Swazzle Creates Puppets for Japanese Subaru Commercial

Swazzle had teamed up with the Chiodo Brothers to make puppets for two Japanese Subaru commercials. Working from designs by Charlie Chiodo, Swazzle's team of talented builders created five full body puppets for the spots.

The two 15 second commercials were shot in Japan, and Swazzle sent eight highly skilled puppeteers overseas to work on the spots.

The puppets including two otters, a jellyfish, a camel, and a whale were mostly shot against green screen and the puppeteers were removed in post. In some shots, the puppets were shot in the car and on a live set, and the rods and puppeteers were painted out.

The finished commercials were just posted online and you can view them here.

The site is in Japanese, so to find the videos click on the third pink button. You'll find links to the videos in the bottom left corner. The top left image links to the two commercials, the image next to it links to an extended web only version. Below those are links to behind the scenes videos.

We've also posted behind the scenes photos on the Swazzle Facebook page.

Populating Pee-wee’s Playhouse: Swazzle creates 19 puppets for Pee-wee Herman’s triumphant return

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


Populating Pee-wee’s Playhouse: Swazzle creates 19 puppets for
Pee-wee Herman’s triumphant return


LOS ANGELES, CA – January 18, 2010 – Glendale, CA-based puppet company Swazzle has re-created many of the classic puppet characters from Pee-wee’s Playhouse and built a handful of new puppets for The Pee-wee Herman Show, now playing at Club Nokia in downtown Los Angeles. Directed by Obie Award winner Alex Timbers and starring Paul Reubens, Lynne Stewart, John Paragon and Phil LaMarr, the stage show reunites Pee-wee Herman with many of his puppet pals from the hit television series Pee-wee’s Playhouse.

That show was appointment television for Swazzle Creative Directors Sean and Patrick Johnson as kids, so when they learned of plans for a stage show, the brothers jumped at the chance to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime production. Swazzle’s team worked with design consultant Jimmy Cuomo and puppet producers The Chiodo Brothers to build Clockey, Randy, the Flowers, the Fish, Pterri, ShamWow and Cowboy Curtis’ horse, Ginger. “Working on this show is a dream come true. When I was 9 years old watching Pee-wee’s Playhouse, I never dreamed that I would get to work with Pee-wee Herman one day,” says Patrick.

The Pee-wee Herman Show features hand puppets, rod puppets, marionettes and walk-around costumes, and each posed unique building challenges. Sean, Patrick and fellow puppet builders Russ Walko and Artie Esposito worked round the clock carving foam, dyeing fleece, and stitching Spandex to complete the puppets on a demanding schedule.

The marionettes proved to be particularly challenging. For example, Pterri the Pterodactyl has to fly in from the ceiling, swoop around the room, and crash-land—a vertical distance of more than 20 feet. Swazzle relied on the advice of UNIMA-award winning puppetry consultant Basil Twist, whose idea for a split controller was essential to pulling off the stunt.

In addition to building 19 puppets for The Pee-wee Herman Show, Swazzle provided all of the puppeteers. Working as Puppeteer Coordinator, Sean assembled a team whose combined credits include work for The Jim Henson Company, The Walt Disney Company, the Muppets and the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta. “The puppetry in the show is challenging,” says Sean. “I worked from the top of my list to pull in the most talented puppeteers in Los Angeles.”

Because so many different forms of puppetry are employed in the show, puppeteers are hidden everywhere—behind, beneath, on and high above the stage. Several of the characters are performed by multiple puppeteers, who trade off or work together depending on the puppet’s location and method of operation. At one point in the show, five puppeteers work together to perform Pterri as he crash-lands as a marionette and pops up as a hand puppet.

In addition to Sean Johnson (Pterri, Randy, ShamWow, the Fish, Mr. Knucklehead) and Patrick Johnson (Globey, Pterri, Mr. Knucklehead), the show features the puppetry of Artie Esposito (Chairry), Russ Walko (Conky), Carla Rudy (Pterri, Randy, ShamWow, Mr. Window, Mr. Knucklehead), Victoria Johnson (Magic Screen), Haley Jenkins (Ginger, Pterri, the Flowers, Mr. Knucklehead, Magic Screen), and Erik Kuska (Clockey, Mr. Window, Mr. Knucklehead).

