World of Puppets - Puppets Just For Kids?

By looking back at these stars of the early years of the small screen, it can be said that all the major television puppets were aimed at the child. This perhaps reflects what was happening in our society at the time to the art of the puppet show. The likes of Punch and Judy had been on the decline for years, and were finding it very hard to find an audience for a sophisticated adult performance. With film and television becoming more popular, live arts such as puppetry suffered.

The emergence of puppets on television as children's shows was an obvious step. Children’s programmes were not of a high priority for the fledgling BBC. Puppets at the time were fairly cheap to buy or make. Muffin the Mule was bought for 15s 0d, and Sooty cost just 7s 6d. Put together with one human presenter or narrator, and the outcome was a cheap, but effective children’s programme. Added to this, is the puppet’s resemblance to a toy. An instant rapport could be forged between the child and the toy-like puppet. The fact that the toy moved by itself and had human characteristics aided in the disbelief of reality. To the children of the 1950s it did not matter that the strings were visible, or that it was in black and white. Indeed, any technological problems were not important. Here were toys and creatures, shown before them in the safety of their own homes, that must surely exist in reality as beings in their own right. As adults today who may have watched the early episodes of Muffin the Mule would now be in their fifties, it’s hardly surprising that the puppets they grew up with as a child would help to peddle the view that the puppet is “kiddie’s” entertainment. It is children’s television that introduces the majority of people to puppets.

As television progressed and became ever increasingly more competent, the public expected more than the jerky movements of Andy Pandy style marionettes. With technologically excellent productions from Gerry Anderson, his marionettes became minute puppet masterpieces. Although nostalgia goes a long way to explaining the current success of Thunderbirds, it is apparent that this is not the one and only reason for the cult adult following. The puppetry itself is the major draw for adults who watch the show. No one can refute that Thunderbirds’ charm originates from the audiences’ delight in watching the imaginary puppet “mini-universe”. The escapism and relaxation that these shows can offer the viewer explains further the adult appeal for what is, after all, a children’s programme.

The Gerry Anderson productions cleared the way in Britain for what has been coined as “kidult” shows - programmes aimed at adults through children’s viewing. The popular Pinky and Perky or the wise-cracking fox Basil Brush could be described as “kidult”, but it is the madcap muppets that truly fit this description. The emergence of the muppets on British television, first through Sesame Street and later The Muppet Show, elevated television puppets to a never before reached adult level. The multi-layered sketches, containing humour that could be read on many different levels, aided the adults’ enjoyment. The muppet parodies of well known and loved adult shows, films and musical numbers appeal to children and grown ups alike. The characters were easy for anybody to identify with, and as such it was simple to become immersed into the pure madcap enjoyment the muppets presented. The creations of Jim Henson have influenced generations of puppet shows, many following in his methods of puppetry. The marionette has fallen out of favour, to be replaced with Jim Henson style flexible and emotive puppets.

Puppet series are more complicated to produce than many other types of television programmes. They can often cost more to make, in both time and labour, than an equivalent production using live actors. Today the use of puppetry is always chosen as an aid to the show, and in the case of series such as Spitting Image, one of the major attractions. With its sharp note of cynicism and crass fun poking at the political, royal and famous of the world, Spitting Image ran for over a decade. It is a prime example of an adult series that would not have worked without the use of its caricatured latex puppet cast.

The myth that puppets are only children’s entertainment does not stand up to scrutiny. The Muppet Show obtained very strong audience viewing figures, higher than any obtained by shows transmitted exclusively to children. Spitting Image on the other hand, in a similar manner to the 18th century satiric puppet theatre, was aimed totally at the adult, and never intended at any time as viewing for juniors. It is very naïve to believe that all puppets are appealing to children. Mannequins, ventriloquist’s dummies and clowns are as likely to send a shiver up the spine as Kermit and Miss Piggy are likely to raise a smile. Puppets therefore, can produce a vast array of different effects and emotions. The fear of various forms of the puppet has been used effectively in numerous tales of murderous devil possessed dummies. The apprehension and distrust the human condition can hold for the inanimate object that appears almost human may be illogical, but it is nevertheless a natural instinct. It is an instinct that horror producers love, and is an instinct that is never lost, whatever the age of the viewer. Added to this, with the use of animatronics in the horror genre, the adult viewer rarely realises that he is watching a puppet. The creation during a live action drama of a nonhuman life form - be it a devil, an alien or fearsome animal - is often created with the aid of puppetry. So varied is this ancient tradition that all sorts of programmes, from pre-school television to spine chilling “gore fests” can be produced effectively.

The art of the puppet has an honourable history in the medium of satire and drama. It has never been intended solely as “kiddie’s” entertainment, and although pure adult puppetry does not often surface on the small screen, those that do capture the imagination of the audience in a way that live action cannot. Puppetry is an important aspect of screen entertainment, and today is viewed in a format that would have baffled the priests that created them centuries ago. The final words are to be left to writer George Speaight,

“It is, indeed, impressive to be able to record that this primitive form of theatre, which grew from priestly incantations in ancient temples, is now seen by millions around the world. But the essence of puppetry does not lie in numbers. The secret of this art is to be found in the magic when an inanimate figure creates an emotional contact with a human spectator. May this magic never die.”

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