User:RickTommy
From Homestar Runner Wiki
Puppet Thing
Always looking for innovation, the Chapman Brothers have devised many clever ways to showcase the same characters in different fashions. With all of these variations, it was only a matter of time before the characters broke out of the restraints of animation itself. From that perspective, it became clear that aside from animation, the medium that could depict the characters with the most accuracy was puppetry.
Puppets come in many styles, but the Homestar Runner puppet owes most of its design to Jim Henson's Muppets; it is hollow, allowing the entire arm of the puppeteer inside to move the head and mouth. Under normal circumstances, the puppeteer's other arm operates a wire to manipulate one of the puppet's arms, but Homestar's physiology makes this feature unnecessary. The full-arm approach allows the puppet to be manipulated with a great degree of subtlety if properly operated, and the puppet version of Homestar is handled appropriately. The movement of the puppet's head shows small nuances over broad movement, and the mouth movement synchs to the dialogue even better than the cartoon version does.
Of course, this technical expertise is not at the forefront while one watches the puppet sequences. What the audience sees is the exact same character from the animated shorts, only in a slightly different presentation. Homestar's personality, identity and voice carry over into the puppet perfectly. Granted, there are a few differences, such as the fact that Homestar's upper and lower lips now meet (to better facilitate mouth movement) and that he is now only seen from the waist up, but what could be called Homestar's spirit transcends the medium in which he is portrayed.
It is also charming that Homestar's entire world also survives the transition from cartoon to puppet intact. Various props and locations have been recreated to accommodate the puppet, providing a delightful take on what Free Country would look like in the "real world". Moreover, the difficulties in turning a two-dimensional world into a three-dimensional one are used for comical effect rather than avoided. The best example is probably the fact that Homestar's eyes both appear to be on the side of his head. Rather than limiting the number of viewpoints from which Homestar can be seen, he is calmly depicted as turning around and walking away, regardless of the position of his eyes.
In addition to Homestar, only The Cheat has also made the transition to the puppet world. This is appropriate, as a character like, say, Strong Bad would be far too difficult to successfully turn into a puppet. The Cheat's puppet requires no articulation, but still benefits from the increased subtlety afforded to the puppets. Even more than Homestar, The Cheat is only recognizable from very few angles, and therefore looks even odder when he casually turns towards an unflattering angle. Aside from The Cheat, Homestar has also costarred with Doregarde, Strong Bad's puppet fashioned from a cantaloupe and a pencil, which is translated faithfully into reality. There is a subtle gag at work, as Doregarde is only brought to life by Strong Bad. Therefore, when Homestar and Doregarde converse, the implication is that Doregarde is controlled by Strong Bad while Homestar is controlled by a puppeteer!
A final note is the fact that the Homestar puppet's debut short was not powered by Flash, but Macromedia RealPlayer. This meant that several visitors to the site were unable to view the short. Fortunately, all future puppet shorts have been embedded in the Flash, and even the debut short has been modified, so that all audiences may now view them.
