Meet The Animators

1900-2000

Puppetry moves from solitary circus acts to the big screen...

At the turn of the 19th century, puppetry was used for play by children, and in performances done on street corners, in circus acts or vaudeville shows. With technical advances in animation, the audience widened. Puppets were used by psychologists for therapy, by businesses for the promotion of products, and for political persuasion.

MEET OUR TOP TEN

TWENTIETH CENTURY ANIMATORS

With the Industrial Revolution in the late 19th century, toymakers began retooling their methods. Rubber was being used for squeaky toys, toy cars and trucks, teethers and pacifiers.. dolls and puppets.

With the development of animated movies at the turn of the twentieth century, things changed. Movies, films and cartoons that had once been aimed at adults now had a wider audience: children. The first rubber head hand puppets were made. With the development of stop motion imagination, puppeteers such as were employed to help produce cartoons.

In 1927, puppeteer Tony Sarg, a window designer for Macy's in NYC, employed Goodyear Tire and Rubber to help design and create the first rubber balloons used in the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

The first cartoon character to lead the parade? Felix the Cat.

During the 2nd World War, the making of rubber toys was banned because the materials were needed for the war effort. In fact, children were encouraged to donate their rubber toys for conversion to military products.

In July, 1954 Mechanix Illustrated included a detailed article called "Puppets That Make Faces" by Dorothy Gleason, encouraging folks to "Make one of these funny chaps in you want to provide fun and laughs for children." The materials used? Liquid latex (rubber)!

Even better, learn how to make your OWN rubber heads by clicking here!

Gallery One:
To discover other puppets made by each manufacturer, click on images below.

Screenshots

“I'm a testimonial. Click to edit me and add text that says something nice about you and your services.”

Omar Zaine

“I'm a testimonial. Click to edit me and add text that says something nice about you and your services. Let your customers review you and tell their friends how great you are.”

Jay Jay

“I'm a testimonial. Click to edit me and add text that says something nice about you and your services.”

Danni Lopez

Open-world playability wherever you are

I'm a paragraph. Click here to add your own text and edit me. It’s easy. Just click “Edit Text” or double click me to add your own content and make changes to the font. I’m a great place for you to tell a story and let your users know a little more about you.