Re: Hello everybody! Posted by Avenueqfan on Nov 15, 2011
I think the MTI puppets look fine 
Re: Hello everybody! Posted by Southpaw on Nov 15, 2011
AveQfan,
While I respect your opinion, I have to disagree. For that amount of money and to be officially "licensed" they should look better. I suppose I'm more of a perfectionist or just too picky. If I'm paying $15 thousand dollars for puppets (that I won't even get to keep in the end) for the likeness of their Broadway counterparts, they had better look spot on! I'd never consider shelling out that kind of money for puppets that are just "half-way", "passable", or "close enough". It's like they didn't even try with the eyes. Way too much money to justify on bad likenesses. I'm really surprised Rick and the creators allowed them. If it was "fan made", for a school production I could understand.
I mean that Kate monster is just bad! I've seen homemade replicas that bear a better resemblance. Her nose is too big, eyes too far apart, bad eye focus, Jay Leno-looking chin, etc. Even if the body was not an 100 percent identical match, they could have fixed the proportion problems that make her look so "off". They could have cheated the size of the nose and eyes and been closer.
As they are now, all the puppets seem to have a glazed-over expression. Most all of their eyes are too far apart and not focused properly. It makes them look like zombies or that they are staring off into the distance and not paying attention. That's the difference in how alive Rick's puppets look versus MTI's. The builder should have known better. And you can't argue that they weren't going for an exact likeness or they would have totally different colors and designs for the characters. They wouldn't have tried to match skin, hair, fur and feathers colors to the original designs and shapes of the face and head.
Am I a better or more experienced puppet builder than the person who built these? I'm sure not. Could I do a better job building replicas? I don't know. I have never tried to build replicas of them. I do however, have a good eye for design and aesthetics, and can tell when something's not quite right. It's part of my job as an Artistic Director. I also have had several of my colleagues and theatre friends who have no knowledge of puppetry that have looked at the MTI puppets. Their response is always they same. "They sure are ugly". Even the general public knows when something doesn't look right.
I am certainly not trying to start a fight, I just think MTI should have let Rick and his company been the sole licensor of the Broadway likeness puppets, or they should require you to build and design your own. I suppose they are ok for schools or colleges but I have to wonder, how many of those groups have $15k to blow on rental puppets? If you have that much money you can probably afford to rent Rick's puppets. If they had a less expensive price tag I think I would be ok with them. My gripe is that if they are not much cheaper why would I want a so/so replica when for a few thousand more I can get the original?
Lee
While I respect your opinion, I have to disagree. For that amount of money and to be officially "licensed" they should look better. I suppose I'm more of a perfectionist or just too picky. If I'm paying $15 thousand dollars for puppets (that I won't even get to keep in the end) for the likeness of their Broadway counterparts, they had better look spot on! I'd never consider shelling out that kind of money for puppets that are just "half-way", "passable", or "close enough". It's like they didn't even try with the eyes. Way too much money to justify on bad likenesses. I'm really surprised Rick and the creators allowed them. If it was "fan made", for a school production I could understand.
I mean that Kate monster is just bad! I've seen homemade replicas that bear a better resemblance. Her nose is too big, eyes too far apart, bad eye focus, Jay Leno-looking chin, etc. Even if the body was not an 100 percent identical match, they could have fixed the proportion problems that make her look so "off". They could have cheated the size of the nose and eyes and been closer.
As they are now, all the puppets seem to have a glazed-over expression. Most all of their eyes are too far apart and not focused properly. It makes them look like zombies or that they are staring off into the distance and not paying attention. That's the difference in how alive Rick's puppets look versus MTI's. The builder should have known better. And you can't argue that they weren't going for an exact likeness or they would have totally different colors and designs for the characters. They wouldn't have tried to match skin, hair, fur and feathers colors to the original designs and shapes of the face and head.
Am I a better or more experienced puppet builder than the person who built these? I'm sure not. Could I do a better job building replicas? I don't know. I have never tried to build replicas of them. I do however, have a good eye for design and aesthetics, and can tell when something's not quite right. It's part of my job as an Artistic Director. I also have had several of my colleagues and theatre friends who have no knowledge of puppetry that have looked at the MTI puppets. Their response is always they same. "They sure are ugly". Even the general public knows when something doesn't look right.
I am certainly not trying to start a fight, I just think MTI should have let Rick and his company been the sole licensor of the Broadway likeness puppets, or they should require you to build and design your own. I suppose they are ok for schools or colleges but I have to wonder, how many of those groups have $15k to blow on rental puppets? If you have that much money you can probably afford to rent Rick's puppets. If they had a less expensive price tag I think I would be ok with them. My gripe is that if they are not much cheaper why would I want a so/so replica when for a few thousand more I can get the original?
Lee
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