I never tire of looking at the displays of original Supermarionation puppets that have been found and painstakingly restored by enthusiastic collectors . When I was a youngster in the sixties these heroic characters were just as real to me as the actors who played Napoleon Solo or Batman.
The Smallspace display featured, apart from Captain Scarlet, original puppet heads that had actually appeared on screen. So looking at the face of Captain Blue, it really was Captain Blue looking back at me.
This Captain Ochre puppet (below) has the only known surviving screen used head .
The 'normal' head of Captain Grey, whose likeness was apparently based on Sean Connery.
Destiny Angel , whose puppet likeness was based on Ursula Andress.
Melody Angel, whose puppet likeness was based on Eartha Kitt.
There was also the three main 'stars' of Joe 90.
Little Joe McClaine.
Professor Ian 'Mac' McClaine.
Deputy Head of W.I.N. Sam Loover.
I know nothing about restoring puppets, or how'd you go about creating authentic looking outfits, If someone had told me that the Captain Scarlet figure was real too, I'd believe it, such is the skill of these talented enthusiasts.
Looking at these sixties 'heroes' the other day at Smallspace, I have to say, unlike the actors who played Napoleon Solo or Batman, they haven't changed a bit!
Love these puppets. Some nice close up pix there, Scoop. Ah, Destiny and Melody are still stunning in my opinion. Brilliant to see so many old favourites... SIG
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed how many have survived Tony, but considering a lot of these 'in proportion ' heads were reused and considered for reuse, in Joe 90 and Secret Service I suppose a lot escaped the dreaded skip.
DeleteWere there Thunderbirds and Stingray puppets at the exhibition as well? I remember seeing a photo a couple of years ago of an exhibition (it might have been a Fanderson event) with all the puppets from Supercar to The Secret Service (Of course, the Supercar puppets were replicas, as well as most of the Fireball XL5 puppets).
ReplyDeleteIf you mean original puppets from Thunderbirds and Stingray, then no, I 'm not sure what exists these days. I've seen auctions for original puppets and casts from original heads, but it depends who's got them now and whether they are prepared to display them. I know Alan Shubrook apparently rescued an original Scott Tracy head from the studio prior to it's demise, and has displayed it at various events. I've seen original and restored heads of Jimmy Gibson and Friend Zarin at the Cosford event a few years ago, along with an original Steve Zodiac which was used as a Bowling trophy (However, I've heard that the Steve puppet wasn't actually screen used )
DeleteThe thing is there's a lot a great looking replicas out there, for instance the Captain Scarlet puppet in my photos is actually a replica would you believe.
Thankfully there are experts out there who have incredible amounts of info about the surviving puppets and know whether they're replicas are not.