Monsters

While designing the family, I experimented with several different concepts, like drawing them as monsters. This idea was abandoned because we wanted the monsters that visit the family to feel unique.

Copy And Tweak

Many of these early puppet designs were done very quickly so that I could give the client several different choices. Sometimes, in the interest of time, I’d take a puppet design, copy it, and then tweak it in Photoshop to create a variation. In this drawing I muted the color and removed the characters’ noses.

Muppet Flavor

One of the initial ideas was to give the family puppets a “Muppet” look. I did my best to capture the flavor of the Muppets without ripping them off. This proved to be challenging: The minute you draw a red guy with a purple nose, he looks like a Muppet.

The Family

Aventuras Saludables, written by Dylan Campbell and based on a story by Anita Coulte, is about a family whose house is invaded by three monsters that represent obstacles to healthy living. One of my responsibilities was to design the puppets. Here is an early design I did for the family: Mom, Dad, Anita and Pablito.

Aventuras Saludables

A few months ago Swazzle was contracted by Ethnic Marketing Group to develop a bilingual puppet show for Blue Cross as part of their Nuestro Bien outreach program. The puppet show Aventuras Saludables, which would be performed at health fairs, festivals and conventions, would use comedy and music to teach family audiences how to make healthy choices.

We had about two months to write, build and rehearse this new show during our busy summer season. Over the next few weeks I’m going discuss the development of Aventuras Saludables with a special emphasis on character design.

Venus Flytrap

The Venus flytrap was cut from a sheet of Scott foam and dyed dark green. The flytrap sits at the front of the stage, held in place by several rare earth magnets. The mouth is controlled by a rod.

Frank the Flea

I was wrong when I said that Monty Mosquito sustained the most damage during the summer. That dubious distinction is held by Frank the Flea. Frank is a tiny rod puppet who spends most of the show jumping up and down, smacking into Bugsy, and flying across the stage. Oh, and he spends a good deal of time in the mouth of a large Venus flytrap.

In an act of protest, Frank liberated himself from his rod during one show. Luckily he didn’t fly far.

Attack of the Garbage Monster

Wormy Wynn

Wormy started life as an L-shaped tube of foam. I created the sections of his body by wrapping short lengths of fishing line around the foam tube, pulling them tight, and tying them off.

Wormy’s voice was based on that of one of my favorite character actors, Ed Wynn.

Wormy

Although he’s skittish and paranoid, Wormy is Bugsy’s best connection to the underground economy. Wormy’s a rod puppet with a simple moving-mouth mechanism. A short length of fishing line runs up through his body and is attached to his bottom jaw. The line is connected to a ring that I can pull to open his mouth.

Wendy Widow

Wendy Widow is the femme fatale of Bugsy Brown: Private Fly. The puppet is built around a simple mechanism controlled by a thumb trigger which moves her head back and forth. Wendy has rare earth magnets taped to the tips of her two front legs. The magnets stick to a metal plate attached to the front of the puppet stage, allowing Wendy to stand. By moving her body while her legs are stationary, I can create some very dynamic poses.

Monty Lorre

Monty’s voice was based on that of the great character actor Peter Lorre, who, incidentally, has played a librarian in at least two movies.