Trial by Error in Building Puppets for Catnapping

Not having the money to spend on armatures for my characters, all the puppets for Catnapping were made with wire skeletons. There were numerous issues with the first few iterations of these puppets: 1) the plasticine which I used would become easily misshapen and warped during animation. 2) the thin wire skeleton would end up cutting through the plasticine body after several movements. 3) the weight of a full plasticine character was impractical and easily off-balanced, not to mention expensive. 4) The plasticine body would interact with the character’s clothing, quickly dirtying it and becoming misshapen beneath it.

I needed to make the dolls lighter, more balanced, hold shape better, last longer and, ideally, be cheaper to make (the cost of plasticine was adding up).

Several iterations of building skeletons ended up with a mixture of pipe-cleaners and wire, with a heavier wire used for the legs and spine, and a polystyrene ball for the head.

Keeping the character as light as possible is key, partly because I didn’t have the rigs that professionals use to prop up the dolls during filming, and was not using tiedowns.

Having heavier feet was important, to keep the character from toppling over in an upright position.

Keeping the torso and arms light with stuffing and only applying an outer layer of heavy plasticene for the exterior of the hands, head and neck was also important.