Before computer animation, before animation itself, there were puppets. Dating back to 1100 B.C. in India, puppets were used to reenact sacred stories for entertainment.
Today we reminisce about “Howdy Doody” of the 1950s, and the Muppets of the 1960s which pioneered the way in children’s television entertainment in the United States. But who were the artists pulling the strings?
Buffalo Bob Smith, born Robert Emil Schmidt, created Howdy Doody in 1947. Howdy himself was a red-headed, freckle-faced, gap-toothed boy marionette which took eleven strings to operate. Joined by puppeteers Scott Brinker, Rufus Rose, and Velma Dawson, Smith and Howdy entertained kids through 1960 in both black and white, and color television.
Upon entering the University of Connecticut’s coveted puppet lab you are first met by a mural of a clown holding an umbrella riding a bicycle across a tight rope,. This mural was on the wall between Smith’s home and his studio, which in 1958 caught fire. The studio was lost, and the mural was the only thing standing between his home and the flames. The flame retardant material saved Smith’s home. Now the mural hangs encased in glass, with a very charred background, to inspire puppetry students “to be innovative and creative but above all have fun” said Michael Bush, a puppetry graduate student.
In the sixties Jim Henson cut the strings, and began creating his Muppets out of flexible fabric covered foam rubber allowing mouth movements and facial expressions that were never possible with marionettes. Henson created The Muppets, Fraggle Rock, The Muppet Show, and the puppets of Sesame Street, playing Kermit the Frog, Bert (of Bert and Ernie), and several other characters himself.
Henson also created several movies such as The Muppet Movie, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, and collaborated with George Lucas to create Jedi Master Yoda for Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back. He was nominated for and won several Oscars and Emmys, along with the Courage of Conscience Award in 1992 for being a “humanitarian, muppeteer, producer, and director of films for children that encourage tolerance, interracial values, equality and fair play” according to the recipients list.Both Smith and Henson are recognized as innovators in puppetry because they loved what they did, believed in entertaining, and never let anyone else pull the strings.
"Buffalo Bob Smith, born Robert Emil Schmidt, created Howdy Doody in 1947. Howdy himself was a red-headed, freckle-faced, gap-toothed boy marionette which took eleven strings to operate. Joined by puppeteers Scott Brinker, Rufus Rose, and Velma Dawson . . ."
ReplyDeleteBuffalo Bob Smith was the voice of Howdy Doody but he had nothing to do with creating the puppet. The first Howdy Doody (ELMER) was a blond haired long nosed cowboy puppet made by Frank Paris. When a licensing issue arose Paris took his puppet and hit the street. Velma Dawson made the first Howdy that we all know and love and Rhonda Mann was his puppeteer. Scott Brinker was never a puppeteer but a woodcarver also made a Howdy later but his clam to fame is recreating the other puppets that Frank Paris took when he walked off the show. Rufus Rose was merely the final puppeteer of the original Howdy Doody Show though he and his wife were the caretakers of Howdy for a time.
Mean John Dean
http://meanjohndean.blogspot.com/