Swazzle’s team members have spent years honing their puppet-building and performing skills in live puppet shows for libraries and schools, along with stage and screen projects for clients like Patton Oswalt, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, W!ldbrain/The Dan Clark Company, and Overbrook Entertainment. The Pee-wee Herman Show is the next leap forward for this young puppet company as it continues to develop and expand.

About Swazzle

Founded in 2004 by twin brothers Sean and Patrick Johnson, Swazzle is a Glendale, CA-based company specializing in puppetry for film, television and the stage. Together with their troupe of professional puppeteers they have performed hundreds of shows in venues across California.

Sean and Patrick have worked with leading children’s entertainment companies including The Jim Henson Company, PBS Kids Sprout, The Walt Disney Company and The Baby Einstein Company. They also teach puppetry technique to actors and comedians from The Groundlings for The Jim Henson Company.


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Media Contacts:

Sean Johnson
Swazzle
866-792-9953
sean@swazzle.com

Swazzle Building Puppets for Pee Wee Herman!

Everyone here at Swazzle is very excited to announce that we will be recreating many of the classic puppet characters from Pee Wee's Playhouse for The Pee Wee Herman Show: Pee Wee's triumphant return!

We're working with the creative team to make all new stage versions of the shows' most beloved characters. At this time we're unable to share anymore info, but please standby for updates and information.

In the mean time please visit peewee.com, or click here to get tickets.

Little Shop of Horrors

Swazzle's puppet builders are hard at work on our next exciting puppet project. We are building a brand new set of Audrey II puppets for the hit musical "Little Shop of Horrors". The puppets will be completed in late August - once finished, they will be rented to high schools and theaters presenting the Off Broadway smash.

Check out Swazzle's Facebook Fan Page for exclusive behind the scenes photos.

For more information on renting our Audrey 2 plant puppets for you production of "Little Shop of Horrors" please call Swazzle 866-SWAZZLE (792-9953)

Swazzle on Notcot.org

Notcot.org a website all about art, design, and culture posted a link about Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color. Check it out here.

Light up Puppets - Before and After

The puppets for Swazzle's new light up puppet show Water Color were covered with Electroluminescent Wire, also know as EL Wire. Hundreds of feet of EL Wire was painstakingly hand stitched to the puppets with transparent thread. Water Color is now on tour all over Southern California, to see when Water Color is playing in your town check out our online tour schedule. To see what the puppets look like with the stage lights on, and with the lights off, I've posted some before and after photos.



The cast of Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color, before and...



...after.



The Cycloptopus from Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color, before and...



...after



Ellie Fish the Jelly Fish from Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color, before and...



...after.



Adolfo the Dolphin from Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color, before and...



...after.



Gray the star of Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color, before and...



...after.



Star the starfish from Swazzle's light up puppet show, Water Color, before and...

Light Up Puppets

The light up puppet cast of Swazzle's light up puppet show Water Color. Water Color is now touring in Southern California click here to view our tour schedule.

Glow in the Dark Puppets

Swazzle's new puppet show Water Color features a cast of glow in the dark puppets. The puppets are covered with EL wire. Pictured above are the dolphin, jellyfish, starfish, and nautilus.

Swazzle Reel

We just finished cutting a new Swazzle reel. Check it out, and share it with your friends. Click the "HQ" button to watch a high quality version. Enjoy.

By the way, you can become a fan of Swazzle on Facebook. Click here to join the fun!

I'm in Animation Magazine

The March issue of Animation Magazine did a two page article on Team Smithereen, the new stunt puppet show from The Dan Clark Company/W!ldbrain/Jetix Europe. I'm pictured with show creator Dan Clark, and a crazy monster puppet. Team Smithereen will be coming out in the first quarter of 2009 - in the mean time check out the show's production blog: teamsmithereen.blogspot.com. You can pick up a copy of Animation Magazine at your local newsstand or on their website.

