It would be quite unreal to state that in the following lines I will clear all your doubts regarding puppets.  These are personal comments and book excerpts that cover the matter and which I find very interesting.

Let’s start from the beginning, if we can find a beginning:

In my opinion, the origin of puppets is quite controversial.  We will find many theories in which several countries claim the birth of animated puppets.  I think that in a way, each one of them is right.  With the historical studies of today, we can conclude that each one of them has developed a puppet that can be related with a particular continent or country.  Despite the many hypotheses, we can mention China, Egypt, Greece and India as the origin of our beloved puppets.  We can find in these countries, wonderful examples of ancient puppets.  For example, in China during the III Century B.C., there were transparent shadow or bright coloured carved puppets, specially created for imperial storytelling.  Within the multiple legends from India, we find, written in Sanskrit, a legend that tells the origin of puppets:

“[The legend tells that] Parvatti, the Goddess, created a witty doll that she never showed to her Prince Consort, Shiva the God.  Fearful of the malignant potency that the doll might possess, she decided to hide it in the mountains. Still, Shiva’s curiosity led him to find the hiding spot and he became so overwhelmed from the beauty and grace of the doll, that he granted life to it and he sent it to the world of men.” (Zamora, Gustavo. El teatro como recurso didáctico.)

In Greece, people used clay figures called “neuropath”, which means "pulled by strings", in their Dionysian rituals.

Romans called their puppets simulacra; these were puppets handled with a bar, the technique was similar to the one used with Italian puppets. It was then when the popular hero Maccus was born, he was a comical character, to whom all the Western Europe buffoons claim as his father.

The East offers refined Javanese puppets (from the neck down they are made out of wood and they have a finely carved movable head).

In Turkey, we find Karageuz, a shadow puppet, which was subsequently assimilated as a puppet or marionette.

In Japan, we have the millenary theatre of Bunraku, whose influence is present here in the West.  The manipulation is open and handled by puppeteers dressed in black.  Some of the Japanese puppets can be natural sized (as tall as a human being).

We have to mention the historical puppet characters who have been created worldwide, specially in Europe.  For example:

Some of these characters have the same personality qualities and are adapted, with a different name, to each country.

As far as manipulation goes, and according to what I have learned so far, manipulation is divided in three great groups:

Puppet Theatre is a complete art, since in order to create a show we need several art disciplines, such as:  music, theatre, writing, painting, etc.

To begin with, we need a castelet (puppet theatre); there are several forms and complex shapes, which go to the most simple to the most complicated and complex, depending on the budget and the place.

As far as puppet storytelling, it is good to ask oneself, before beginning, what kind of story we want to tell and what type of audience we are going to have.

Regarding the creation of our character, once we have the story ready, we must know if the character is good or bad, serious or funny, fearful or brave, etc.

We could talk about this issue forever, however, it is not the case.  I am open to every comment or correction, since I know that no one has the last word on the passionate and ancient topic of puppets.

I do not want to finish without thanking all of the people who have investigated and written about puppets and their company, and for letting us know a little bit more about them, their lives and their calling.

Tomás Villavicencio Robles

Dubuc, Suzanne et Major, Henriette. Marionnettes sans fil, marionnettes faciles.
Saint-Lambert : Les Éditions Héritage Inc., 1991. 32 p.

Fournel, Paul (direction). Les Marionnettes.
Paris : Borduas, 1982. 159 p.

Fréchette, Michel. Initiation à la marionnette (ETH3000)
Cours donné à l'Université du Québec à Montréal

Gründ, Françoise et Simon, Rainald. Marionnettes et ombres d’Asie.
Paris : Le Louvre des Antiquaires, 1985. 72 p.

Marescot, Claudie. Marionnettes & Compagnies.
Paris : Éditions Le Temps Apprivoisé, 1995. 192 p.

Simmen, René. Le monde des marionnettes.
Zurich : Éditions Silva, 1972. 119 p.

Zamora, Gustavo. El teatro como recurso didáctico.
México : Editorial Esfinge, 1993. 94 p.