Date: Fri, 01 Feb 2002 22:45:18 -0800
Subject: PUPT: More Toto suggestions...



Hello,

I am a creature effects engineer and puppeteer in California.  The
company I
work for built all the live action dinosaurs for the three Jurassic Park

movies.  We also did the Terminators, Predator, and Aliens movies.  I
also
enjoy puppetry as a personal avenue of expression and work on my own
projects outside the workplace.  I think there is a fairly simple way of

doing Toto for the play that will make you happy you got volunteered by
the
director.

I have on several occasions taken well-designed plush toys and turned
them
into puppets.If you can find a realistic looking one with the mouth open
(a fold
of felt that has a tongue on it, rather than an intact muzzle with only
an
embroidered line indicating where the mouth would be), get a few that
match.
Then take the toy, cut open the bottom and pull out a handful of
stuffing.
Reach in and pull the muzzle through the hole and out of the body.
Separately, sew together a simple tube of cloth that will make a sleeve
that
the operator can slide their arm through and is longer than the puppets
body - an old sleeve from a cotton shirt works great.  Make sure there
are no
foam blocks or more filling in the muzzle area - the place where fingers

will eventually be to move the mouth.  Now sew the tube to the back of
the
face, being sure not to do so in such a way as to pinch or distort the
skin
when relaxed into place.  Pull the muzzle back into place from the front
and
re-fluff the interior stuffing so the puppet looks like it originally
did.
Finish the job by sewing the tube to the exit point at the bottom of the

body.  You now have a pretty good hand puppet that is original and to
your
choosing.  For your use, you will probably want to affix it to the hole
in the
basket.  If this hole is near the join of the elbow, the fake arm on the

outside (hopefully with a bit of sleeve to help hide any problems.  Make

another one of these for use outside the basket (don't try to double
duty
the one puppet - two is easier on stage).  These usually take me an hour
or
so, easy after the first time!

Lastly, I would suggest avoiding a marionette version of the puppet, the

look of a marionette is so different than a hand puppet that it could be

distracting.  Also, it would be hard to work from an overhead bridge on
a
full sized stage with other actors.  I think that it would be better to
take
another matching plush toy and carefully place inside it a rope and
dowel
structure, and remove some of the fluff at the various joints.  Then
attach
a rod to this armature to the top center of the back (short rope lengths
for
ALL these joints) so the puppet hangs from it.  Perhaps a slight bent in
the
rod will help it hide behind the body.  Do the same to the top of the
head
and under each foot.  You now have a rod puppet that can be operated by
puppeteers (probably three - head & body, front legs, and rear legs).
The
rods can be flipped to either side and the puppeteers can be behind a
rock,
furniture, prepared wall, etc.  Mixing these techniques creatively and
hiding switches between the puppets by quick body blocks, ducking behind

objects and so forth can be a powerful illusion.

Good luck!

Richard





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