Kaney West and Monster Puppet

I managed to dig up some amateur video of the monster puppet Jim Henson's Creature Shop made for Kanye West's Glow in the Dark Tour. Patrick and I were part of the small team that built this huge puppet. It was made out of foam and fiberglass, and built on a carbon fiber spine. The entire monster is covered in fabric, and has hand stitched wrinkles and veins running up and down it's body. It was built over a couple weeks at the Creature Shop in Burbank CA. You can't tell from the video, but it also has a long tail. The videos were shot on cell phones by concert goers, so bear with the low quality of the image - they look a bit better if you watch them in high quality. Enjoy:

Video 1, Video 2, Video 3, Video 4

Brand New Glow in the Dark Puppet

Swazzle's booking season is now in full swing. We just did our first performs showcase, and there are more to come. So far we have about 30 bookings. I wanted to share a brand new puppet with you all - I just finished yesterday. It's a fish, for our new puppet show Water Color. The puppet is covered with flexible neon, so that it can glow in the dark. All of the puppets in the show will light up different colors - it should look pretty spectacular in the dark.

Digg my Blog - Mini Update

Hey readers of Puppet 101, I just added some share buttons and a Digg button to my blog. If you like Puppet 101 please help out by digging it or sharing it on your favorite social networking site.

This has been a super busy time for myself and Swazzle. We had another very busy summer of puppet shows, and then Patrick and I rolled right into the crazy stunt puppet production Team Smithereen. A few months back we moved into our brand new workshop in Glendale, and for the last couple of day's we have been rehearsing our brand new holiday puppet show, Live from the Ice Cube. Believe it or not, we are already planning our two new summer puppet shows: The River Otter Circus, and Water Color. Water Color will feature light up "neon" fish puppets - more on that later.

I hope you are all keeping busy with some fun puppet projects. Please keep me updated, and always feel free to email me your puppet questions: sean@swazzle.com

By the way, I will be adding some new behind the scenes puppet building photos once we begin production on the new summer puppet shows.

Space Bugs

The stars of the Swazzle puppet show Space Bugs welcome visitors to the new Swazzle Workshop.

New Team Smithereen Blog

Check out the new Team Smithereen Blog. It will be featuring exclusive behind the scenes photos, videos and more.

Offical Team Smithereen Press Release

For the past couple of months Patrick and I have been working on this super cool puppet project called Team Smithereen. We have been fortunate to work with Dan Clark and L.A.'s top puppeteers. The official press release just came out - give it read.

13th October 2008

Jetix Europe teams with W!LDBRAIN on first short-form programme for its new-look websites

Amsterdam, The Netherlands and London, UK – Jetix Europe N.V. (AMEX: JETIX; Reuters: JETIX.AS; Bloomberg: JETIX.NA), today announced that it is teaming up with W!LDBRAIN, the award-winning entertainment company, on a new short-form series that will premiere on its websites across Europe in early 2009. The move follows Jetix’ recently announced plans to overhaul its websites with new and improved navigation and functionality, including interactive VOD players.

W!LDBRAIN’s Team Smithereen will be the first new short-form series that Jetix will debut in Europe as an exclusive premiere on its websites. Kids across Europe will be able to access this new short-form content whenever they want online with new episodes being regularly updated on the Jetix sites in Germany, the UK, Spain, Italy, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Hungary and Poland.

The slap-stick Team Smithereen is produced by W!LDBRAIN, the acclaimed company that develops and produces television, motion pictures, commercial content and licensed merchandise. The series is created by The Dan Clark Company, whose creative group specialises in puppetry and effects driven content for television. The 26x2 shorts follows a hapless team of puppet stuntmen who, more often than not, get into trouble on some of their death-defying feats. Team Smithereen shorts will debut exclusively on the new-look Jetix websites beginning early 2009.

Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President Programming, Jetix Europe, says: “We want to offer kids the chance to enjoy original Jetix content wherever they are and developing a fuller digital offering is key to this. The short-form focus will be on comedy and creating characters that will have strong word-of-mouth and viral appeal. With this in mind Team Smithereen was the perfect series for us to launch our new online shorts strategy. It features the world's first vinyl puppet stunt team. These are four of the wildest, most wide-eyed, thrill-seeking, adrenaline junkies you'll ever see. It’s Jackass with vinyl puppets and we’re certain that Jetix kids across Europe – and probably some adults too - are going to love the crazy, unstoppable crew who are Team Smithereen.”

