10 Facts About Puppet Animation

Find out more about one of the most labor intensive art forms

Puppet animation is a unique phenomenon. It’s born out of the hard work of its pioneers and their followers to bring creative impulses to life by experimenting with new technologies. Here Natalya Avdeeva, Georgii Borodin, Pavel Shvedov, and Marina Malygina from Moscow-based animation studio Soyuzmultfilm takes us through the history of puppet animation and share some fascinating facts about Soyuzmultfilm along the way.

1. The first puppet animation film in history was made by a Russian ballet choreographer

Puppet animation was born at the beginning of the 20th century. In 1906, the ballet master of Saint Petersburg’s Mariinsky Theater, Aleksandr Shiryaev, created the world’s first puppet animation film, with figures dancing in ballet steps against a still background of theatrical decorations.

The film took several months to complete, and the ballet master had to change the poses of his papier-mâché figures about 7,500 times to convey the illusion of dance. Shiryaev didn’t have the faintest suspicion of the significance of his creation. His goal was not to found a new art form but rather to recreate and perfect human movements, to record his own choreography. The films were not intended for a public audience.

2. The first narrative-based puppet animation film portrayed a battle of insects

The birth of puppet animation is also connected with the name of Stanislav Staryevich, an outstanding cinematographer, artist, and director. In 1912, he gave the world “The Beautiful Leukanida,” also known as “The War between the Antennas and the Horns.” The performers of Staryevich’s stop-motion film were dead beetles, dragonflies, and grasshoppers – thus the widespread impression that he was not an animated film director but an excellent insect trainer.

Vladislav Staryevich with his daughter Irina and the characters of his cartoons (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

3. The biggest puppet animation film ever made required 1,500 handmade puppets

The years between 1927 until the beginning of the Second World War in 1939 were marked by the experimentation of director and cinematographer Aleksandr Ptushko. The pinnacle of his work was the feature, “The New Gulliver,” a hybrid of animation and live-action filming that enjoyed worldwide success. Few films in the history of animation have had such a profound influence. Over 1,500 puppets were employed for the shoot.

Scenes from The New Gulliver by director A Ptushko (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

4. The size of puppets has been shrinking

On October 17, 1953, a specialized puppet animation department was launched at Soyuzmultfilm. Not only was it equipped with the infrastructure for filming, but a talented and inventive team of directors and artists came together, united by the goal of developing this particular art form.
The earliest puppets preserved in Soyuzmultfilm’s archives are “rod puppets” about a meter tall and operated by puppeteers as in a puppet theater. Over time, they have become smaller, and today the average height is rarely over 20 centimeters.

Scenes from The New Gulliver by director A Ptushko (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

5. The process of creating a puppet animation film has barely changed in over 100 years

Just like in the beginning of the 20th century, animators at Soyuzmultfilm today film a single frame for each tiny movement of the characters. It is a labor-intensive process demanding incredible precision. An entire group of characters may require simultaneous movement of hands, legs, clothing, and even hair – in addition to facial expressions. What’s more, the animator must always keep in mind the previous frame and overall scene while “playing” the role of the characters.

To ensure the puppets remain firmly in place, their heels are fastened to the set with inconspicuous, small nails. The quality of puppet animation was greatly improved by Vyacheslav Shilobreev’s use of a surface gauge, an instrument that allows the animator to mark the distance between points on the puppet as they move, greatly increasing the fluidity of motion onscreen.

Scene from The Cameraman's Revenge by director V Starevich (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

6. Soyuzmultfilm is home to a rich variety of puppet animation and Claymation styles

The character, speed, and rhythm of a figures’ movement all offer rich potential for experimentation. Technology, form, material, texture, volume, plot, dialogue, music, acting ability, and a host of other factors have stimulated animation teams at Soyuzmultfilm to search for new ways of perfecting their art for almost a century.

7. Several versions of each character are created for every animated film

Each animation puppet is built around a metal skeleton with ball joints and hands made of flexible wire, a construction that produces stability and precise movements. The frame is then covered in layers of foam and wound in thread to give it the required physical form. Skin and visible extremities are made from dental plaster; eyes from large ball bearings. Costumes are sewn individually not only for each character but for all the versions of each character, since “wardrobe change” is impossible due to the complexity of a puppet’s construction. Puppet makers as a rule create not only a “troupe” of duplicates of each “actor” but often separate components. In Soyuzmultfilm’s animation “38 Parrots” (1976-1991) for instance a separate tail for the boa constrictor was shot in several scenes.

A doll Saxophone from The Orchestra Country by director A. Karanovich (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

8. A full day of shooting produces on average five seconds of material

Around 24 frames must be shot for each second of an animated film, and a second of movement amounts to, say, the sweep of a puppet’s hand. What’s more, this only includes the shooting itself, not preparation. In all, about six months is needed for one minute of animation. An animator’s daily plan is usually to film five seconds.

9. It’s impossible to rehearse for a puppet animation film

Filmmaking may have unlimited possibilities in one sense, but the world of stop-motion animation has strict limitations. Puppet animators do not have the luxury of rehearsals and many films – especially in the early period – were shot with only one take per scene. It’s also worth remembering that puppets are moved frame by frame, so the final result can only be seen on screen when everything has been put together. If it doesn’t work, the entire crew has to reshoot from the beginning. The creative team must weigh its daily work with the overall visual and technical requirements of the film – even more so if the film is attempting something new.

Kolobok and Lisa puppets from The Kolobok by director R Davydov (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

10. The most recent puppet-animation feature from Soyuzmultfilm took 17 years to make

“Hoffmaniada” (from director Stanislav Sokolov) is based on the writings of the German Romantic author Ernst Theodore Hoffmann. Each of the film’s 100 puppets took a month and a half to craft.

The film boasts the largest “crowd scene” in the history of Russian puppet animation: the final episode shows 42 puppets moving simultaneously. “Hoffmaniada” was shot, although not continuously, from 2001 to 2018.

Crocodile Gena, Cheburashka, Shapoklyak with Lariska from The Crocodile Gena (From the collection of Soyuzmultfilm)

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