Thingumajig's Cheeky Pair

It was with great surprise that I found an example of a large, 'ride on' type Dodo puppet in existence already - this pair of purple birds were created by Andrew Kim of Thingumajig Theatre. They represent a more fantasy-orientated style that I was initially considering, with a Morris costume-style covering of fabric rags in a fantastical purple. Whilst this gives the birds a lovely movement, it makes them a step further away from realism than I'm hoping for. The birds are very well articulated through the necks with a mechanism I can't quite put my finger on, and with no clear work in progress or internal workings photos it will remain a mystery, even after hours of digging around on the internet!



These are the only photos I can find of the bird not in action. Whilst the first photo has very little to offer in the way of mechanical clues, the second suggests that the heads are mounted on a simple pole, with a pivot point at the top of the head. This gives surprisingly eloquent movement to the puppets, and makes them look convincingly lively, even if their head movement is only side to side and rocking up and down - the whole bird must move up and down by the movement of the wearer's body, suggesting the pole is attached rigidly at an angle to the wearer. The actors have what looks to be a camera strap in each hand controlling the swing of the head. This free-moving hinge does give a convincing amount of movement to each puppet, which is reassuring backup in the event of my project's neck not going to plan - any movement I can get will be great if just having a free-swinging head on a rigid neck looks so good.

I find the paint job on this birds a little bit convoluted and lacking reason - do the birds have facial tattoos? Have they had their faces painted? The swirly black decorations feel a bit like an afterthought in the design process; whilst the yellow and purple clash pleasantly as opposites on the colour wheel, the pale peach-brown of the birds heads feels a little washed out, especially against the bold yellow of their feet; if the dodo's face is fleshy, it would be logical for it to be a very similar colour to the flesh of the feet. Most of Kim's faces seem to be a sturdy paper-maché over a clay sculpt, which seems to work well but isn't a method I would use when the vacuum former is available as a much quicker, stronger and more waterproof alternative.

From what I can gather, the actors control the heads with camera straps because the ends of each strap are attached to the head either side of the pivot point. This allows the puppeteer to make the head nod or dip with a good amount of control, as well as giving a good amount of control over the left-right swing. This ingenuity is nothing less than I'd expect from Thingumajig Theatre, as an established and well-known company. I do feel, however, that the straps for controlling the heads could have been made into a design feature; like other parts of the puppet's design, they seem a bit arbitrary - when the puppeteer's hands are raised high enough that they are clearly and visibly controlling the head, why not make it seem like the dodo is wearing some form of riding equipment that requires straps? Why do the riders have long tail coats covering the rear of the bird, but no legs? The puppeteer seems to sit somewhat embedded into the dodo's body instead of riding it, breaking the illusion that the dodo and rider are two separate entities; whilst the viewer is of course primarily concerned with the overall impression of the puppet and fixates on the face, the eyes will undoubtedly drift to the other details of the puppet in time, and it is here that the design slips up.