Bob Higgins, Head of Creative, W!LDBRAIN, says: “Dan Clark is one of the most distinctive, creative talents that I have ever worked with. The Team Smithereen series is a perfect addition to W!LDBRAIN’s slate of diverse and original projects. The ‘slap-stunt’ concept and style pushes the boundaries of animation and brings to life a world of vinyl-latex characters doing off-the-wall stunts that will have you on the edge of your seat. With Jetix offering a compelling online destination for the Team Smithereen series and our all-star creative team bringing their original sensibility to the process, the brand has the potential to become a multi-million dollar franchise that will transcend its online roots.”

Dan Clark of The Dan Clark Company, says: “W!LDBRAIN is hands down the most exciting company around. They do it all, animation, live action, the web, and broadcast. Along with my partners, producer Don Asher and character designer Dave Pressler, I’m stoked to be making Team Smithereen with them. Team Smithereen is a first of it’s kind, it combines cutting edge puppet work with new CGI techniques to deliver a crazy stunt-packed comedy featuring fresh mayhem and a collection of weirdly wonderful characters. Working with Jetix Europe on this series of shorts is a joy for our creative group, they are the perfect company to unleash Team Smithereen on a world hungry for off-the-hook physical comedy and spectacle!”

More Team Smithereen

I still can't say anything about Team Smithereen, the crazy cool puppet show that we've been shooting for the past couple of months, but check out this photo taken by Dan Clark Company producer Don Asher.

New Swazzle Workshop

Today was a big day for Swazzle, we just moved into our brand new workshop in Glendale, CA. Swazzle recently out grew it's old location, and needed to move into a bigger space. The new workshop has a reception area, plenty of workshop and rehearsal space, office space, a roll up door, high ceilings, and a sky light. Today the whole Swazzle crew helped move everything to the new location. They also helped paint the new workshop to get it ready for business.

Team Smithereen

For the past couple of months Patrick and I have been working on a very cool puppet video project called Team Smithereen. We are puppeteers, puppet captains, and directors. We have been fortunate to work with a super creative group of people, and L.A.'s top puppeteers.

Team Smithereen was created by Brats of the Lost Nebula creator Dan Clark, and is co-produced with Wildbrain (headed up by Charlie Rivkin, former CEO of The Jim Henson Company) and Jetix/Disney. I can't tell you anything else about the project at this time, except that it rocks! Stay tuned for more.

Walking with Dinosaurs

I just saw Walking with Dinosaurs live at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. The show was amazing. The life size dinosaur puppets looked and moved great. I was impressed by how fast and precise the puppetry was despite the massive scale. Also, all of the sounds came from the dinosaur's mouths which was extra cool. We were sitting three rows from the front, so when the full grown Tyrannosaurs Rex walks to the edge of the stage, lifts her head back and roars my chest chest rumbled. Walking with Dinosaurs is now on a North American tour, you must catch it when it comes to your town.

They did not allow flash photography during the show - most people ignored that request. I set my camera to the night setting, and got some nice non-flash photos. I'll share some the better ones in future posts.

Puppet Stage 4.0

The new stage was different from any other because of the trunks. I worked with a representative from Encore Cases to design trunks based on our specific needs. I measured the inside of my car, and the dimensions of our previous stage to determine the size of the trunks. We came up with a design that called for one wheeled trunk and one non-wheeled trunk. For easy load in, the non-wheeled trunk would sit on the wheeled trunk.

The new trunks had two holes in the lid, and corresponding couplings inside. The fiberglass poles could slip into the holes and rest snugly in the coupling. The stage would be built from this sturdy vertical support. As in the previous stage the front and back were made from wooden curtain rods joined with PVC. The top sides were made from PVC which was lighter than the electrical conduit. The curtain was attached with velcro and then wrapped around the poles.

