Contrary to what you might think, Kermit the Frog descends from an ancient artistic tradition.
Queen’s drama professor Natalie Rewa says puppetry brings inanimate objects to life as a means of storytelling.
In Canada, there’s a strong tradition of puppetry in rituals and theatrical performances.
“The First Nations had different kinds of puppets and performing objects,” Rewa said. “The idea of animating something that might look like a human or animal has been around forever.”
The use of puppets as a storytelling technique can be traced back to ancient societies. Marionette puppets, controlled from above using wires or strings, were even found in Egyptian tombs, and both Plato and Aristotle’s work reference the use of puppets.
In the modern world, the Muppets are perhaps the most famous example of puppets, with the ubiquitous Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy appearing in film and television programs.
This week saw a Hollywood revival of Kermit and friends with the release of the film The Muppets, starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams.
However, according to Rewa, the Muppets have garnered debate among puppeteers.
“Many puppeteers think the Muppets are the demise of real puppetry,” Rewa said. “They simplify everything. Part of puppetry was the artist making the puppet and the tricks that the puppeteer could do with the puppet.”
The Muppets were created by American puppeteer Jim Henson in 1954. The name for his unique characters is thought to come from a combination of the words “marionette” and “puppet.” “With the Muppets it became fuzzy, small and not too complicated in manipulation,” Rewa said.
The Muppets are a variation of conventional rod puppets, controlled with wooden or wire rods.
While the Muppets are presented as independent of the puppeteer, this isn’t the case with all puppetry. Whether or not the puppeteer chooses to remain hidden is a personal choice among performers.
Despite controversy in the puppetry community, Rewa said the Muppets brought the public’s attention to the art of puppetry.
“What Jim Henson did was bring it back into the limelight. People realized you could have puppets that engendered emotion,” she said. “We began to love them.” The Muppets included prominent puppets such as Bert and Ernie from the children’s television program, Sesame Street. They have characteristics typical of Henson’s puppets, including protruding eyes and wide mouths.
One beneficial outcome of the Muppet’s for prospective puppeteers was economic , Rewa said.
“Puppeteers were employed. There wasn’t much of a call for puppeteers on a large scale before this … [The Muppets] were an important phenomenon economically.”
However, puppets don’t just cater to an audience of children.
Ronnie Burkett is a Canadian puppeteer whose work appeals to an adult audience. Of all working puppeteers, Rewa cites Burkett as her favourite.
She said Burkett’s known for politically-charged puppet shows, with shows including Tinka’s New Dress which chronicles the struggles of artists in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.
Like many puppeteers, Burkett’s talents are multifaceted, Rewa said. He writes, designs and performs his puppet shows — which can take years to build.
“[It] depends on the show … there is the development of the script, and creation of the figures who will be used to perform, also there is work with a composer to develop music for the production,” Rewa said.
Burkett uses marionettes which present additional physical challenges to the puppeteer, Rewa said.
“You’re dealing with gravity — you have to go against gravity with the puppet that you’re pulling up. You have to have a strong back,” she said.
Marionettes are a common form of puppetry in Western societies, but styles of puppetry vary depending on the cultural context.
For example, Bunraku, or Japanese puppet theatre, requires three puppeteers for the operation of one puppet while Vietnamese water puppetry features puppeteers who are semi-submerged in a waist-deep pool.
Shadow puppetry, found places like Indonesia, India and China, requires that a puppet is manipulated from behind a screen to create a silhouette.
While some people consider a ventriloquist to be a type of puppeteer, Rewa said, ventriloquism is a distinct art in itself.
Ventriloquism involves a unique kind of voice manipulation.
“Ventroloquist dummies are a form of puppetry but we have not explored it in class … one year there was a student who worked on this form and found it to be very complex,” she said.
Ultimately, Rewa said any type of puppetry has effects on both the audience and puppeteer.
“The puppeteer builds emotional bond with puppet, and the audience bonds with the puppet in emotional way.”
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