List of live-action puppet films

Last updated September 10, 2025

This is a list of live-action puppet films. They use string or some other form of arm assistant. These films should not be confused with stop-motion animation which use frame by frame technique.

The Great Gabbo (1929)^[1]
The Limejuice Mystery or Who Spat in Grandfather's Porridge? (1930) - UK^[2]
Puppet Show (1936) - USA^[3]^[4]
The Emperor's Dream (1947) - Chinese^{[ citation needed ]}
Lili (1953) - USA^[5]
The Spirit of Christmas (1953) - USA^[6]
Thunderbirds Are GO (1966) - UK^[7]
Thunderbird 6 (1968) - UK^[7]
The Muppet Musicians of Bremen (1969) - USA^[8]
Hey, Cinderella! (1969) - USA/Canada^[9]

1970s

Pufnstuf (1970) - USA^[10]
The Great Santa Claus Switch (1970) - USA^[11]
The Frog Prince (1971 film) (1971) - USA/Canada^[12]
The Investigator (1971) - USA^[13]
Let My Puppets Come (1976) - USA^[14]
Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977) - USA^[15]
Magic (1978)- USA^[16]
The Muppet Movie (1979) - USA^[17]

1980s

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - USA^[18]
Captain Scarlet vs. the Mysterons (1981) - UK^[19]
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars (1981) - UK^[20]
The Great Muppet Caper (1981) - USA^[21]
The Dark Crystal (1982) - USA/UK^[22]
Return of the Jedi (1983) - USA^[23]
The Neverending Story (1984) - USA/West Germany^[24]
The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) - USA^[25]
Sesame Street Presents Follow That Bird (1985) - USA^[26]

*  Labyrinth  (1986) - UK

The Christmas Toy (1986) - USA/Canada
The Tale of the Bunny Picnic (1986) - USA/UK
Little Shop of Horrors (1986) - USA
Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1987) - USA
Meet the Feebles (1989) - New Zealand
Monster Maker (1989) - USA
Puppet Master (1989) - USA (film series)

reflist

↑ "The Great Gabbo". Public Domain Torrents. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
↑ https://www.apocalypselaterfilm.com/2018/11/the-limejuice-mystery-1930.html
↑ Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0810832503.
↑ Klein, Tom. "Oswald Strings a Treasure, 1936". Cartoon Research, Walter Lantz Archive. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
↑ Klein, Tom. "Oswald Strings a Treasure, 1936". Cartoon Research, Walter Lantz Archive. Retrieved 2018-11-08.
↑ Patterson, Neal (December 9, 2008). "Once Upon a Toy blog by Polyvinylman". polyvinylman.blogspot.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014. This holiday special, first aired in 1953 and sponsored by Ma Bell, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton. . . . Ms. Beaton started out performing marionette shows for her community in a make-shift theater during the 1930s and 40s. . . . she decided to elevate her puppeteering career by creating filmed marionette programs. She got lucky with her first try out of the gate when she presented her half-hour Christmas special, The Spirit of Christmas, to The Bell Telephone Company. The president enthusiastically green-lit the show as their 1953 Christmas special, and it became their holiday show for the next several years during the 50s. . . . My first exposure to it was in elementary school in the late 60s/early 70s. Every year, on the last day before Christmas vacation, the teacher would drag out that clunky 16 mm projector and put on the threadbare film print of The Spirit of Christmas. (includes photos of DVD jacket)
1 2 "Feature Film Productions". Fanderson. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
↑ Jim Henson's Imagination Illustrated - Page 82
↑ Fanning, Jim (June 5, 2013). "Kermit's Shocking Transformation!". D23. Disney.
↑ "Pufnstuf (1970)". AFI . Retrieved July 8, 2024.
↑ "Secret Santa". 25 December 2004.
↑ Jim Henson's Imagination Illustrated - Page 186
↑ "Models from Gerry Anderson's The Investigator up for sale". BBC News Online . 5 October 2018. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2019.
↑ Worley, Alec (2005). Empires of the imagination: a critical survey of fantasy cinema from Georges Méliès to The lord of the rings (illustrated ed.). McFarland & Co. Pub. ISBN 9780786423248.
↑ Jim Henson's Red Book." "3/1-2/1977 – 'Recording Emmet Otter. Music in LA with Paul Williams.'" Posted March 1, 2012.
↑ Siskel, Gene (November 13, 1978). "Hopkins' stellar 'Magic' act weaves a spell". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 6. Retrieved September 29, 2022– via Newspapers.com.
↑ Carroll, Kathleen (June 22, 1979). "The greening of Hollywood—Kermit & Co. In the reel world". New York Daily News . Retrieved November 10, 2023.
↑ https://www.sideshow.com/blog/star-wars-puppets-and-puppeteers
↑ Peel, John (1993). Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet: The Authorised Programme Guide. London, UK: Virgin Books. p. 202. ISBN 0-86369-728-3.
↑ Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 190–191. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.
↑ "The Great Muppet Caper (U)". British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved 27 July 2015.
↑ https://beforesandafters.com/2019/08/28/my-right-hand-is-in-the-head-my-left-hand-operates-the-left-arm-and-my-assistant-puppeteer-is-tucked-under-my-right-armpit/
↑ https://www.sideshow.com/blog/star-wars-puppets-and-puppeteers
↑ https://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/the-neverending-story-special-effects-director-on-creating-falkor-the-nothing-and-more/
↑ https://vidiotsfoundation.org/movies/the-muppets-take-manhattan/
↑ https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/how-follow-that-bird-the-first-sesame-street-film-became-a-beloved-classic-after-nose-diving-at-the-box-office-59690/

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[1] "The Great Gabbo". Public Domain Torrents. Retrieved July 1, 2018.

