Yankee Panky, Miz Roo, Wally Roo Hand Puppets
52.YANKEE PANKY HAND PUPPET
Yankee Panky, the All-American bear, is made of cardboard,
felt and an old overcoat. His body is cut from a woman's overcoat made of dark blue wool
material with a thick nap. One great advantage of animal puppets is that they do not need
to have hands. The fingers of the operator come right to the snub end of the paw and
enable him to have sure and direct control over any props handled. Yankee's paws are of
white felt, as is his nose. His ears are lined with white felt, his mouth with pink, and
his tongue is a double thickness of red felt. His eyes are made of cardboard discs and
clear discs of celluloid from a toothpaste box, glued together with a chip of black
plastic sliding around inside. His mouth is moved by the puppeteer's finger, crooked
inside the head and extending into the nose.
Making Cloth Animal Heads
To
articulate the mouth of a cloth head, first build the skeleton construction, A, of
cardboard, gluing or securing it together with strong masking tape. The operator's bent
finger fits into the loop, B, raising and lowering the upper jaw against the little
platform of the lower jaw, C, which rests against the folded second and third fingers. The
head is then cut and sewed to fit around this construction, with the necessary cotton
padding added up inside the head to give it form. Cloth is especially good for the heads
of animals and fantasy characters, not so good for puppets meant to represent realistic
people.
53.MIZ ROO HAND PUPPET
Mama Kangaroo is constructed just as the bear was, but of brown
cloth, with bent paws and a button up pouch for:
54.WALLY ROO HAND PUPPET
Her
son, who is a miniature version of his mother, is as small as the operator's hand will
allow.