List of puppet films

Last updated

This is a list of films prominently featuring puppets.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Muppets</span> Puppet characters created by Jim Henson

The Muppets are an American ensemble cast of puppet characters known for an absurdist, slapstick, burlesque, and self-referential style of variety-sketch comedy. Created by Jim Henson in 1955, they have become a media franchise encompassing films, television, music, and other media associated with the characters. Owned by the Jim Henson Company for nearly five decades, the characters of the Muppets franchise were acquired by the Walt Disney Company in 2004.

<i>Labyrinth</i> (1986 film) 1986 film by Jim Henson

Labyrinth is a 1986 musical fantasy film directed by Jim Henson with George Lucas as executive producer. Based on conceptual designs by Brian Froud, the film was written by Terry Jones, and many of its characters are played by puppets produced by Jim Henson's Creature Shop. Starring Jennifer Connelly as 16-year-old Sarah and David Bowie as Jareth, Sarah must journey through a maze to save her baby brother from the Goblin King.

<i>Gremlins</i> 1984 film by Joe Dante

Gremlins is a 1984 American comedy horror film directed by Joe Dante, written by Chris Columbus and starring Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday and Frances Lee McCain, with Howie Mandel providing the voice of Gizmo, the main mogwai character. It draws on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions—"gremlins"—in the British Royal Air Force going back to World War II. The story follows young man Billy Peltzer, who receives a strange creature as a pet, which then spawns other creatures that transform into aggressive, destructive, imp-like monsters that wreak havoc on Billy's hometown during Christmas Eve.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brian Henson</span> American puppeteer (b. 1963)

Brian Henson is an American puppeteer, filmmaker, actor and the chairman of The Jim Henson Company. He is the son of puppeteers Jim and Jane Henson.

<i>Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure</i> 1984 TV film directed by John Korty

The Ewok Adventure is a 1984 American television film based in the Star Wars universe. It takes place on the moon of Endor, and features the Ewoks, who help two young human siblings as they try to locate their parents. The film premiered on November 25, 1984 on ABC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Jim Henson Company</span> American entertainment company

The Jim Henson Company, formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc., is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is known for its innovations in the field of puppetry, particularly through the creation of Kermit the Frog and the Muppets characters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adult puppeteering</span>

Adult puppeteering is the use of puppets in contexts aimed at adult audiences. Serious theatrical pieces can use puppets, either for aesthetic reasons, or to achieve special effects that would otherwise be impossible with human actors. In parts of the world where puppet shows have traditionally been children's entertainment, many find the notion of puppets in decidedly adult situations—for example, involving drugs, sex, profanity, or violence—to be humorous, because of the bizarre contrast it creates between subject matter and characters.

Ronnie Le Drew is a Canadian-born British puppeteer who was born in Toronto, Canada. He is best known for playing "Zippy" from the ITV children's show Rainbow since the early 1970s and trained at the Little Angel Theatre, London under John Wright. His association with the Little Angel spans over thirty years as performer, and later as director.

Rollie Krewson is a puppet designer and builder known for her work on various Muppet productions. She interned with Jim Henson's company in the mid-1970s. Although she now works primarily as a designer/builder, she began as a performer, doing small bits on The Muppet Show and other projects.

<i>The Adventures of Prince Achmed</i> 1926 animated film by Lotte Reiniger

The Adventures of Prince Achmed is a 1926 German animated fairytale film by Lotte Reiniger. It is the oldest surviving animated feature film. The Adventures of Prince Achmed features a silhouette animation technique Reiniger had invented that involved manipulated cutouts made from cardboard and thin sheets of lead under a camera. The technique she used for the camera is similar to Wayang shadow puppets, though hers were animated frame by frame, not manipulated in live action. The original prints featured color tinting. Reiniger also used the first form of a multiplane camera in making the film, one of the most important devices in pre digital animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Howe</span> American childrens writer

James Howe is an American children's writer who has written more than 79 juvenile and young adult fiction books. He is best known for the Bunnicula series about a vampire rabbit that sucks the juice out of vegetables.

Nigel Plaskitt is an English actor, puppeteer, producer, and stage and television director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Henson's Creature Shop</span> British-American animation and special effects company

Jim Henson's Creature Shop is a British-American animation and special effects company founded in 1979 by puppeteer Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets. The company is based in Hollywood, California, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Barclay (puppeteer)</span> British puppeteer

David Alan Barclay is a British puppeteer who had worked on some projects of The Jim Henson Company. He has been at the cutting edge of animatronic puppetry since 1979. Barclay, who hails from London, is a Master Puppeteer, Animatronic Designer and Supervisor, a CG key frame Animator, and Director and Producer of animatronic and animation projects for film and television.

David E. Stone is an American sound editor. He won an Academy Award for the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Best Sound Editing during the 65th Academy Awards, he shared his Oscar with Tom C. McCarthy.

Puppet film develops on the basis of traditional puppetry. It is in the form of a film that the main characters are puppets. Puppets' limbs are controlled by people and their mouths usually does not move frequently. The height of a puppet is approximately 20 centimeters and the background is a model which fits the size of the puppet. The film is shot by grid-by-frame photography. Puppet film starts around 1900s. Between 1930s and 1980s, most genres of puppet films are comedy and animation. There are some famous magnum opus such as Thunderbirds series and The Dark Crystal. After 1980s, many horror puppet films appeared such as Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich. Compared to other films, puppet film focuses more on characters' movements and the main audiences are children and teenagers. More and more reality elements are added into puppet film in recent years.