: You got some serious issues, pal!
Click to expand...
Hmm, interesting point. I don't know many inperfections in Ed Edd N Eddy unless you mean their trademark wiggly outlines. lol I Love Ed Edd N Eddy, I remember Danny was going back to his Indie short film roots but I haven't heard anything since plus I heard that A.K.A. Cartoon Inc closed down. I miss the Eds, that was one of my all time very shows. I think my favorite moment is when Ed is standing upside down and his unibrow drags him across like a worm. lol Animation can do anything, the most beautiful thing about it and puppetry can do practically anything as well. It all comes to the limit of imagination. :smile:

The lizard commercial sounds familiar. I remember the Barnone Dog used to be the Pets.com Dog but the company got bankrupt. That's cool that's Tyler later on, because I remember the Pets.com commercials not being so professionally performed.
 
Bliffenstimmers

Bliffenstimmers

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There's a new advertising campaign from Burger King featuring a whatnot-esque blue puppet character in a suit. You don't see him in action much in this ad, but there's another ad where he has a line or two spoken.
 
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Drtooth

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I want to not hate that commercial, but all I see are a bunch of overpaid ad execs saying "stuff happens" and collecting an undeserved paycheck for pulling it out of their puppet holes.

I almost actually miss the King.
 
snichols1973

snichols1973

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Advertising has come a long way since the Wilkins & Wontkins coffee commercials....



 
MrBloogarFoobly

MrBloogarFoobly

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I'm hoping that eventually commercial puppetry will drift away from knock-off Muppets. Obviously, not knocking THE Muppets, The Jim Henson Company, or Sesame Workshop, but that style of puppetry is very unique to Jim Henson. People should do their own thing rather than recreate Henson's work.
 
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