Is There a Future for Puppets?
- 6 years ago
Puppetry is one of the oldest art forms, and its effect can't be replicated with 3D digital animation.
Question:
With the world going digital, what is the future of puppets?
Brian Henson: It's a
completely different thing that you're trying to do with a puppet. It's, or at least usually in our
company, usually a puppet is made of felt and its eyes are often, you
know,
white plastic and it's stuffed with foam rubber or stuffing and that's
part of
what it is, that's what makes the puppet funny. And
when you're doing the puppet, if you're doing a puppet
of a goat, well, it's not actually a goat that's playing the scene,
what's
funny is it's a goat that's made out of yellow felt and foam rubber and
ping
pong ball eyes, and that's part of what the entertainment is. If you were to rip the arm off the
goat, there would be cotton wool that comes out, not blood.
And
that's not
something you can copy with 3D digital animation. That's specific to
puppetry. So I don't think, I
think there will always be a place for puppetry. 3D
animation, I think people were asking the same question
when we were doing animatronics through the '80's and '90's when we were
doing
animatronic characters. Well, we
were building puppet characters, but you were meant to believe if you
cut them,
they would bleed, with "Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth" and
more recently, "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," or "Where
The Wild Things Are," those are characters that are meant to be closer
to the
illusion of living, breathing characters.
And I think animatronics has been largely replaced, and certainly
enhanced by 3D digital animation.
But
I think the
place for puppetry, the simplicity of what you're doing with puppetry...
well,
you can't beat the simplicity of a puppet and a camera and there you are
and
you're done. So I don't think
puppetry is going anywhere fast. I
think it's one of the oldest art forms in the world and I think it will
still
be going strong.Recorded on April 8, 2010
Question:
With the world going digital, what is the future of puppets?
Brian Henson: It's a
completely different thing that you're trying to do with a puppet. It's, or at least usually in our
company, usually a puppet is made of felt and its eyes are often, you
know,
white plastic and it's stuffed with foam rubber or stuffing and that's
part of
what it is, that's what makes the puppet funny. And
when you're doing the puppet, if you're doing a puppet
of a goat, well, it's not actually a goat that's playing the scene,
what's
funny is it's a goat that's made out of yellow felt and foam rubber and
ping
pong ball eyes, and that's part of what the entertainment is. If you were to rip the arm off the
goat, there would be cotton wool that comes out, not blood.
And
that's not
something you can copy with 3D digital animation. That's specific to
puppetry. So I don't think, I
think there will always be a place for puppetry. 3D
animation, I think people were asking the same question
when we were doing animatronics through the '80's and '90's when we were
doing
animatronic characters. Well, we
were building puppet characters, but you were meant to believe if you
cut them,
they would bleed, with "Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth" and
more recently, "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," or "Where
The Wild Things Are," those are characters that are meant to be closer
to the
illusion of living, breathing characters.
And I think animatronics has been largely replaced, and certainly
enhanced by 3D digital animation.
But
I think the
place for puppetry, the simplicity of what you're doing with puppetry...
well,
you can't beat the simplicity of a puppet and a camera and there you are
and
you're done. So I don't think
puppetry is going anywhere fast. I
think it's one of the oldest art forms in the world and I think it will
still
be going strong.Recorded on April 8, 2010
Question:
With the world going digital, what is the future of puppets?
Brian Henson: It's a
completely different thing that you're trying to do with a puppet. It's, or at least usually in our
company, usually a puppet is made of felt and its eyes are often, you
know,
white plastic and it's stuffed with foam rubber or stuffing and that's
part of
what it is, that's what makes the puppet funny. And
when you're doing the puppet, if you're doing a puppet
of a goat, well, it's not actually a goat that's playing the scene,
what's
funny is it's a goat that's made out of yellow felt and foam rubber and
ping
pong ball eyes, and that's part of what the entertainment is. If you were to rip the arm off the
goat, there would be cotton wool that comes out, not blood.
And
that's not
something you can copy with 3D digital animation. That's specific to
puppetry. So I don't think, I
think there will always be a place for puppetry. 3D
animation, I think people were asking the same question
when we were doing animatronics through the '80's and '90's when we were
doing
animatronic characters. Well, we
were building puppet characters, but you were meant to believe if you
cut them,
they would bleed, with "Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth" and
more recently, "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," or "Where
The Wild Things Are," those are characters that are meant to be closer
to the
illusion of living, breathing characters.
And I think animatronics has been largely replaced, and certainly
enhanced by 3D digital animation.
But
I think the
place for puppetry, the simplicity of what you're doing with puppetry...
well,
you can't beat the simplicity of a puppet and a camera and there you are
and
you're done. So I don't think
puppetry is going anywhere fast. I
think it's one of the oldest art forms in the world and I think it will
still
be going strong.Recorded on April 8, 2010
Question:
With the world going digital, what is the future of puppets?
Brian Henson: It's a
completely different thing that you're trying to do with a puppet. It's, or at least usually in our
company, usually a puppet is made of felt and its eyes are often, you
know,
white plastic and it's stuffed with foam rubber or stuffing and that's
part of
what it is, that's what makes the puppet funny. And
when you're doing the puppet, if you're doing a puppet
of a goat, well, it's not actually a goat that's playing the scene,
what's
funny is it's a goat that's made out of yellow felt and foam rubber and
ping
pong ball eyes, and that's part of what the entertainment is. If you were to rip the arm off the
goat, there would be cotton wool that comes out, not blood.
And
that's not
something you can copy with 3D digital animation. That's specific to
puppetry. So I don't think, I
think there will always be a place for puppetry. 3D
animation, I think people were asking the same question
when we were doing animatronics through the '80's and '90's when we were
doing
animatronic characters. Well, we
were building puppet characters, but you were meant to believe if you
cut them,
they would bleed, with "Dark Crystal" and "Labyrinth" and
more recently, "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy," or "Where
The Wild Things Are," those are characters that are meant to be closer
to the
illusion of living, breathing characters.
And I think animatronics has been largely replaced, and certainly
enhanced by 3D digital animation.
But
I think the
place for puppetry, the simplicity of what you're doing with puppetry...
well,
you can't beat the simplicity of a puppet and a camera and there you are
and
you're done. So I don't think
puppetry is going anywhere fast. I
think it's one of the oldest art forms in the world and I think it will
still
be going strong.Recorded on April 8, 2010