Little friends

In my judgment this is a fetching little puppet show. Despite the title they seem to be rod puppets rather than marionettes. They have a refreshing handmade quality, whatever you want to call them.

My French isn't good enough to tell what the kids are saying. Did you catch it?

Fail better

Out of nowhere I found myself wondering if there were a puppet show version of Waiting for Godot. And so I consulted the Great Gazoogle, as it seemed like the kind of innocuous search you could trust them with. Anyway, I found this video.

It's not a straight adaptation, but whoever made it does seem to have read Becket. Also seems to be Irish.

This one actually uses Godot dialogue, acted out by cutout shadow puppets.

Dummy up

 

There's a certain magic in establishing a whole other personality for what's essentially just your hand. There's also an opening for me to make filthy jokes about it, but I'll spare you. This made me laugh because of Señor Wences's timing, and also because it's just so weird in an engaging way. I remember him still popping up here and there when I was a kid.

In-hand

I'm currently writing a story about a puppeteer. It took me a while to decide that she should be the main character. Anyway, I'm checking out puppet show videos by way of research.

The character has a background in doing more sophisticated puppetry than seen above. I do have to say that the voice work is very engaging.

Facets

 This video depicts a sculptor I'm not familiar with. She's very good, though. Her works share elements with both Greek and Hindu models, while being their own thing. It's enlightening to watch her in the studio.

The video is titled "Sculpture and Puppetry." Apparently she does make puppets as well. They look good, but I regret that there's no moving footage of them.

Of shadows and shoes

Something that tickles me and might tickle you as well is a shadow puppet show based on one of the stories from 1,001 Nights. One of the lesser-known tales, it must be said. But the performers show an infectious enthusiasm for the material.

The image of an unlucky angler getting a shoe or boot on their fishing line is pretty widespread, at least enough to have its own TV Tropes page. I wonder if this tale was the origin.

The id

 

I got no strings

As the title of the video makes clear, these bunraku performances are from over 60 years ago. And the modern form goes back almost three centuries before that. That's...really something. These puppets can't really be described without using the phrase "eerily lifelike." Which makes it a little unnerving to see the head working without the body.

Felt bad

It recently came to my attention while watching Evil (which I like so far), that the Muppets are appearing in ads for some-or-another new toy from Facebook. In fact these ads are the only time for now anyone is going to see them on a regular basis. This does not make me happy. I doubt very much it would make Jim Henson happy. If he's in a good place now I imagine their trying to keep it from him. Or failing that, keep his mind off of it.

Story time

I'm Not Tired! from Birgit Rathsmann on Vimeo.

This short film―three stories and a frame in under 8 minutes―is just a brilliant combination of elements. There's the imaginative animation bringing darkly humorous stories to life. The child puppet is very expressive. I also like the dad, although the leather chair he sits in initially made me think he was a psychiatrist.

Wooden acting

Please enjoy this most cool overview of the African art of puppet making. Or rather the work of African artisans involved in puppetry. There's a level of craft here that seems to go back years, maybe generations, whether or not those generations are in the same family. Yet at the same time they remains flexible, open to outside influences and ideas.

It's time to dress up right

Did you know that Paul Klee made puppets? If I ever heard anything about it, I must have forgotten. Which is a shame. The brilliant thing about this is that these look like the kind of puppets children could spend hours watching or playing with. They are that kind of simple puppet. But there's a little bit of dark expressionism that doesn't dilute the playfulness, or vice versa.

Nothing wrong with his paintings on their own, but the puppeting adds a new dimension to my image of the man.

Film stocking

HEAT WAVE from Jason Cooper on Vimeo.

I feel fortunate that thus far this year I haven't experienced heat as extreme as this is supposed to be. But then, technically, summer is just starting now.

This young filmmaker has an infectiously goofy sense of humor. Perhaps the first time we see Sock Cop will be far from the last time.

Who will bell..?

Marionettes Petting Cats Ver. 1 from Krista McGuigan on Vimeo.

If you're held up by strings, I'm pretty sure getting in a cat's face counts as living dangerously.

And yeah, I know, cat videos on the Internet, dime a dozen. Still I loved some of the expressions in this.

It figures

Queen Watch? Absent this past weekend, should be back Saturday. I'm about at the halfway point, I guess, give or take. So far it's been lots of fun.

In the meantime, there's this. I've long been a fan of Chirico's paintings from his surrealist/metaphysical phase, so I'm delighted an animator has worked his imagery into this (slightly florid?) scenario.

I've not felt it

Tonight I watched the pilot episode of The Muppets, the new ABC comedy series starring... Well, that part's obvious, isn't it? Can't say I recommend it.

In the main it follows Kermit the Frog in his job as producer of Up Late with Miss Piggy,, a talk show starring his now ex-girlfriend. Here we already have two problems.

First, the concept is an obvious mix of well-regarded single camera sitcoms: a mockumentary (like The Office) that goes backstage at a talk show (like The Larry Sanders Show) and focuses on a beleaguered authority figure (like 30 Rock). Not necessarily bad in itself, but indicative of an identity crisis. Whether the crisis comes from the creators or network interference I know not.

Also, the idea of Kermit getting out of a serious relationship with Miss Piggy - and getting into one with a network executive who's also a pig - is misguided. Watch the old Muppet Show and it's pretty clear that she's mostly after him because of his status and he's too smart to get involved with her in that way. They've never had to work for audiences as a serious couple.

The main problem, though, is that it's just off. Kermit doesn't feel like himself, and neither does Fozzie Bear. Gonzo is defanged, even though technically he can get away with more outrageous stuff. Only the members of  Dr, Teeth and the Electric Mayhem show their old signs of life. Zoot waking up in a writer's meeting and introducing himself like he's at an AA meeting until Floyd cuts him off actually made me laugh, God help me. Too little did.

As a parody of variety shows, The Muppet Show was self-aware. This one is self-aware about being self-aware, with the glib assumption that we're all self-aware now. A lot of the charm is lost.

Li'l devil

Doktor Faust | Doctor Faustus (1938) from Msumofpuppetry on Vimeo.

Do't think I have waking time to put up the post I originally meant to. Another night, perhaps? I can give you this moment of Zen, as it were. It's backstage at a Slovenian puppet production of Faust. These people are some dedicated pros. The puppets are lovely too. Unless you have a phobia about puppets, in which case I'm sorry.

Wood you?

Wooden Man from Justin Bolarinho on Vimeo.

Mysterious? Strangely evocative? Evocatively strange?

I do like the sense of homecoming here. The director made a nice choice of music as well.

Weird science

This is a short but sweet bit of stop-motion animation. Animator White's made her characters very expressive. Also I notice that the professor and his surroundings are a near monochrome brown, so that the invention - I like to call her "Frankendaughter" - looks to be a splash of color in a sepia photograph.

The Invention from Eloise White on Vimeo.

Going whole hog

The Three Billy Pigs from Nik Palmer on Vimeo.

This seems to be a lovely bit of interdisciplinary children's theatre. I especially like the comedy business they work out of the Big Bad Wolf.

The "Three Billy Pigs" title is apparently a combo of The Three Little Pigs and Billy Goats Gruff. At first I thought it might be a short form of "hillbilly." Not sure if that's a word in broad usage in the UK. There is a banjo in the show.