PuppetrNimation (Puppetry)

In relation to Animatronics discussed last week, let's take a step back and talk about puppets. Yes, the creepy doll like manikins that has eerie eyes and movable body parts, and yes, it is probably the cause of most of your childhood nightmares,next to clowns obviously (have you seen Chucky?).  While creepy as they are now and apparently, used as entertainment for children (-_-), puppetry has a long history in human history and although historians are not sure when it began, what they are sure about is that the first written record of puppetry was in India, thus, historians dubbed India as "the birthplace for puppetry".

Puppets in India were used (and still are) as a way for storytellers to teach their followers about the stories of the Gods. It started about 3000 years ago and the stick-figured puppets would play the stories of the Bala-Ramayana and the Maha-Bharata. The mass appeal of puppetry in India goes to the fact that while puppetry was entertaining to watch, it was also a learning experience.

According to legend, a famous dramatist in Japan grew tired of human actors and their needs so he decided to assign the roles to wooden puppets. The actors (if they wanted to still get paid and be a part of the play) would be hooded in black and at most, three people would be assigned to each puppet. Even though these people who be seen as clear as day to the audience members, their presence would not be acknowledged (ironic isn't it, for the actors I mean).  

In Europe, puppetry was so popular, that new techniques were presented to display the puppets. Instead of the puppets being made up two strings, the puppets now contain eight strings. Techniques such as ventriloquy and shadow puppetry were invented. Puppetry is still being used today but it has evolved over the years. Shadow puppetry might use humans...

 and besides using stings, people may use a combination of sticks, hands, bodies and string to give the puppet more human-like qualities. The most modern use of this is Jim Hensen's The Muppets, and deviating from that also Sesame Street.

Puppetry nevertheless, has become a big part of our culture (to the point where we can't ignore it's existence, no matter how hard we try) and with many positives (Sesame Street) comes some negatives (Chucky, by the way, did you know that another Chucky movie is coming out. I swear, this puppet will NEVER die). In relation to puppetry with animation, I consider it live-action and indeed a form of art.

Sources: 

"History of Puppets." History of Puppets. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://www.puppetsnow.com/history-of-puppets.html>.

"Puppetry." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Oct. 2014. Web. 16 Oct. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puppetry>.