Puppetry AND Cartooning

[Fozzie Bear]

After I caused a little "muffining" in another thread, I thought, "Hey, it'd be nice to do a thread on this topic. Especially since Steve asked the following question:

How many people out there are doing puppetry AND cartooning (or verse-vice)?

Everybody knows Melonpool and Muley the Mule--cartoons and puppets abound. I also have the mascot suit of Muley.

But, I'm interested in knowing about everybody else, too. What do you have or do? Websites?

www.picturetrail.com/muleythemule
www.cafepress.com/muleythemule
www.midsouthcartoonists.com

http://www.melonpool.com/

BTW gang, if you've never seen "Comic Book The Movie" get it, rent it, and watch it! I about exploded while watching that the first time, jumping up and screaming, "STEVE TROOP'S MELONPOOL!!" There's only a second or two, but if you seen his avatar you'll see who's in the movie with Mark Hamill!! COOL!

Now, we gotta get Bear Town and Muley in a movie and we're all ridin' high!

 

[ScrapsFlippy]

A great guy I worked with on pilot (I was his "left hand" for a couple of days) studies animation out at Cal Arts.

You can find his website at www.ronimation.com. He even has a sort of homage to the Muppet Show in his "Films" section. Look for "The Producer's Show".

Just about everything Walt Disney ever said about "Personality Animation" and character development is 100% applicable to puppetry.

For instance:

"Until a character becomes a personality it cannot be believed. Without personality, the character may do funny or interesting things, but unless people are able to identify themselves with the character, its actions will seem unreal. And without personality, a story cannot ring true to the audience." -- Walt Disney

-- Scraps

 

[Tim Kelly]

I've been writing & drawing comics for years...

http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/timkelly19/

...and recently started filming puppet shows starring two of my comic book characters, Zook and Max. I'll try to have some footage put online soon!

 

[lowercasegods]

This is Pinhead, a life-size puppet I created around 2000.
http://www.jayfosgitt.com/PhotoGallery/pinhead.html
Its design is based on a cartoon character that I created back around 1988, called Captain Pinhead.
Subsequently, in 2001, I created a new character for my comic strip ("Mother's Goofs") whom I called The Krazybread Man. His design was very loosely inspired by my Pinhead character, but for the most part, he was a brand new character.
http://www.jayfosgitt.com/Comics/MG/MG21.html
A couple years later, I refurbished my Pinhead puppet and turned him into a Krazybread Man puppet, which I featured in my Mother's Goofs comic where I had the Krazybread Man become "real".
http://www.jayfosgitt.com/PhotoGallery/mary.html
So with me it's been kind of an interesting cycle, whereby the creation of a cartoon character would lead to a puppet, which would lead to a cartoon, which would lead to a puppet, etc., etc....

 

[Buck-Beaver]

Just about everything Walt Disney ever said about "Personality Animation" and character development is 100% applicable to puppetry.

I completely agree. The classic Disney animation text book "The Illusion of Life" has tons in it that can be used in puppetry.

There are a lot of parallels between comics/animation and puppetry simply because all three are mediums were sort of ******* children and (until recently) relegated to children's entertainment. Of all of them I think that puppetry still has the farthest to go to break that stereotype.

Scott McCloud's two books Understanding Comics and Reinventing Comics totally changed by perspective on puppetry a few years ago; I basically took everything he was saying about comics as a medium and applied it to puppetry.

I really recommend UC to anyone in any field of art actually - it's an incredible book that was recommended to me by someone who actually hates comics!

 

[Jinx]

"Until a character becomes a personality it cannot be believed. Without personality, the character may do funny or interesting things, but unless people are able to identify themselves with the character, its actions will seem unreal. And without personality, a story cannot ring true to the audience." -- Walt Disney

-- Scraps

This is truly the elusive ingredient that sets apart a professional from an amatuer in ALL forms of performance entertainment. Exactly the same principle applies whether I'm performing as an actor, singer, magician, juggler, puppeteer or (dare I say it?) mime.

Ultimately its the story that counts most. The medium we choose to portray the story becomes secondary. And clearly some media lend themselves to forms of storytelling better than others although the lines are blurring further daily. An example might be the Lord of the Rings movies, which until recently would have been thought impossible to put on film, except perhaps by cel animation, puppetry or something similar.

I have seen the trappings time and time again. (and was guilty of it myself when I was younger) The magician who is infatuated with his props, the puppeteer with his puppets, the singer with his high "C", the dancer and her pirouettes. But these are only tools used to convey a message to an audience.

When I direct a play or musical, the thing I probably say to my cast more than anything is "tell the story". This must ALWAYS come first. The other things, the sets, the costumes, the lighting, any effects, are supplemental to telling the story.

Another director with whom I work is often known to say to a performer who is having difficulty singing a passage, "character always wins". And he is right.

This in no way means to imply that we should not have the very best props, puppets, skills, etc. Indeed they are extremely important to presenting a professional level performance.

As a final example, withness the incedible success of Pixar films. I attribute this to one major factor: John Lassiter. And he says, "at Pixar, story comes first."

(I'll just pack up my little soapbox now! )

 

[ElijahTheSane]

well, i'm not sure if this counts but i do animation and puppetry sometimes at the same time http://www.elijahatkins.com/movies/cornep02.mpg I have training in animation and last year i started to go into puppetry too, because it has alot of the appeal of animation and it can be produced alot faster.

 

[beaker]

Just cartooning and music; wouldnt know where to begin with puppetry.

 

[Beauregard]

Just cartooning and music; wouldnt know where to begin with puppetry.

Helpfull hints for where to begin with puppetry: Start at the rear-end with a hand, and work your way up.

Er...that sounded a bit strange...sorry about that.

 

[Tim Kelly]

I've got a little bit of animation on my website:

http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/timkelly19/stom.html

And here's my cover of the R.E.M. song "Dangerous Times":

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