CHRISTMAS GIFT IDEAS

Marionettes are a great gift. The hand-carved ones can be pricey, though. The one above costs $1100!!!!  It's worth it if you have the money, but if you don't there's no shortage of worthy mass produced ones...or you can make one yourself out of cardboard.

 How about a John K t-shirt!?

How 'bout a John K doll?

...or a Calder-type mobile? The knock-offs aren't always designed well, but now and then a decent one pops up. If you can't find one worth buying you can make your own. There's some good YouTube instruction on the subject.

Calder also did a lot of wire sculptures (above). I made some myself using my own designs and they turned out great! I had them (sans wooden stand) in the window for years. All you need is wire, needle-nose pliers, and something to bend the wire around like a board with a nail in it.

Framed fine art prints make a good gift. Use glass or vinyl in the frame only if the picture is light-colored.

I like Mexican dioramas. I have a little one similar to this (above) on my bulletin board.

How about a framed picture of Doberman's Sister (above)?

It'll look good next to your friend's picture of Percy Dovetonsils.

Or his picture of Ben Turpin.

Or Reggie Van Gleason.

Last but not least, how about an Edith Piaff CD? Everybody likes Edith Piaf!

PINNOCHIO'S DARING JOURNEY

I had more to say about Disneyland than I could fit into Monday's post, so I'll write about that today.  What struck me on the last visit was the architecture of the Pinocchio ride, "Pinocchio's Daring Journey." I was amazed to see how many iconic details were packed into it. Everywhere there were turrets and towers, carved and painted pillars, flower boxes on balconies, colorful pennants of all types...well, it would be a long list. Suffice it to say that Central European motiffs were well represented there.



Inside (above) the architectural compression was even more extreme. Parts of faux buildings overlap and interfere with each other as if an earthquake had pushed them together. I found myself wondering if real-world business buildings could be made like that, I mean with tumbling block shapes. Would they be disorienting for the real-world people inside? Could they be made cheaply? I don't know.

I love this picture! The whole foreground and middle ground is a sort of art-directed tunnel in which cars on rails ratchet up to the front under a canopy of colorful shapes. It's all carefully lit like a Hollywood set with natural sunlight providing a counterpoint. The focal point, what everything points to, is a mysterious dark cave where we glimpse a warm-colored...something.



The car we're sitting in takes us into the cave and up to the something, which turns out to be dancing puppets (above). I love that double proscenium arch with the carving in the middle. I don't think that design was used in the movie, though.

 
The proscenium in the film (above) was simpler.



The ride fills the viewer with enthusiasm for puppets. You'd think the ride would let out into a store where you could buy puppets, but it doesn't...a missed opportunity in my opinion. Fantasyland desperately needs a good toy store where puppets of all kinds can be had. Most of the Pinocchio toys sold at Disneyland are plush dolls, which are inappropriate.



They should sell posters, too, like the one above.



The Pinocchio ride ends with a ride through Gheppetto's workshop where unique wooden toys are on display. Toys like that should be on sale.



One more picture (above) and I'm out of here....whaddaya think of these pennants? I'm considering making something like this for my workroom at home.

VENTRLOQUIST DUMMIES

I don't know why, but grotesque, even evil, puppet designs have been a staple of childrens media ever since Punch and Judy.

When I was a little kid I used to watch the Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney show (above) and at least once I got a terrible nightmare from thinking about the creepy way Jerry used to roll his eyes to the side.

A digression: Mike has a film showing Paul Winchell with a puppet version of himself. The body is one of the best I've ever seen on a ventriloquist's dummy.

Back on topic: one of the scariest kids show puppets of all time might have been Foodini from a kids show called (I'm guessing) "Pinhead and Foodini."

I've never seen the show...maybe it didn't play in my town. Was this character (above) a regular? He looks like a burn victim in the throws of great pain...something out of Dante's Inferno.

Above, another evil Foodini character.

Even the compositions in that show sometimes came off as evil...or am I imagining that?

Stories like the ones told by The Brothers Grimm are full of creepy ideas and yet my strong intuition is that these tales are good for kids. So where do you draw the line? I wish I knew.

STROMBOLI'S PUPPET THEATER

Disneyland is sitting on top of a gold mine, and they don't seem to realize it. That's it above: Stromboli's theater from "Pinochio," pictured here in a concept painting by Tenggren.

What a beautiful building! It has the feel of a wooden circus tent. It's architecture that's meant for fun.

Here's (above) the original Albert Hurter drawing that Tenggren referenced. The perspective's off, and the rear of the building lacks detail, but it's still a powerful statement. Tenngren improved it by moving the Russian-style tower closer to the front and bringing the banner poles closer in.

Hmmm...well, maybe the tower is okay where it is.

I'm always amazed to see how cloth artifacts can improve the look of a building. Awnings, banners, draperies...all serve to take the hard edge off structural geometry.

The Hurter/Tenggren building was never used in the film. The design didn't go to waste though, it's one of the main attractions in Fantasyland.

I love this facade, though it seems underused in its role as the front door to a crystal glass store. It would work better as the come-on of a functional marionette theater, with a barker and teaser puppet show on the balcony. With poles and banners restored, with some real wood, it would make a great stand-alone structure as Hurter and Tenngren imagined it, especially if it was kept small and intimate, as in the original artwork.

If Disneyland hosted a real marionette theater, imagine how many puppets they'd sell in the gift shop!

 Maybe the show would be hosted by a Stromboli look-alike. I nominate puppet enthusiast Steve Worth. For the puppeteers...maybe the Flexitoons people.

The plot for the show? Just like the film: a bewildered Pinochio interacts with manic puppets.

                                                                  C'mon Disney!

WIGS, HANDS AND PUPPETS

I thought I'd put up a couple of the wigs and hands (above) that I scored at Halloween time. This rubber giant's hand is a thing of beauty. The photo doesn't do it justice.

Expect a story about a giant soon. I've gotta give this baby a test run!

And here's (above) the new Moe wig! What do you think?

It's (above) really versatile. Tilt it forward a bit and you get the emo look.

No, wait a minute. Emos (above) comb their hair over to one side! Here I'm a bright and happy side-combed emo.

Here (above) I'm a sad, dimwitted one.

Roll the wig back a bit, and you get Spock from Star Trek!

SPOCK: "Klingons on the starboard bow, Captain!"

Roll the wig forward and I'm Bones, the Enterprise's tempramental doctor:

BONES: "I'm a DOCTOR Jim, and I'm not going to have my sickbay turned into an amusement park!"

Spock again (above):

SPOCK: "It's LIFE Jim, but not as we know it!"

Let me turn on the color (above), so you can see what my new Esmeralda puppet looks like in blue.



I know what you're thinking: "Where's her arms?"

Here's one (above)!

And here's another (above). She appears to be shocked at something.

Boy, I love Halloween!