As an added benefit, these new trunks and painter poles gave us such a stable base that we used this design principle to make a larger school stage, and a smaller one trunk stage.

While we are still looking for ways to improv our set up, This new stage currently meets all of our requirements: It’s light weight, easy to unload, quick to set up, sturdy, and versatile.

Puppet Show Trunks 2.0

After years of experience we knew we needed a stage that was light weight, easy to unload, quick to set up, and trunks that were large and professional. We talked to different puppeteers, and got their recommendation - something I really appreciate about the puppet community is it’s willingness to share. Puppeteer Scott Land gave us two suggestions that led to our current stage. He recommend using fiberglass painter poles for the vertical support, and Encore Cases for custom trunks.

Puppet Show Trunks

How the you transport a puppet show is almost as important as the stage itself. The trunks you use give the client and the audience an impression of your skill and professionalism. When we first started out, we to packed our puppets in a card board box. When that broke we upgraded to plastic wheeled tubs.

The wheeled plastic tubs worked well enough, but they didn’t look professional, and they were too small to hold everything. At each show we would unload the trunks from the car, strap the stages pieces to the top of one trunk, strap the sound equipment to the top of the other trunk, and roll into the venue like The Grapes of Wrath. On various occasions the trunk wheels would break, or get caught on a door jam, and the stage would slip off. We needed a solution that would solve our trunk and stage problem.

Puppet Stage 3.0

We tried a PVC stage and a wood frame stage but we needed something better. As we designed our next stage, we addressed the short comings of our previous stages. The new stage would have to be sturdy, light weight, easy to set up, and take up less space.

The stage that came next was pretty good, and it lasted a long time. The whole thing was built on a hinged 2X4 frame that sat on the ground. The vertical poles were made from PVC (keeping in mind our first PVC stage, these poles were connected together with a bungy cord, like a tent pole). The play board and back support were made from wooden curtain rods, so they wouldn’t sag like PVC. The rods were connected with a PVC joint. The sides were made from metal electrical conduit - sturdy, but heavy.

This stage worked nicely, but after a couple of years, it began to break down. The real weakness was the wooden base. Eventually, the large wooden pegs that secured the vertical PVC poles began to break, the hinges on the wooden base came unscrewed, and the front and side 2X4s were no longer sitting squarely on the ground. The stage became very wobbly, and unstable.

The final blow for one stage came during our extended run at the Los Angles Zoo. Anita and a member of the zoo staff attempted to move the stage for a special event, and the whole base twisted and broke. We managed to tape it up for the rest of the run, but it forever lilted to one side. It was time for another puppet stage.

Frame Puppet Stage

After using PVC pipe to make a puppet stage, we wanted to something sturdier, and easier to set up. A couple of puppeteers in the San Francisco Bay Area Puppeteers Guild were using frame stages, so we gave it a try.

The frame stage was made from redwood panels that hinged and latched together. It was easy to set up, stable, and worked great for a while. With repeated use however some of the corners came undone, and we had to re-wood glue and staple them. Eventually, we added plywood corners to the frames, which made them stronger and heaver. The major drawback was this stage was its substantial foot print when it wasn’t set up - it took up a lot of space. On top of that, the hinged together wooden frames were cumbersome and brittle, and if we dropped the stack accidentally they would break.

Towards the end, the hinges came apart, the latches broke, and the screws were loose - the only thing holding it together was the curtain. Once we stared brining wood glue, staples and screws to each show, we new it was time for a new stage.

Puppet Arms

This past week Patrick and I have been busy building puppets for our new school assembly puppet show - The Swazzle Workshop Live. We will be presenting a seven minute sample of the show at this year's Orange County Performing Arts Center Performer's Showcase. The Swazzle Workshop Live is a live show based on Swazzle's popular web series The Swazzle Workshop. During the show students will learn team work and cooperation through the art of puppetry. The Swazzle Workshop Live was created with a grant from The Puppeteers of America in partnership with The Orange County Performing Arts Center's Arts Teach Program.

Puppets from Hell

These puppets were made by Nate Pacheco for JibJab's new Sendables, Greetings from Hell.