Shrunken History

We endeavor to make the subject of History come alive. The people, places and events of the past need not be relegated to mere facts and figures, timelines and "truth." Instead, we see them as they are: perspectives in collision and collaboration.

At the moment, we accomplish this through historical caricatures of muppets who, based on research, embody the look, feel and sound of their forebear. These plush visages of the past are created from foam and fleece, and may either be animated by hand or machine. The hope is for more than one puppet to engage with one another by audio-visual link, as well as mechanically, as an addressable avatar.

SO HOW DO I GET STARTED MAKING PUPPETS ? ? ?

Great question. Since the Allegory of the Cave, puppets have been a thing, so the rabbit-hole is deep. Here are some places to get started making the typical puppets we have come to know and love:

The Foam Book: an easy guide to building polyfoam puppets. They suggest that you create a clear concept of how you are wanting your puppet to look, as well as what you want you puppet to do.
ProjectPuppet: have you ever noticed that most of the Sesame Street puppets look very similar? So are human beings--it's how we festoon ourselves that we transmit some important character attributes. Basically, you're a Melon, Pin or Roly-head.
Paper Sack Puppets: really, a great place to get started to understand the importance of how the mouth moves and how stage movement (turning the body) portrays emotion.