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A marionette (also called a fantoccino) is a type of puppet with strings controlled by a puppeteer (called a wirepuller) from above. ^[1] Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed to an audience in different forms of theatres or entertainment venues. They have also been used most effectively in films and on television. Puppeteer David Currell states, "A puppet is not an actor and a puppet theatre is not human theatre in miniature, because when an actor 'represents', a puppet 'is'." ^[2] Oscar Wilde wrote about puppetry, "There are many advantages in puppets. They don't argue with you, they don't have any tastes in art, and they don't have anything to lose. ^[3]

Puppetry is an ancient form of performance. Some historians claim that they pre-date actors in theatre. There is evidence that they were used in Egypt as early as 2000 BC when string-operated figures of wood were manipulated to perform the action of kneading bread, and other string controlled objects. Wire controlled, articulated puppets made of clay and ivory have been found in Egyptian tombs. Marionette puppetry was used to display rituals and ceremonies using these string-operated figurines back in acient times and today.

The Greeks left few physical examples of puppets. History reveals through literature that puppetry was important. The Greek word usually translated as "puppets" is neurospasta, which means "string-pulling", from nervus, meaning either sinew, tendon, muscle, string, or wire, and span, to pull. Aristotle referenced pulling strings to control heads, hands and eyes, shoulders and legs. Archimedes is known to have worked with marionettes. Plato's work is full of references to puppeteering. The 'Iliad' and the 'Odyssey' were presented using puppetry.

In ancient Greece and Rome clay dolls (and a few of ivory), dated from around 500 BC, were found in children's tombs. These dolls had articulated arms and legs, some of which had an iron rod extending up from the tops of their heads. This rod was used to manipulate the doll from above, exactly as is done today in Sicily puppetry. A few of these dolls had strings in place of the rods. Some authorities believe these ancient figures were mere toys and not puppets due to their small size.

The Indian word sutradhar(a) refers to the show-manager of theatrical performances (or a puppet-player), and also means literally "string-puller" or "string-holder".

Italy is considered by many to be the early home of the marionette thanks to the influence of Roman puppetry. Xenophon and Plutarch refer to them. The Christian church used marionettes to perform morality plays. It is believed that the word marionette actually originates from the little figures of the Virgin Mary, hence the word 'marionette' or 'Mary doll'. Marionettes: Comedy snuck into the plays as time went by and ultimately led to an edict banning puppetry from the church. Puppeteers responded by setting up stages outside cathedrals and became ever more ribald and slapstick. Out of this grew the Italian comedy called Commedia dell'Arte. Puppets were used at times in this form of theatre. Sometimes Shakespeare's plays were performed using marionettes instead of actors.

The sides of donkey carts are decorated with intricate, painted scenes from the Frankish romantic poems, such as The Song of Roland; these same tales are enacted in traditional puppet theatres featuring hand-made marionettes of wood, this art is called Opira dî pupi (Opera of the puppets) in Sicilian. The opera of the puppets and the Sicilian tradition of cantastorî (sing stories) are rooted in the Provençal troubadour tradition in Sicily during the reign of Frederick III,Holy Roman Emperor, in the first half of the 13th century. A great place to see this marionette art is the puppet theatres of Palermo, Sicily.

From a production of Mozart's The Magic Flute by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre

In the eighteenth century, operas were specifically composed for marionettes. Gluck, Haydn, de Falla and Respighi all composed adult operas for marionettes. Today in Salzburg in Austria, the Salzburg Marionette Theatre still continues the tradition of presenting full length opera using marionettes in their own purpose built theatre.

Marionettes have sometimes been referred to as "puppets". Puppeteers refer to them as marionettes as there are other forms of puppetry such as finger, glove, rod and shadow puppetry.

The Salzburg Marionette Theatre was founded in 1913 and is world famous. It performs mainly operas such as Die Fledermaus and The Magic Flute and a small number of ballets such as The Nutcracker. The Salzburg Marionette Theatre productions are aimed for adults although children are of course welcome. There is also a marionette theatre at Schoenbrunn Palace in Vienna. Marionette theatre also had a very long history in entertainment in Prague, and elsewhere in the Czech Republic. An important organisation is the National Marionette Theatre in Prague. Its repertoire mainly features a marionette production of Mozart's famous Don Giovanni. The production has period costumes and a beautifully designed eighteenth century setting. There are numerous other companies including, Buchty a Loutky ("Cakes and Puppets") founded by Marek Becka]]. Rocky IX and Tibet are just two works in the repertoire.

