I see a lot of animators that have a lot of heart and desire and they work really hard to make an animation but their  puppet  just will not do what they want it to do. So, I created a puppet that is made to the same standard as all of my puppets in my films and am giving it away to the winner of this month's challenge. The topic this month will be:

puppet struggles

The challenge/contest will end midnight May 30 Hawaii time. I want to see animators that really have a desire to animate but could really use a better puppet. I will award the prize to animator that I deem would get the most out of a new puppet. This challenge is open to all levels and all styles of puppets. I will not be judging backgrounds or sets, just the desire and potential of the animator.

I will post photos of the puppet soon, I am almost finished with it. But I can say it is about 8" to top of its head, it has a wire armature, with threaded aluminum blocks for tiedowns in the feet, it has cushion foam buildup and a brush on latex skin. The head is a hard head made of green stuff. And the puppet would look good in any of my films if that tells you the style of it. Photos will posted soon, I will let you know.

Post all entries and questions or comments under this thread. Or you can email me directly.

the photos of the puppet and all the construction photos can be found here:

http://castlegardener.wordpress.com/2009/04/16/puppet-prize/

Good luck

That's a very cool puppet prize Castle - I am sure it would be a ton of fun for the winner to animate!

Thats a great puppet, one of your best, actually. And thanks for the excellent background on making it! Very generous to give it away...

yeah, a  special thank you for the excellent "tutorial" ! I really think I'm gonna give that paint-on latex approach a try, looks awsome.

ok, so where do i post my animation?

post your animation on youtube or vimeo or anywhere else you wish. Just leave a link to it in this forum topic.

(^ ok. since I just got back from Disneyland  and was studying all the animatronics,  and wrapping back to something i discussed close to a ear ago, maybe I'll experiment with shooting a moquette retrofit with moving parts.

(^ like serious puppet troubles.  refusing to start over.. continuously retreading old ideas until a new one shows up.

My puppets are horrible therefore I have so many flaws, and its impossible to make them work properly without any bolts other than just wire...eventually they are not too strong anymore..the more I use them the weaker they become,,its quite tedious..

Well, even if I do not win let me tell you I am more than honored to compete. I always admired you as a puppetmaker and your stopmotions are wonderful.

Quick Question:aybe I can mix the walk cycle 1, 2, and 3, and make the best out them altogether, would that be allow? I am planning to make a fifth, and I'd like to also get the best of that one with the others, if possible.

you can animate anything you wish for the challenge....