Hey P&Sians,

So brainiac here decided to be adventurous and build a Lair themed big foot. I scored some awesome shag fur for a song (3mtrs for $50 woo hoo!) which is sexy as and exactly as I'd envision a yeti's fur to be. He is almost finished and I am really happy with him except for one key element... he's turned out over 6ft tall!  I have made knee joints so he can sit but to actually use him as a ventriloquist styled puppet I would need to stand on a ladder to operate him! So, any ideas on what sort of nifty gadgets I could knock up to enable myself (rather vertically challenged I'm afraid) to operate him whilst standing? His height - although not intended to be quite that tall - is what makes him and he loses some of his charisma sitting down.

Oh, and feel free to chastise me greatly for not planning my puppet properly. But as we've already established, I'm a little backward! 

Crazy Idea - but I wonder if you could attach two light-weight stepping stools to the back of his feet? Heck, if it worked you could maybe even walk around with him?

Though I would not attempt any running or such 

Well you could build yourself some short stilts. Something similar to the type used for drywall, but without any mechanism for increasing/decreasing their height. http://www.amazon.com/Drywall-Stilts-Painting-Stilt-Aluminum/dp/B001V9M9Y4

Or you could try to rig up the puppet to be performed via a rod mechanism that would reach up to the puppets head.

On a side note, could you hum a few bars of "3 Mtrs for $50 Woo Hoo!" I'm not sure I know that song...

This may be dumb but you could sit on a high stool and put your legs around him like he is giving you a piggy back ride.  Another trick we saw from another puppet team in Austin might help support him.  They took large coffee can and filled it with cement, or dried beans would work too, to weigh it down. If you use the beans put the plastic lid on top.  Cut pvc pipe a few inches taller than the can and insert it into the the middle of the top of the can.  Then put longer Pvc pipe that is slightly narrower down into the wider short pipe.  So the can acts as a base and the longer pole can support weight so you don't have too. Or why not make the support into a tree trunk he is leaning on. Sorry it was the best I could think of, hope you come up with something better.

I'm really annoyed, I had a suggestion but I can't for the life of me find the bookmark for some pics.

Anyway, you could do it like a lifesize puppet/costume, and work it from behind. Think "The Lion King" and Timon.
http://www.exploringthelionking.co.uk/
(Follow: masks and puppets --> bunraku)

The pics I was thinking of - if anyone can find them - is of a woman who built an ostrich or emu puppet, which she attached its feet to her feet, and the body to her waist, and the head to her hands. It could have been posted to Flickr, or here.

Thanks so much for your ideas. I might experiment with all of them and see which works best. I'm very keen on the rod mechanism idea but will need to search to see how one is made. I actually nabbed an easy reacher from work today that we loan to clients who have difficulty bending to pick things up from the floor. It's not quite right but the principle is there. I like the idea of a high stool though Snail. It would have a great performance element.

Na, I have seen the puppet you were referring too and in hindsight, I had the perfect opportunity to make that happen. Alas, I have already constructed the feet and legs and any alterations would ruin the design. I also used all the fur to make him so can't start over. That style of puppet is definitely on the cards though!

Thanks again 

Oh and Puppetainer, have you not heard that song? Seriously though, I was so excited to get the fur at that price I did wander around the house like a deranged person singing to myself

Ahhh... isn't there something missing here?  Where are the picutures of this fellow?!

Hopefully he can make his debut soon Shawn! Right now he is armless and missing facial features. Once I realised his height I had to stop and think about how I'd proceed. I will definitely share once finished though, I'm a wee bit excited about this one! 

It's okay to be a "wee bit excited" so long as one doesn't "wee" on the carpet. At least that's what they keep telling me.

Like I'd listen...

  Are you taking the piss Puppetainer? Or in this case the wee?!!!

Are you guys familiar with that phrase or have I just offended the hell out of everyone?

wie?

Offended?! Why I resemble that remark! I've a good mind to join a club and beat you over the head with it!

I suppose it's all okay. It's only art and, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west, and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce, they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now, uh... Now you tell me what you know.

Sorry. Channeling Groucho again.

As long as you don't use the roots of the rhubarb...