An array of puppeteers,
crew members and techni-
cians were gathering to film
some pickup scenes for one
of the second season’s key
episodes: the Season 31 pre-
miere of “Mr. Pickles’ Pup-
pet Time.”
The installment, which
aired Feb. 24, deals with sad-
ness and healing, which par-
allels Pickles’ emotional
roller-coaster as he finalizes
his divorce to his wife, Jill
(Judy Greer). On this edi-
tion of “Puppet Time,” the
residents of Pickle Barrel
Falls are realizing they have
to leave their peaceful home
behind because the falls are
falling apart.
The conceit of “Puppet
Time” is that the puppets
“take on a life on their own,
like a dream,” Carrey said by
phone. “Everything in the
dream is you and the people
in your life. They are parallel
entities.”
Executive producer
Michel Gondry, the vision-
ary director of the Carrey/
Kate Winslet vehicle “Eter-
nal Sunshine of the Spotless
Mind,” directed the episode,
huddling with creator and
showrunner Dave Holstein
as a few puppeteers re-
hearsed on sets featuring
the trees and brightly col-
ored buildings of Pickle Bar-
rel Falls. Other puppeteers
got into character with their
smaller performing part-
ners.
“This is our opportunity
to personify parts of Jeff ’s
psyche,” said Dan Garza,
holding up the sad-eyed En-
nui, who wears a beret and
speaks in a heavy French ac-
cent.
Added Gwen Hollander,
who plays Astron-otter: “It’s
so cool to suspend disbelief.
These puppets take up a life
of their own.”
About 16 puppets make
up the cast of “Puppet
Time.” Among them are
puppets named Oops,Soap
Scum and the heart-shaped
Thump Thump.
But while the children’s
show has an air of childlike
lightness, the puppet per-
formers made clear they
were not joking around in
their work.
“When we perform, it’s
very real,” said Garza, a vet-
eran puppeteer who has
worked on PBS’ “Splash &
Bubbles” and the film “The
Happytime Murders” withBrian Henson, the son of leg-
endary puppeteer Jim
Henson. “It’s not a puppet
show. We’re emoting very
true performances. If we fail
to do so, we’re never going to
connect with our viewers.
Then it’s just an act.”
That doesn’t preclude
the puppeteers and their
charges from having fun
though: During the course of
the morning, Garza and En-
nui joked around with their
colleagues. “I’m very much a
method actor,” Garza said.
“I turn Ennui on and off dur-
ing the day. It’s like a switchfor me.”
He added that he brings
his philosophy as a per-
former to his real life. “I am
happy all the time. I don’t let
people bring me down. Are
you going to let someone else
have power over you? Are
you going to be their pup-
pet?”
He was particularly ex-
cited about getting to sing
with Ariana Grande, who
guests in the episode as Pic-
colo Grande, the fairy of
hope. “That was truly awe-
some.”
Unlike Garza, Hollander,who comes from musical
theater, is relatively new to
puppeteering. Her only ex-
perience was in a theatrical
production of “Avenue Q.”
During a break, she
talked about her enjoyment
in playing Astron-otter, who
speaks in a high-pitched,
rapid voice.
“She has a bit of a rage
problem because no one can
understand what she’s say-
ing,” she said. “But Jeff Pick-
les can understand her.
She’s a bit calmer this sea-
son.” The petite Hollander
said it’s easy for her to getinto character. “I’m small,
but when I put on the suit,
I’m huge and have big feet.
That seems to do it.”
But playing Astron-otter
is no walk in the park.
“The costume is heavy,”
Hollander said. “There’s a
fan inside the head that is
resting on the shoulders. I
can’t hear in there. I have to
have headphones. The back
of my neck is the only place I
can hear if someone wants to
talk to me. “
Appearing on “Kidding”
has been a career highlight,
she said. “Dave Holstein is a
genius, and working with
Jim Carrey is insane. I feel
like I won this weird lottery
ticket when I’m in a scene
with him.”
Carrey said he was par-
ticularly delighted because
he had a major role in cre-
ating some of the puppets. “I
wanted to have a puppet
that let children know it’s
OK to make mistakes. So I
came up with this puppet
named Oops.”
Though some critics have
described “Kidding” as
bleak, Carrey said the show’s
mission is to heal and uplift
— just as the puppets do in 31
seasons of Mr. Pickles’ belov-
ed program.
“A lot of people talk about
the heaviness of the show,”
he said. “But I don’t think
you could deal with these el-
ements of life in a more
lovely, buoyant and creative
way.”“THESE PUPPETStake up a life of their own,” says Gwen Hollander, who plays Astron-otter in “Kidding.” Christian Anderson, in blue, plays Sy the Wide-Eyed Fly.
Photographs byCarolyn ColeLos Angeles Times‘Puppet Time’ behind the scenes
LATIMES.COM/CALENDAR E5
‘Kidding’
Where:Showtime
When:9:50 and 10:20 p.m.
