P
uppetryisanancientartform.Inmostculturespuppetryhasbeenused
inabawdywayandforpoliticalstatement.There’satraditionofusing
puppetsforbeingalittlesubversive.InalotofEasternBlocnations,
puppetrycompanieswereoftendoingpoliticalshowsbecausenobodyelsecould
getawaywithitwithoutbeingshutdown.
Whenpeoplethinkofhighlyimaginativeartformstheythinkthey’refor
kids.Butjustasanimationdoesadultthings,youcandoitwithpuppets.The
Happytime Murdersisinthefilmnoirgenre.It’safunplacetostartfromifyou’re
goingtohaveadultcontentwithpuppets.Weworkedon15draftsoverseveral
years,tighteningthestory,sowe’renotrelyingonparody.
Peopleloveallthestuftheylovedwhentheywerekidsbuttheygrowoutof
itandarelookingforsomethingmorememorableandunique.Ifyougointothe
R-ratedarenaitallowsyoutocreateunforgettableandoriginalmoments.
IcomedicallydepictedamanejaculatingusingapuppetandSillyString.
Now,thatisfunnyonlybecauseIusedSillyString.Weallknowwhatitis–it’s
atoypeopleplaywithatchildren’sbirthdayparties.IfI’dusedanythingother
thanSillyStringitwouldn’thavebeenfunny–itwouldhavejustbeenascene
withapuppetejaculating.
Therewereafewchoiceslikethat.Theonly
reasononecharactershootsapornofilminhis
shopisbecausewecameupwiththeideaofa
puppetcowbeingmilkedbyanoctopus–thecow
isinorgasmicecstasy.Theideaofmilkingacow
is so innocent, turning that into pornography
is outrageous.
Puppetry,inessence,isaboutaudience
baggage,asopposedtotheactor’sbaggage.When
anactorappearsinfrontofthecamera,the
audiencemakeshundredsofassumptionsthe
moment they see them. They make assumptions
basedontheirskincolour,weight,hairstyle,the
kindofglassesthey’rewearing,thewaytheywalk,thewaythey’resitting.They
makealloftheseassumptionsaboutwhothatpersonisandwhattheyare
like, and the actor is forced to work within that box. If they push outside
that box too much, the audience is not going to believe the performance.
Thesamethingdoesn’thappenwithapuppet.Whenapuppetcomes
out,theaudienceiswideopentowhatthatpuppet’spersonalityis
goingtobe.Theaudiencefeelsthatwhentheyareengagedinthe
process of figuring out what kind of personality the puppet has
asit’sperforming,asopposedtoworkingofhundredsof
instantassumptions.That’sbecauseyoucanbreakthebox
oftheaudience’sexpectationofthecharacter.Youcan’tdo
thatwithactors.Youcan’thaveaprettylittlegirltalk
withaman’svoiceandhaveitbefunny.
A puppeteer’s first instinct is to try to give a puppet
thecharacterandvoicetheythinkitwouldhaveif
itwereaperson.Theytrytogetitascloseasthey
can – and then they do something really boring.
W hen puppeteers pick up a puppet and do some-
thingunexpectedit’smuchmoreentertaining.
The Happytime Murdersis in cinemas
from August 27
As told to Steven MacKenzie @stevenmackenzie
Don’t mention The Muppets
INTERVIEW
Defying threats of litigation from the makers of the show that gave us Big Bird, the latest
fi lm from Brian Henson is “No Sesame. All Street”. Here the son of puppetry legendJim explains why e Happytime Murders takes the art form back to its roots