With the rise in popularity of television and film, marionettes found a rise in popularity especially in children's programming. The story of Pinocchio and its Disney adaptation (Pinocchio released in 1940 is a story about a marionette. In 1947 Howdy Doody introduced marionettes to Saturday morning television.

Thunderbirds TV series
(Australian DVD cover) Jeff Tracy's sons (left to right) Gordon, Alan, Scott, Virgil, John (Aquanaut, Astronauts & Pilots)

In the 1950s, Bil Baird and Cora Eisenberg presented a great number of marionette shows for television, and were also responsible for the Lonely Goatherd sequence from the classic film The Sound of Music. Bill Baird also wrote a classic book on his work. ^[4] In Australia, a program called Mr.Squiggle, using a marionette central character of the same name, ran for many years. Another program for children using puppetry was the Magic Circle Club featuring puppets Cassius Cuckoo and Leonardo de Funbird .

In 1950 in the United Kingdom, a well loved marionette program for children, Andy Pandy came bursting on to the screen and entertained young and old. Later in the 1960s, Gerry Anderson with his wife, Sylvia Anderson and colleagues made a number of hit series, Fireball XL5, Stingray and Thunderbirds, which pioneered a technique combining marionettes and electronics. This allowed for radio control moving of the mouth of a marionettes. The technique is patented and called "supermarionation". The programs have been shown all around the world and are now widely distributed on DVD. Anderson also made two films, Thunderbirds Are Go and Thunderbird 6. ^[5] Team America: World Police is a 2004 movie made by South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker which uses the same style of supermarionation as Thunderbirds. Matt Stone and Trey Parker dubbed their version "Supercrappymation" due to the fact they intentionally left the strings visible, among other reasons.

Also appearing in 2004 was the full length marionette fantasy film Strings, directed by Dane Anders Rønnow Klarlund which received several awards.

Puppets have also been used widely in animated films. Czech animator, Jiri Trnka, was particularly famous for her work. Pixar also uses its own proprietary software called Marionette to create its animations.

Sicilian marionettes are among the simplest marionettes to operate. They are usually carved out of wood and have a sturdy rod which extends up through the body into the head. This rod, and one string attached to the hand, controls the manipulation of the puppet.

Marionette in Prague

Czech rod marionettes are similar to Sicilian ones though they are more complex. They are hand carved, usually using lime wood. The marionettes have the central rod like the Sicilian marionette but also have strings for the arms and legs. Sometimes they also string to control a mouth or movable ears. These require more skilled manipulation. Czechs also have marionettes that have no central rod and strings that are attached to the head, shoulders and back. These are the most difficult marionettes to manipulate due to the absence of the central rod.

1. ^ Puppetry Today by Helen Binyon, p.11
2. ^ An Introduction to Puppets and Puppetmaking by David Currell, p.6
3. ^ http://www.marionetten.at/about_e.html
4. ^ The Art of the Puppet by Bil Baird
5. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/anderson/thunderbirds/page1.shtml

• Baird, Bil (1966). The Art of the Puppet. Plays. ISBN 10 0823800679. 
• Binyon, Helen (1966). Puppetry Today. London: Studio Vista Limited. 
• Beaton, Mabel; Les Beaton (1948). Marionettes: A Hobby for Everyone. 
• Robinson, Stuart; Patricia Robertson (1967). Exploring Puppetry. London: Mills & Boon Limited. 
• Suib, Leonard; Muriel Broadman (1975). Marionettes Onstage!. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. ISBN 0 06 014166 2. 
• Currell, David (1992). An Introduction to Puppets and Puppetmaking. London: New Burlington Books, Quintet Publishing Limited. ISBN 1 85348 389 3. 
• Latshaw, George (2000). The Complete Book of Puppetry. London: Dover Publications. ISBN 978-048640-952-8. 
• Sinclair, Anita (1995). The Puppetry Handbook. Richmond, Victoria, Australia: Richard Lee Publishing. ISBN 0 646 39063 5. 

• Bunraku - traditional Japanese puppet theater.
• Mister Squiggle, Australian marionette
• Digital puppetry, Electronic Marionette

• Virtual museum of the puppet and of the marionette
• Online gallery and resource of marionettes from the Czech Republic
• Marionettes @ PuppetBuilding.com Contains a number of tutorials and resources for making your own marionettes.
• See a video on how marionettes are made
• [1] - Salzburg Marionette Theatre
• [2] - BBC website for "Thunderbirds"