Date: Sat, 19 Oct 2002 16:39:29 EDT
Subject: PUPT: Disney Costumes



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Two posts from a Muppet forum you may find interesting:
1) "Yeah, it's a fact. I'm currently employed by WDW and work as a puppeteer, 
as I have almost exclusively since 2000. Before I could hope to focus on 
that, though, I put in two months as a costumed character. I think I was one 
of the lucky ones. Many people just get entrenched in their costume roles and 
never get a chance to break out of them for a very long time. I think those 
who are in charge of seeking out pure puppeteers do what they can to "speed" 
the employees through the system of working in character costumes, not unlike 
what happened with me, but it doesn't always work, I guess. For a time, 
things were still OK, in that you could elect to do just puppetry roles and 
not work in costume if you didn't want to. However, about a year ago, some 
higher-up had the "bright" idea, "Hey, why are we paying people to be just 
puppeteers when they could also be working in costume or in our new parades 
for part of the day?" That's pretty much how things are today. Barely anyone 
is just a puppeteer anymore; one's daily schedule will at least require them 
to help behind the scenes with each park's parade, and if you're the right 
height and the next step up on the seniority ladder, you're going to be the 
one to get scheduled to work in costume on your day off whether you like it 
or not. Call sick, anyone? As Artie said, though, WDW doesn't look at most of 
its entertainers as specialists, and refuses to break up into groups the 
"Character" department to reflect the multifaceted talents of the people who 
make it up. Knock on wood, I haven't set foot into a character costume in 
almost three years, and the longer that stays true, the less likely it seems 
to happen in this company. I'm happy to be working at the Playhouse Disney 
show now, and I still believe this is a fine place for a puppeteer to find a 
steady source of practice. It's just unfortunate that WDW places these 
stumbling blocks in front of people wanting to rise higher in a proud 
profession.

Jeff"

2) "I used to be a puppeteer at WDW, and unfortunately that is indeed their 
policy. Any puppeteer who works there has to go through the unfortunate 
situation of being a character whenever it's needed. The reason for this is 
that there is no Puppetry Dept. There's only the Character Dept. as a whole, 
and puppeteers perform within that dept. But at any time, you can be put into 
a costume, or if you're in a costume already, you can be forced to learn a 
puppeteering role that you're not interested in or comfortable doing. It's a 
terrible injustice to puppeteers, and a horrible practice, that I would love 
to see it change. Maybe if you make a big enough stink, it will begin to. 
It's one of many reasons that I don't work there anymore.
-Artie"
    
    






















    
    
    













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