Has anyone seen a dolphin or whale Marionette? I am interested in making one. Just looking for ideas on how to make it swim (up and down tail motion).

I did a quick search and did not find a whale marionette per say. This does not mean that you could not make one......... I would think this would be a good reason to do so. Here are some sites with whale hand puppets. One rod puppet and Hazelle.org has puppet parts. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Don't forget to take pictures and document your build for future reference.

http://www.maritime-marionettes.com/molly.php

http://www.hazelle.org/parts.pdf

http://www.thefind.com/family/info-whale-puppets

http://www.puppets4u.com/whale_puppets.html

Billy D.

Thanks Billy

It's not a marionette, but you may want to find out if there's any info online for Hobey Ford's foam (rod puppet) whales. The way he made it has an extremely fluid and lifelike movement to it, and if you can find out how he separated out the parts of the body to make it join together for the fluidity, it might help you design your own marionette to achieve the same movements.

                                                                                I hope this helps. Although it's a shark marionette the basic idea shoul be the same-Steve

What's the book Monkey? (Title, author?)

Think about a dryer hose.  I know it may be to large but the concept can be "hand" made.  If this structure is under your tail fabric then your tail becomes fluid.  Another option could be to use boning as a spine for you tail. It is flexible yet still provides support.  You might still need some other support but you could use foam sections attached to the boning for this.

Dryer hose?

... I just realised this whole conversation will answer a question I have about a toy marionette I'm making. I keep forgetting to ask: what's a good material to use for to get an octopus tentacle to move fluidly?

Yep dryer hose is pretty cool stuff.... don't forget about slinky's also.  They are similar in design but often come in smaller sizes and they move just a bit different then a dryer hose.

What's the book Monkey? (Title, author?)

The book is "Animal Puppetry" By H.W. Whanslaw.  It covers everything from insects to gryphons. Steve