Does Size Matter…With Puppets?

February 8th, 2009

I have wanted to talk about this for a while.  Over the years my puppet building has had me trying to improve my craft.  I would say, up to this point, the focus of what I have done has been to make each puppet as comfortable as possible.  But that is shifting, as I feel that I have mastered that part.

I am now looking at the “puppeteer-ability” of my puppets.  I want puppeteers to have the maximun amount of control.  One thing that I have noticed is that to achieve that my puppets have become smaller, which makes sense.  The better a puppet fits to the hand, the better the control a puppeteer would have.

Just something to think about.  Most people imagine that all of the “Muppets” they see on t.v. are huge.  They are actually not.  Many are smaller and allow for really good control. So why not try to make a puppet that is easier to control? 

Here is my challenge.  Try to take an old puppet of yours and see if you can rebuild it to fit snugly to your hand.  My bet is that you will end up with a better performance puppet.

Just food for thought.

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