[2] ttps://www.apocalypselaterfilm.com/2018/11/the-limejuice-mystery-1930.html

[Enough-3] Sampson, Henry T. (1998). That's Enough, Folks: Black Images in Animated Cartoons, 1900-1960. Scarecrow Press. p. 200. ISBN 978-0810832503.

[4] Klein, Tom. "Oswald Strings a Treasure, 1936". Cartoon Research, Walter Lantz Archive. Retrieved 2018-11-08.

[5] Klein, Tom. "Oswald Strings a Treasure, 1936". Cartoon Research, Walter Lantz Archive. Retrieved 2018-11-08.

[Once-Upon-a-Toy-6] Patterson, Neal (December 9, 2008). "Once Upon a Toy blog by Polyvinylman". polyvinylman.blogspot.com. Retrieved February 20, 2014. This holiday special, first aired in 1953 and sponsored by Ma Bell, was produced by puppeteer Mabel Beaton. . . . Ms. Beaton started out performing marionette shows for her community in a make-shift theater during the 1930s and 40s. . . . she decided to elevate her puppeteering career by creating filmed marionette programs. She got lucky with her first try out of the gate when she presented her half-hour Christmas special, The Spirit of Christmas, to The Bell Telephone Company. The president enthusiastically green-lit the show as their 1953 Christmas special, and it became their holiday show for the next several years during the 50s. . . . My first exposure to it was in elementary school in the late 60s/early 70s. Every year, on the last day before Christmas vacation, the teacher would drag out that clunky 16 mm projector and put on the threadbare film print of The Spirit of Christmas. (includes photos of DVD jacket)

[Fanderson-7] 1 2 "Feature Film Productions". Fanderson. Archived from the original on 21 February 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2010.

[8] Jim Henson's Imagination Illustrated - Page 82

[9] Fanning, Jim (June 5, 2013). "Kermit's Shocking Transformation!". D23. Disney.

[PufnstufAFI-10] "Pufnstuf (1970)". AFI . Retrieved July 8, 2024.

[11] "Secret Santa". 25 December 2004.

[12] Jim Henson's Imagination Illustrated - Page 186

[13] "Models from Gerry Anderson's The Investigator up for sale". BBC News Online . 5 October 2018. Archived from the original on 24 October 2018. Retrieved 9 November 2019.

[14] Worley, Alec (2005). Empires of the imagination: a critical survey of fantasy cinema from Georges Méliès to The lord of the rings (illustrated ed.). McFarland & Co. Pub. ISBN 9780786423248.

[15] Jim Henson's Red Book." "3/1-2/1977 – 'Recording Emmet Otter. Music in LA with Paul Williams.'" Posted March 1, 2012.

[16] Siskel, Gene (November 13, 1978). "Hopkins' stellar 'Magic' act weaves a spell". Chicago Tribune. Section 3, p. 6. Retrieved September 29, 2022– via Newspapers.com.

[17] Carroll, Kathleen (June 22, 1979). "The greening of Hollywood—Kermit & Co. In the reel world". New York Daily News . Retrieved November 10, 2023.

[18] ttps://www.sideshow.com/blog/star-wars-puppets-and-puppeteers

[19] Peel, John (1993). Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet: The Authorised Programme Guide. London, UK: Virgin Books. p. 202. ISBN 0-86369-728-3.

[20] Bentley, Chris (2017). Hearn, Marcus (ed.). Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons: The Vault. Cambridge, UK: Signum Books. pp. 190–191. ISBN 978-0-995519-12-1.

[21] "The Great Muppet Caper (U)". British Board of Film Classification . Retrieved 27 July 2015.

[22] ttps://beforesandafters.com/2019/08/28/my-right-hand-is-in-the-head-my-left-hand-operates-the-left-arm-and-my-assistant-puppeteer-is-tucked-under-my-right-armpit/

[23] ttps://www.sideshow.com/blog/star-wars-puppets-and-puppeteers

[24] ttps://www.scifinow.co.uk/interviews/the-neverending-story-special-effects-director-on-creating-falkor-the-nothing-and-more/

[25] ttps://vidiotsfoundation.org/movies/the-muppets-take-manhattan/

[26] ttps://www.indiewire.com/features/general/how-follow-that-bird-the-first-sesame-street-film-became-a-beloved-classic-after-nose-diving-at-the-box-office-59690/

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List of live-action puppet films

Contents

1920s-1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s

See also

reflist