Puppet designer
Encyclopedia
A puppet designer is a person who designs and creates puppet
s for themselves or for other ventriloquists and puppeteers. Puppetry
predates written history in many cultures, and seems to have evolved from the mask.
In Eastern and Western Europe the art of puppetry is alive and well-respected and often nationally funded as it is part of national identity, similar to opera and ballet with which puppetry has crossed-over many times. As essentially a form of sculpture, puppet design has not suffered the fate of many nearly extinct crafts, however there are fewer puppet designers than puppeteers, especially as many puppets are mass-produced and sold in stores.
In the United States, puppetry is primarily perceived as children's entertainment, though a few puppet designers have made the art form accessible to adult audiences. Popular American puppet designers include Bill Baird
, Jim Henson
, and Julie Taymor
.
Stan Winston
of Stan Winston Studios considers many of his character creations to be puppets and for motion pictures his operating crews join the Screen Actors Guild
because they are essentially performing directly through an inanimate, if sometimes robotic object. As they are operated directly by people and not pre-programmed, Stan Winston creations can be considered puppets rather than robot
s.
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....
s for themselves or for other ventriloquists and puppeteers. Puppetry
Puppetry
Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance which involves the manipulation of puppets. It is very ancient, and is believed to have originated 30,000 years BC. Puppetry takes many forms but they all share the process of animating inanimate performing objects...
predates written history in many cultures, and seems to have evolved from the mask.
In Eastern and Western Europe the art of puppetry is alive and well-respected and often nationally funded as it is part of national identity, similar to opera and ballet with which puppetry has crossed-over many times. As essentially a form of sculpture, puppet design has not suffered the fate of many nearly extinct crafts, however there are fewer puppet designers than puppeteers, especially as many puppets are mass-produced and sold in stores.
In the United States, puppetry is primarily perceived as children's entertainment, though a few puppet designers have made the art form accessible to adult audiences. Popular American puppet designers include Bill Baird
Bill Baird
William F. "Bill" Baird is the founder of the Pro Choice League. Baird established the nation's first abortion referral center in 1964, and later the first birth control and abortion center on a college campus. He was sent to jail for teaching birth control and distributing abortion literature in...
, Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
, and Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor is an American director of theater, opera and film. Taymor's work has received many accolades from critics, and she has earned two Tony Awards out of four nominations, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Costume Design, an Emmy Award and an Academy Award nomination for Original Song...
.
Stan Winston
Stan Winston
Stanley Winston was an American visual effects supervisor, makeup artist, and film director. He was best known for his work in the Terminator series, the Jurassic Park series, Aliens, the Predator series, Iron Man, Edward Scissorhands, and Avatar...
of Stan Winston Studios considers many of his character creations to be puppets and for motion pictures his operating crews join the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
because they are essentially performing directly through an inanimate, if sometimes robotic object. As they are operated directly by people and not pre-programmed, Stan Winston creations can be considered puppets rather than robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s.