Oobi - Good or Bad for puppetry?

[Mad Puppet Lab]

Hi all!

Being puppeteers, many of us can be a little protective of the old-school ways. It is often felt that the puppet itself is just as important as the puppeteer and his skills. And then along comes Oobi.

If you haven't seen it on Noggin yet, Oobi is a "puppet" kid’s show. But it is very unusual, if not downright genius. It's a puppet show.......with no puppets!

Characters on Oobi are actually bare hands (and sometimes feet) with eye attachments. Sometimes there are wigs and other props on the puppeteers' hands.

This show is VERY popular with children, many of whom can happily make the different characters with their own hands and tell you their names as they do it.

All of this brings up a good puppet discussion. Do you think Oobi is good for the world of puppetry? Do you think the Oobi creations can be classified as "puppets?"

It might be interesting to hear everyone's thoughts on the subject.

Don
The Mad Puppet Lab

 

[Buck-Beaver]

I think it is very clearly puppetry (there are some exceptional puppeteers that worked on that show). The idea itself wasn't original to Oobi and I don't see how it could ever be consider "bad" for puppetry.

 

[staceyrebecca]

anything that can be manipulated can be considered a puppet. As a kid watching labrynth I recognized that the creepy wall of hands was a form of amazing puppetry. even edgar bergen had just his hand with a wig & lipstick on it..maybe a shawl.

so..yeah I guess oobi is great for puppetry because it opens people up to the idea that a puppet isn't just a physical object. hooray!

 

[mercnrufus]

Didnt Hobi Ford market a product like this years ago? I think it may have been called Peepers.

 

[D'Snowth]

I think it's pretty good for puppetry; it's like Cheryl Henson once said, it's all about the character and personality, not necessarily the puppet itself.

 

[mrhogg]

I agree that it's only a good thing. How can anything that's getting people watching puppetry, and interested in it, be bad for puppetry? Just because it's not *exactly* the same kind of puppetry as something else doesn't mean anything negative.

 

[Toasty]

anything that can be manipulated can be considered a puppet. As a kid watching labrynth I recognized that the creepy wall of hands was a form of amazing puppetry. even edgar bergen had just his hand with a wig & lipstick on it..maybe a shawl.

Stacey, I think you are thinking of Senor Wences instead...

Either way, I totally agree that what Oobi is doing is most certainly valid puppetry AND a very positive benefit to the artform.

 

[dkmontgomery]

Well said!

I think it's pretty good for puppetry; it's like Cheryl Henson once said, it's all about the character and personality, not necessarily the puppet itself.

I agree.....In my book oobi is good for puppetry. How about the puppets used on Mister Rogers Neighborhood?

I think they too are some strong characters and portray a clear message. Not particularly my favorite type of puppets, but they serve the purpose for their role.

 

[ravagefrackle]

It is of course puppetry

As a Matter of Fact, Puppeteer Tim Lagasse Did a celabrated piece some years ago and was given the Silver Broadcast Design Award International for "A Show of Hands" a short peice that featured you guessed it his hands.

if you want to get into whats bad for puppetry its the single minded veiw that puppets are ONLY FOR KIDS, or THAT PUPPETS CAN ONLY DO TV IF ITS VERY ADULT,

 

[wes]

I personally thinks it's great for puppetry. With working with children in the past years I have found that there is a (what i like to call "Freak out Factor" (FOF) 1: being not scary at all and the Kids like them and 10 : Being Really scary get me out of the room!

so the oobi puppets are very low on that list!