Both Russia and the Czech Republic have completley different attidudes to puppetry from the people of the UK and the USA it is seen as a much more mainstream artform. An artform worthy of government support and funding.
In the UK especially, puppetry is mainly seen as something for children, and whilst in the 20's there was a puppet renaissance lead by 'men of letters', George Bernard Shaw, Edward Gordon Craig etc the same puppet companies who were performing Macbeth to small adult audiences were still performing Muffin the Mule on TV to millions of children. You only to have to read Obratsov's My Profession to see the different attitudes between Russia and other countries. The Moscow State Puppet Theatre, was, and still is, a huge company employing many many people at the tops of their own individual artistic spheres, be they performers, technicians, designers, builders etc.