pulling some strings

Emily of Wheels on the Bus sent out an unusual plea, having recently gone to see Puppetolio, an LA-area puppet theater that is closing its doors this weekend unless they manage to…um…pull a few strings:

If you know anyone who lives in L.A., anyone in the media, anyone who loves puppets, anyone who reads blogs, anyone who cares about the arts, then you know someone who will find this of interest and might be able to help.

I’m not around L.A., but I do care about the arts, and children’s entertainment, and I hate to see such a time-honored tradition dying out. So, if you can, go see what Emily has to say. And if you can, pull a few strings to help out the puppeteer in his plight.

But first, I’m putting on ashow of my own with this ThThTh¹ list o’ puppets.

• Punch and Judy: traditional English puppet theatre, typically performed in a booth-type stage.
• Pinocchio: a famous wooden puppet of fiction and film who comes to life.



• Muppets: a range of mostly cloth and plush puppets, originally created by Jim Henson.
• puppet: an expression for a person or entity whose actions are covertly dictated by some other person or entity. Political figures are sometimes disparagingly called puppets.



• The Godfather: The poster for the 1972 movie shows a hand holding the string controls for a marionette, alluding to the “puppet master” status of a mafia boss
• “The Lonely Goatherd”: A scene from The Sound of Music (1965) in which an elaborate puppet show is performed
• “Puppet Man”: A song performed (separately http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=12771 ) in the early 1970s by The 5th Dimension Tom Jones. Here’s the Tom Jones version:
  

  Baby, Baby, I’m your sweet pet
  I’m just your personal marionette
  Wind me up and let me go
  Don’t you know I’m a one man show?
  Raise your finger and I’ll perform
  I’ll crack a jack till’ the crack a dawn
  If you wanna see me do my thing, baby pull my string

• “Puppets”: a song by Depeche Mode from their first album, Speak and Spell. (YouTube vid)
  

  And I don’t think you understand
  What I’m trying to say
  I’ll be your operator baby
  I’m in control

• The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre: What can I say? They are sock puppets. Who sing in falsetto voices. With Scottish accents. Watch their latest video, “Back in E.D.I.N. BRAW“:
  
• Lamb Chop: a sheep sock puppet operated by comedian Shari Lewis.
• Bob from the TV show Soap.
  A ventriloquist’s dummy operated by Chuck, but a character in his own right. (Watch a scene with Bob here)
• Mr. Hat: Mr. Garrison’s puppet from the show South Park
• “The Puppet Show“: an episode from Buffy the Vampire Slayer involving a ventriloquist’s dummy.
• Puppetmaster (1989) A horror movie with puppets that come to life.
• Being John Malkovich (1999) John Cusack plays a puppeteer, and puppeteering features prominently in the plot. The movie also boasts a gigantic Emily Dickinson marionette.

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¹ It’s been a while since I put up my last Themed Things Thursday² post. (Has it really not been since April? Craziness. I’ve drafted probably a good dozen or so lists, but haven’t quite gotten any together and ready to post.)

² Yes, I know it’s Friday. Don’t quibble with me. I’m tired.

Image sources: Godfather poster, Punch puppet, Pinnochio from Ginn and Company The Common School Catalogue (Boston: Ginn & Company Publishers, 1906) 40 via etc and puppet show from Harper’s New Monthly Magazine (New York: Harper and Brothers Publshers, 1871) XLII:831 via etc.