Date: Mon, 04 Feb 2008 07:04:43 -0500 From: Mary Horsley <mphorsley-AT-earthlink.net> To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org> Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] so-called Christian puppets I still have the patterns that one of the big pattern companies came out showing duplicates of the Sesame Street characters. Henson must have given his permission for it. Mary On 2/4/08 1:54 AM, "Richard Johnson" <djdick-AT-georgiasouthern.edu> wrote: > Although I had taken a puppetry class as an undergraduate, it was not very > impressive, and my real introduction to puppetry came from Jim Henson's > articles in Women's Day Magazine, which not only had patterns for puppets > but had a script included (I don't remember whether it was The Magic Onion > or the Purple Necked Black Bearded Blaaaschk, but while living on a Doctoral > Teaching Stipend in Theatre, I had four children and limited income. It was > the birthday of my oldest son, so for his party, my wife and I made puppets, > made a stage from a refrigerator carton (the pattern was also in the > article) and did a show for his party. One of the mothers asked if I could > do one for her daughter, and before long I was making more money doing > puppets than I was from my stipend. Except for the Black Bearded critter > and a couple of characters in The Magic Onion, all the puppets were built > from felt in a very Kermit like pattern. (I did regular performances of > these two shows for almost two years, when I got tired of them and began to > write my own, but still making puppets much on these patterns.) I have since > made marionettes, sock puppets, almost innumerable rod puppets, body > puppets, parade puppets etc., but they all began with Henson's big mouth > glove puppets. (I confess that during that time I made about twenty Oscar > the Grouch puppets, using Quaker Oat meal boxes for the garbage can, as > Christmas and birthday presents for the friends of my children and for a > multitude of nephews and nieces. I used Henson's patterns for the > manufacture, and never even thought of royalties till I wrote a couple of > plays that were done without my permission and the reality registered with > me that royalties for puppet characters were probably as valid as those I > had paid French's and Dramatist's Play Service for years.) > > Richard B. Johnson, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Actor, Director, > Puppeteer, Playwright, Teacher,Writer, Thingmaker, Mormon, Person, Fool. I > sometimes think that the last persona is the most important- and most > valuable. > Http://www.PuppenRich.com > Http://three-score-and-ten-ormore.blogspot.com > > > -----Original Message----- > From: puptcrit-bounces-AT-puptcrit.org [mailto:puptcrit-bounces-AT-puptcrit.org] > On Behalf Of Joe Dunfee > Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2008 6:40 PM > To: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] so-called Christian puppets > > > As a person who is guilty of using the generic large mouth puppets > when I was in college, I felt I should speak up on a few things. > > First is something that I know has been discussed here in the distant > past, but newer subscribers may be unaware of. Jim Henson put out a > pattern of their large-mouth style puppet in one of the women's > magazines. So, the general idea of the large mouth puppet is not a > "stolen idea", but rather one that was shared by the Muppet's founder. > > We live in an age where you have a lot of communication made possible > through the Internet. But, before that, if you didn't happen to live > near an established puppet guild, or even aware that such a thing > existed, you were pretty much on your own. There might be a few books > at the library, most likely teaching puppetry as a craft for children to do. > > If you didn't have the skills to make your own, back in the 80's you > had few choices about where to purchase puppets. The styles pictured > were about all there were to choose from. > > At the time I did this type of show, it was my start in > puppetry. But, a teacher friend happened to see a college > advertisement about a puppet show (a college level Bunraku style > stage production). I went and was both introduced to the other > possibilities in puppetry, and found out that a puppet guild > existed. That guild was to be next phase of my puppet education. > > We all have to start somewhere. Some puppeteers may have the > wherewithal to continue to work on their puppetry skills and develop > as an artist, but there may be some who tend to stay at the level > they are at. However, I can accept that their strengths may lay > elsewhere and that we say it is necessary for them to focus on > improving their puppetry. My first exposure, as a child, to live > puppetry was by a man who wasn't very good at it. Nor have I seen him > develop any further over the years. But, he was a great friend to the > homeless, and to humanity in general. I wouldn't dare suggest to him > that he abandon puppetry, because it is one of the tools he has in > his hands to do his life's work. > > > Joe Dunfee joe-AT-dunfee.com > Gordonville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. > > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org > > _______________________________________________ > List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org > Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit > Archives: http://www.driftline.org _______________________________________________ List address: puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org Admin interface: http://lists.puptcrit.org/mailman/listinfo/puptcrit Archives: http://www.driftline.org
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