Sunday
Rated:TV-MA (may be
unsuitable for children
under age 17)DAN GARZArehearses as Ennui Le Triste, a talky baguette in “Kidding’s” “Mr. Pickles’ Puppet Time.”[Puppets,from E1]
San Antonio, who have had
to consider canceling up-
coming events because of the
virus. He said officials were
particularly concerned
about those expected to at-
tend SXSW from West Coast
cities already affected by the
coronavirus, such as Seattle.
Adler said SXSW brings
more than 250,000 people to
the area annually and $350
million in revenue. “The
economic impact is big, and
it’s going to hurt. Fortu-
nately, Austin’s economy
doesn’t rise and fall on one
event.”
On the SXSW website, or-
ganizers said they were ex-
ploring options to resched-
ule the event as well as work-
ing on a virtual experience
for 2020 participants in
events like SXSW EDU,
which focuses on teaching
and learning. The situation
evolved rapidly, the organ-
izers said, with the city say-
ing Thursday that there was
“no evidence” that canceling
gatherings would make the
community safer. On Mon-
day, Hillary Clinton, Adam
Schiff and Beto O’Rourke
had been announced as par-
ticipants in a SXSW event ti-
tled “Conversations About
America’s Future.”
However, major SXSW
participants including the
Concord record label group,
Facebook, Twitter, TikTok,
Apple, Netflix and Amazon
had indicated before Fri-
day’s cancellation that they
would no longer be attend-
ing.
Last year, nearly 160,000
people attended the week-
long music festival.
On Friday, the Austin and
Travis County officials em-
phasized that their decisions
had been “data-driven and
health decision-driven.”
“Panic will weaken us,”
Travis County Judge Sarah
Eckhardt said at the newsconference. “This is not a
panic decision.”
This year’s South by
Southwest Film Festival was
scheduled to open with the
world premiere of Universal’s
“The King of Staten Island,”
a Judd Apatow film based
loosely on the life of its star,
Pete Davidson. Apatow has
premiered a number of proj-
ects at SXSW in the past as
both director and producer,
including “Trainwreck” and
“Bridesmaids,” and his
loose, sincere style has be-
come something of a stand-
ard-bearer for the festival.
Other high-profile films
that had been scheduled to
premiere at the festival this
year included Spike Jonze’s
“Beastie Boys Story” from
Apple, Michael Showalter’s
“The Lovebirds” from Pa-
ramount, David Lowery’s
“The Green Knight” from
A24 and RZA’s “Cut Throat
City” from Well Go.
Paramount had alreadyannounced that talent, in-
cluding stars Kumail Nan-
jiani and Issa Rae, would not
attend the “Lovebirds” pre-
miere, though the screening
itself had not been canceled
at that point.
SXSW’s film festival,
which last year drew 73,000
people over nine days, has
grown to become an impor-
tant stop on the spring cir-
cuit, providing a home for
both small-scale independ-
ent films and more commer-
cial, studio-backed produc-
tions.
Among the films to pre-
miere at the Austin event in
the last few years were “Us,”
“Booksmart,” “A Quiet
Place,” “Long Shot,” “Atomic
Blonde,” “The Disaster Art-
ist,” “Blockers,” “The Beach
Bum,” “Ready Player One”
and “The Peanut Butter Fal-
con.”
The interconnected
ecosystem of film festivals
around the globe could see apotential domino effect if one
festival after another is
forced to shut down, remov-
ing vital industry showcases
for new work.
“I think the dramatic
thing actually, and this is
speculation, is that I actually
think that this is an indica-
tion of what the entire spring
festival season is going to
look like,” said Eric Sloss,
head of sales at Cinetic Me-
dia. “And that to me is what
most dramatically affects
what the market will look like
and what the upcoming festi-
vals will look like.
“There’s a real risk, I think,
that Tribeca and Cannes
both get canceled, and that’s
already being talked about
by everybody,” Sloss added.
“So I think maybe this is a lit-
mus test, and I don’t actually
know what that’s going to
mean for how people are sell-
ing films in the next six
months.”
In addition to film, musicshowcases and comedy,
SXSW was set to feature a
handful of well-known fig-
ures this year, including Kim
Kardashian West, who was
planning to discuss an Oxy-
gen documentary centered
on her criminal justice work.
Closer to home, the annu-
al Coachella Valley Music
and Arts Festival scheduled
for April 10-12 and April 17-19
in Indio is proceeding as
scheduled.
Riverside County Super-
visor V. Manuel said at a
news briefing Friday that
“residents and travelers to
our region should know that
the situation is safe.” He
went on to acknowledge that
since “the Coachella Valley is
a resort destination for the
world, the situation could be
very fluid.”Times staff writers Mark
Olsen and Molly
Hennessy-Fiske
contributed to this report.South by Southwest organizers ‘devastated’
[SXSW, from E1]