2022 is in full swing, and if your New Year’s resolution was to have more puppets in your life, you’re in luck. Let’s explore a few of the new and exciting happenings in the world of puppetry this year!
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock (Apple TV+)
Get ready to dance your cares away – Fraggle Rock is back! In this colorful reboot of the original series which began in 1983, all your favorite characters (including the trash heap!) return - this time in high definition! Though it’s been a while since last visiting, everything is exactly how you remember it – well, almost everything. There’s a new Doc, new creatures pop up, and Mokey changed her hair style (sigh), yet everything comes together to successfully capture that magical feeling of the original.
Returning to the series are a few original cast members, which adds an extra layer of specialness. Notably, Karen Prell is back, bringing Red Fraggle to life. Red was among the show’s most iconic, memorable, and energetic characters, and from the moment she appears on screen, it’s the same Red we’ve always known and loved. Additionally, Dave Goelz returns as the voice of Boober and Uncle Traveling Matt, who continues to explore the world beyond Fraggle Rock and send postcards about his misadventures.
Each episode contains new songs as well as updated versions of classic Fraggle tunes from the original series. There are also a few guest voices that pop up including Ed Helms as Lyle Craggle and Patti LaBelle as the Queen of the Merggles. What’s a Merggle or a Craggle, you ask? You’ll just have to watch to find out; your child self will thank you.
Behind the Scenes:
Being a puppet series is what makes Fraggle Rock special, but have you ever wondered how it all comes together? Each and every puppet that appears on screen, if only for a moment or just in the background, has to be entirely created in real life. Check out the video below, where a Fraggle is being prepped for performance.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian Season Three & Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+)
Star Wars is a galaxy (far, far away) that practical effects call home. Though there are plenty of computer generated elements, the alien puppet characters are a big part of what continues to make the Star Wars universe so magical. The Mandalorian, which began on Disney+ in November of 2019, was the first live-action Star Wars series and introduced us to one of the world’s most beloved puppet characters – Baby Yoda (or Grogu, if you’re trying to be polite). Throughout the first two seasons, we’ve seen the heroic Mando and super-cute baby puppet travel the galaxy on a series of adventures leading to the epic season two finale that has fans scratching their heads as to what will happen next. Will our heroes discover why the empire wants a baby alien so badly? Will force ghost Yoda appear to teach Grogu the ways of the Jedi? Or will the Mandalorian feed Baby Yoda after midnight, causing him to mutate into a havoc-causing, nightmare-fueling chaos puppet? We’ll just have to wait and see.
If a new season of Mandalorian isn’t enough, it is also speculated that the much-anticipated Obi-Wan Kenobi series will be dropping this year. The series will be set 10 years after the events of Revenge of the Sith and will star Ewan McGregor, reprising the title role from the prequel trilogy. Here’s hoping Obi-Wan’s lost years bring us even more amazing encounters with the creatures who live in the sands of Tatooine.
Though no official release date for either series has been given just yet, both should be appearing on Disney+ in the latter half of 2022.
Behind the Scenes:
Practical effects and puppetry are part of Star Wars’ DNA. To bring Baby Yoda to life on screen, it takes a team of talented puppeteers, each controlling a specific part of his tiny body. Some work under the puppet to directly control his head, body, and arm movements, while others work remotely controlling the eyes, ears, and facial expressions. It is estimated that the puppet cost approximately five million dollars to create.
Battle of the Pinocchios (Netflix/Disney+)
This year will see the ultimate battle of the Pinocchios; the puppet showdown we didn’t know we needed. In one corner we have Guillermo del Toro with a dark musical take on the tale. He’s up against Disney’s Pinocchio, which is offering a live-action-mixed-with-CGI version of their 1940 animated classic.
The del Toro version will be released on Netflix and will star Gregory Mann as the titular puppet, David Bradley (aka Filch from Harry Potter) as Geppetto, and Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Sebastian J. Cricket. Based on the teaser, which features a peek at the cricket puppet, this film's approach of utilizing stop-motion animation already seems to pack in the same amazing attention to detail that Guillermo Del Toro is known for. It’s a story about a puppet - as told by puppets!
The Disney version, which will be released on Disney+, features Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Pinocchio, Tom Hanks as Geppetto, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket. In the spirit of the Disney live-action remake, the film will feature new music while keeping the songs we all know and love from the original film. As for Pinocchio, it seems as though the puppet will be brought to life via CGI. But why is this? After the universal success of practical Baby Yoda, it seems as though a real puppet that wants to be a real boy makes more sense.
Currently, both films will drop on their respective platforms at the end of 2022. Which Pinocchio do you think will be the clear victor, no strings attached?
Behind the Scenes:
Before Pinocchio was a film, it was a story series by Carlo Collodi, an Italian author and journalist. Originally, instead of getting his wish to become a real boy, Collodi wanted Pinocchio to have a more gruesome ending. But, thanks to a request from his editor, the author concluded the story with a happy ending and the rest is history.
Fraggles, Pinocchio, Baby Yoda – Oh my! 2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year for puppets of all shapes and sizes. What are you looking forward to this year? And what’s on your puppet wish list for 2023?
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Note From Tongal: This blog is part of a series of Tongal Community-written blog posts that were originally sourced in the Tongal Blog Open Call Project. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Tongal. Read more Tongal Community-written posts here!
