More Rex Variations

Rex, the not-so-bright detective from our show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths was a challenging character to design. It was hard to come up with a look for him that wasn't derivative. Some of the best crime-fighting and detective dogs have been used in projects like Lady and the Tramp, The Great Mouse Detective or Jim Henson's Dog City. At one point I thought Rex could be a shaggy-looking sheep dog, but that was abandoned. We didn't want a main character whose eyes weren't visible.

Polymer The Parrot

Polymer The Parrot will serve as the narrator for our puppet show B.A.R.K. the Robot Dog. He will be on stage during the entire show overseeing the action and interjecting bits of information when necessary. Polymer will be built as a rod puppet like Sid and Ed, except with a moving mouth. To hide the mechanism his support pipe will be several feet long and mounted to a stationary base. The whole thing will be disguised as a wooden post.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day.

Sketch of the Week

Here is a rough design I did for Mayor Mole, for our puppet show Ricky Raccoon and the Recycling Ray . I incorporated every mayoral convention I could in this design: top hat, cane, bow tie and monocle.

Mini Mock-Up

Before translating a design into a puppet, it may be helpful to create a mini mock-up first. The mini mock-up allows you or the puppet builder to see the character in three dimensions before building begins. It can also be used to create patterns simply by scaling up the pieces from the small version. I built this tiny version of Bad B.A.R.K. before building the puppet.

B.A.R.K. Body

Here are some early B.A.R.K. concepts. I thought it would be interesting if B.A.R.K. was a full-body puppet, but it seemed too complicated to pull off in a two-person show.

Lineup

When designing a cast of puppet characters that vary in size, you may wish to create a character lineup. Draw each character on a grid so that you and your puppet builder will have a clear idea how large or small each puppet will be and their sizes in relation to each other. In this character lineup I did for Harry and the Tyrannosaurus Rex each square represents a foot.

T-Rex-Scaring Armor

Here is a drawing I did of Harry from our puppet show Harry and the Tyrannosaurus Rex. He is shown wearing his handmade Tyrannosaurus Rex-scaring armor.

Sketch Of The Week

I designed this character, Shakespeare The Frog, for Naked TV, a stage show produced by Naked Angels theater company and Fox Broadcasting. Naked TV featured several one-act plays written by new writers. Shakespeare was one of three American Idol-style judges who watched the show from a balcony over the stage and offered unusual feedback.

Manhattan Toy Company

If you're stuck on an idea for a puppet design, I suggest you check out the Manhattan Toy Company website. You'll be inspired by their high-quality toys, which display a great sense of style. Their innovative designs are reflected in the wacky monster hand puppets and dinosaur stuffed animals.

Here are a few of my favorite products: Monsties, Chopper Chums and Galoompagalots.

Tinker The Hamster

As I was writing the script for our new puppet show B.A.R.K. the Robot Dog, I found it difficult to make Ratchet The Cat a sympathetic character. Rivet The Dog has a cool robot friend to pal around with, but all Ratchet has is her yarn collection. We decided to create a hamster friend for the cat. Not only does Tinker The Hamster help Ratchet collect yarn, she also allows Ratchet to show off her softer side.

B.A.R.K. Cast

Here is the first drawing I did of the cast for B.A.R.K. the Robot Dog. I originally imagined that B.A.R.K. would be delivered to the house instead of being a creation of the offstage inventor Mr. Johnson.

Puppet Heap

Puppet Heap is character-design studio that, as its website says, "strives not only to create great puppetry, but to bring to life dynamic, engaging personalities who truly connect with their audience." Founded in 1992 by Emmy-nominated designer Paul Andrejco, the Hoboken, NJ-based company has designed and built puppets for The Jim Henson Company, Sesame Workshop and Nick Jr.



The Puppet Heap character designers have an original design aesthetic that translates wonderfully to puppets. Their builders use unusual materials in interesting ways to create unique-looking characters. Check out their design gallery and puppet portfolio.

Happy Mother's Day!

More Peas

I drew this illustration for the new Puppet Greetings Mother's Day card. You can see the card by clicking here.

Original Drawing

Here is the first drawing I did of Rex and Boots for our new puppet show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths. Actually, this is both my first and second drawing. In the original drawing Rex was a bloodhound, but he looked too much like McGruff the Crime Dog. I drew a new Rex head, this time as a whippet, and replaced the old one in Photoshop.

Ferdinand

This is Ferdinand The Ferret, the butler in our new puppet show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths. I wanted him to appear suspicious and slightly frazzled, so I gave him buggy eyes with small pupils and a slight overbite. To see the finished puppet, click here.

Puppet Size

Very often the size of a character will determine what type of puppet it will be. Sometimes different versions of the same character will be designed and built, depending on the demands of the script.

For example, in The Magic Meadow, a short I wrote and directed, I needed a bear to interact with an ant. The bear was built as a large moving-mouth hand puppet. I designed two versions of the ant, one as a hand puppet and the other as a small rod puppet. The hand puppet was fully articulated and played mostly in close-up. The rod puppet was used when the two characters were in the same shot together. The rod puppet had limited movement but helped convey the ant's proper size.

I also designed and built a small rod puppet of the bear, but you'll have to watch the short to see why.

Sketch Of The Week

Here is a concept drawing I did for the Prince of the Sea for our holiday show, Polly Polar Bear and the Prince of the Sea. I researched different types of Arctic fish before designing this character. The hooked bottom jaw and spotted pattern of the Arctic char, a native Canadian fish, were incorporated in this design.

Lady Fromage

Here are two color designs for Lady Fromage, the well-to-do mouse who finds her prized possession, the Gold Fish, missing in our new puppet show Rex & Boots, Super Sleuths. As with all our character designs, I did several different color variations before I landed on a look that everyone liked.

Bad B.A.R.K.

Here is a design I did of Bad B.A.R.K. for our new show B.A.R.K. the Robot Dog. The design is a cross between a 1950s sci-fi robot and Robocop.

Inspirational Image

Sometimes before a new puppet-show script is written, I'll draw inspirational images to help get the creative juices flowing. These can be rough drawings of what I imagine the cast to be or scenes that could be in the show.

We knew our show Harry and the Tyrannosaurus Rex would be about a small prehistoric mammal who interacts with dinosaurs. I drew this sketch to imagine what that could look like. This drawing was done in ink and colored in Photoshop.

Play With Your Food

In this children's book, which came out a few years ago, authors Saxton Freymann and Joost Elffers decorate fruits and vegetables to create a range of interesting characters. When you're looking for inspiration for a unique puppet design, try wandering down the produce aisle of your local grocery store or farmers' market. Notice all the unusual shapes and colors and think about how you can incorporate them into a puppet design.

For more ideas, check out these other books by Freymann and Elffers.