PuppetVision Blog
13 Jun 2013
Youkiza – A 380 Year Old Japanese Puppet Company
No comments - Archived in Live Puppetry

I have no idea what the oldest puppet troupe in the world is, but surely the Japanese Puppetry Company Youkiza is a serious contender for the title. The company performs a traditional style of Japanese marionette puppetry and have been the recipients of countless awards and honours for their work. They are the only surviving puppetry company from Japan’s Edo Period and for more than half a century have been formally designated an important Japanese Cultural Asset.

To celebrate their 380th anniversary, Youkiza is performing Kantan and The Lady Aoi, two special adaptions of traditional Japanese Noh plays. Performances will be held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Theater June 19-23. For anyone in Japan who would like attend, tickets and more information can be found in Japanese here.

For the rest of us, you can learn more about the company on Youkiza’s English Language web page and see more examples of their work in the Youkiza YouTube Channel.

Japanese puppetrymarionettes
11 Jun 2013
Designing China Girl
No comments - Archived in Feature Films

This is a clip from a featurette on the Oz the Great and Powerful DVD and Blu-ray, which hits stores in North America today. It’s an expanded look at the use of the practical China Girl marionette that was performed live on set by Philip Hubner (click the link for a previous post with more video) and used as the basis of the final CG animated character that appears in the finished film.

Via Screenrant.

behind-the-scenesmarionettes
06 Jun 2013
Tropo Sexy Per Belen
No comments - Archived in Music Videos

We see a lot of puppets in music videos these days. Usually, it’s a creative decision by the video’s director and/or artist, but sometimes it’s a practical necessity because the authorities won’t let the artist who recorded the song out of jail. Such is the case with the video for Tropo Sexy Per Belen, a new single by self-styled “controversial Italian bad boy” and “King of Paparazzi” Fabrizio Corona, who is currently serving a 7 year prison sentence in Italy’s Busto Arsizio Prison.

Italy is often accused of having a culture of corruption that also objectifies and disenfranchises women (see Berlusconi, Silvio, former Prime Minister). Whether or not that national reputation is deserved, I’m going to go out on a limb here and suggest that allowing a convicted felon to release music videos like this from prison isn’t going to help matters much.

 

hand and rod puppetsItalian puppetry
05 Jun 2013
Steve Hewlett on Britain’s Got Talent
No comments - Archived in TV Shows

British Ventriloquist Steve Hewlett performed this routine last weekend during the Semi-finals of the current season of Britain’s Got Talent.

Puppetry acts have traditionally gone over really well on Britain’s Got Talent and its international spin-offs. The most famous example of this is probably Terry Fator, who won America’s Got Talent in 2007 and has since become a huge star in Las Vegas, but other performers like Damon Scott, Lightwire Theater and Phil Fletcher (among many others) have all benefited from appearing on the various iterations of the “Got Talent” series around the world.

Can Steve go all the way and win the series? It’s hard to say. The current wisdom is that Attraction – dancers who owe more than a little debt to silhouettes and shadow puppetry – are considered the act to beat this year, but Steve is a very funny and talented guy …and surprising upsets have happened before!

Britain’s Got Talent airs in the United Kingdom on iTV Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and iTV2 Sundays at 5:30 p.m. Outside of the UK, highlights from the show are regularly posted on the Britain’s Got Talent YouTube Channel.

Via Dannielle.

Britain's Got TalentGot Talent franchisePuppetry in the UKventriloquism
04 Jun 2013
Thai Puppetry Documentary
No comments - Archived in Short Films

Manipulating Entities is a short documentary produced by students at Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore about Hun Lakorn Lek, a traditional form of Thai rod puppetry. Hun Lakorn Lek is actually relatively young compared to the puppetry traditions in most other Asian countries, dating back just a little over a century. It is closely associated with Khon, an older form of dance in Thailand. Krae Saptawanit – a Thai dancer and puppeteer – is widely credited with innovating Hun Lakorn Lek at the turn of the 20th century.

The documentary itself focuses on the popular Joe Louis Theatre in Bangkok, which was founded by the late Thai Master Puppeteer Sakorn Yang-keawsot, whose adopted English name was Joe Louis. The company can trace it’s lineage all the way back to the inception of Hun Lakorn Lek (Sakorn’s parents were mentored by and performed with Krae Saptawanit himself). The troupe lost its performing home some time around 2010, so it’s wonderful to see that they have a new venue to perform in and are looking forward to a bright future at a time when many traditional puppeteers in neighbouring countries are struggling.

Special thanks to Alan Cook for discovering and sharing this!

documentariesHun Lakorn Lekrod puppetsThai puppetry
03 Jun 2013
Hands Up If You’re Lost Music Video
No comments - Archived in Music Videos

Hands Up If You’re Lost is a beautifully shot music video for We Show Up On Radar by director Tom Walsh. The Dark Crystal inspired puppets in the video were built by Inma Cook and Emma Terrell and brought to life by a team of puppeteers that included Amy Nicholson, Else Bua, Inma Cook, Emma Terrell, Sophie Wheat, and Emily Croxford. A great collection of behind-the-scenes designs, photos and more can be found on Amy Nicholson’s web site, who was also the video’s Production Designer.

4/6/13 Update: A behind-the-scenes “Making of” video is also available:

If you want to see another music/puppetry collaboration between WSUOR, Tom Walsh and Amy Nicholson check out their video for The Anchors In Your Heart.

Via School of Puppetry.

behind-the-sceneshand and rod puppetsPuppetry in the UK
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