The Hollywood Reporter: On his first day on set in November 2019, a puppet wrangler on Disney+’s Earth to Ned — a talk show spoof starring an alien puppet and produced by The Jim Henson Company — was told by another, more senior wrangler not to address one of the show’s star puppeteers, Kevin Clash, directly.
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Today in Susan’s Basic Design class, we actually had a puppet lecture. Susan went through a lot of different puppets, but of course the Henson company was mentioned so this article felt pertinent to the fun we had in class today. Instead, I was frankly shocked. I think a lot of times puppet makers are forgotten, especially in theatre. I once met the puppeteer who worked as Sven on Broadway and found the process so fascinating. I know it is a different industry and system than those company’s mentioned in the article. I truly hope that the puppet wranglers can unionize because no one should work under the continues those artists are experiencing. It is really shocking that working conditions like this still exist. Reading the article, it felt like I was reading about things that happened long ago, but it seems like because the people in power have been working for so long they feel no desire to change despite the harm caused.
I never knew much about the world of puppeteering, so it's interesting to see the in's and out's of it in this article. Unfortunately there's been a long history of artists working with what are now known to be toxic materials, including Bob Ross and a number of other oil painters. It's also shocking to hear that at least according to this article's claim, the Henson company hasn't had an inspection in a while, and is likely not adhering to safety protocols. As to the issue of wrangler treatment, it seems to me that it's larger than just the issue of how the company treats them. In the company's eyes, lots of people are freelance, and so wranglers aren't technically treated as lesser than. However, the company culture is obviously more complicated than that. Truth be told, unlike OSHA regulations and safety trainings helping improve working conditions, I don't know what poor internal relationships in a company calls for. Is there a team building training that would relieve such an issue? Is someone supposed higher up to give them a wakeup call? I'm not sure.
I never considered tensions between the people who create the puppets and the people who operate them on set, but I am not surprised that it exists. Being that wranglers are such a small group of people, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to advocating for themselves. As a costume-maker, I am also not surprised that craftspeople are working in unsafe conditions and are not properly protected from harmful chemicals. While knowledge of the harm these chemicals cause is somewhat recent, facilities are often much older and aren’t updated with fume hoods, isolation glove boxes, etc. The article mentions that craftspeople can be reckless, but oftentimes this stems from the need to work quickly, or the safety equipment being in use by someone else already. Based on what the article says regarding IATSE, it seems like they need their own category so as to not be overtaken by people outside the puppet world.
I am such a big fan of puppets probably because I was raised on the muppets and sesame street. There was always something so whimsical about them along with their ability to outwardly express themselves. Now reading this it’s sad to see the stark contrast between what they present on stage and what goes on behind the scenes. It is actually painfully ironic that these puppet actors or voices are teaching the audience about loving and respecting everyone but completely taking for granted as well as disrespecting the people who they probably rely on the most. I have never actually heard of a puppet wrangler, but I have noticed in the past couple years that it is usually the jobs that are not discussed or in the public eye that deserve the most respect for what they do and deal with (that may be biased because I’m in management but still).
This is the most gut wrenching and yet stunning expose of the puppet industry I have ever read. Also the only expose of the puppet industry I have ever read. It’s deeply saddening, as from a naive and puppet loving perspective, I feel as though the puppeting industry should attract nice people who do nice things and do not suffer glue-related brain damage. However, this article proved that mindset to be unequivocally wrong. It was broken up into 3 major sections. The first one investigated the behavior of specific puppet wranglers, like Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo who was accused of sleeping with 6 underage boys, before the cases were dismissed. The next discussed dangerous work environments for puppeteers, especially the use of the puppet glue Barge, which causes brain damage. Finally, the last section discusses the role of puppet wranglers as a part of a union, and the pros and cons of joining said union. It’s disheartening to learn that the field of puppetry is as complicated and sad as the rest of entertainment.
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