Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 01:52:52 -0500
To: puptcrit-AT-lists.driftline.org
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] it's a big, big world or whatever


I hear the complaint that there's too many "Muppety" puppets on TV a lot,
but what I think most people fail to appreciate is that "Muppety" (for lack
of a better term) puppets works. Children respond best to soft, colourful,
cuddly characters on TV. I think the Muppets are the biggest puppetry
success in the history of television because Jim Henson figured out the
rules for what works best.

I've worked on projects were we've tested non-Muppety puppets with
preschoolers and they score incredibly low. I love marionettes, shadow
puppets and other kinds of puppetry but in their traditional forms they
don't work as well on screen as they do on stage. Muppety puppets were
invented for TV. That's why they tend to work better and one of the reasons
they're used most of the time.

The other is ignorant television producers and networks, but that's another
matter entirely.

I do think there's room for a greater diversity of design on puppet TV
shows. It is nice to see some of the new shows like Jack's Music Show and
Nanalan' don't really look anything like Sesame Street.

--

The PuppetVision Blog
"The web's best source for puppet film and video goodness, delivered fresh
to your computer each day."
http://puppetvision.blogspot.com

Machin-X
"...where pixels meet puppets"
http://machin-x.blogspot.com
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