Chummy and Champ

Last year I had the privilege of working with Big Beak Pictures in Malaysia to build four puppets for their children’s pilot called Chummy and Champ. You can watch a behind the scenes video of the show here.

Below are the characters from the show:

Champ

First is Champ the energetic orangutan.

Champ

Chummy

Next is Chummy the happy Sun Bear.

Chummy

Captain

Here is wise old Captain the sea turtle.

Captain

Big Beak

And this is the laughing and protective Big Beak.

Big Beak

Big Beak Pictures has just wrapped up filming the pilot for the show and will soon begin shopping it around internationally. You can follow their blog for more information.

chummy and champ workshop

I really hope Chummy and Champ will be aired here in the U.S. I’d love to see the characters in action.

In another post, I’ll show a bit of the building process for the puppet characters.

Nanny Piggins

Nanny Piggins

Thistledown was recently contacted by Australian children’s author R.A. Spratt. She has written a series of books about Nanny Piggins (”the world’s most glamorous flying pig”) a daredevil circus performer-turned nanny. She wanted a puppet version of Nanny to use in promotional videos for the U.S. release of her first book “The Adventures of Nanny Piggins” this August.

Nanny demonstrates trapeze

The puppet is based on the illustrations that Rachel did for the Australian editions of the book. This was a delightful puppet to create because of her simplicity and her sweetness.

I can’t wait to get my own copy of The Adventures of Nanny Piggins when it becomes available, and I would encourage you to get one as well. Below are some more images of Nanny:

Nanny Piggins

Nanny's mouth

Nanny's hair

Nanny Piggins

Be sure to keep an eye on Rachel’s website for videos featuring the puppet version of Nanny Piggins.

A Day In The Life…

Lately, the workshop has been hopping. Foam is being patterned and glued, fleece is being dyed and dryed, and every once in a while, I have a little overseer keeping careful watch over his Daddy.

working the singer

the singer

sewing

fleece drying

fleece

titus and puppets

checking ewe out

the overseer

I can’t wait to show some of the puppets I’ve been working on. In my humble opinion, they are some of my best. Stay tuned…