Difference between Puppet and Marionette
Entertainment is a fundamental element in people’s lives, theater being one of the branches of the performing arts that is characterized by the reproduction of a story, with characters through narration, singing, acting, dancing , music, scenery, gestures, among other elements that offer an alternative of fun and distraction for people.
This type of entertainment originated thousands of years ago in Mesopotamia and Africa, where there were certain populations that had a great facility for imitating animals and performed ceremonies using dances and dances to the rhythm of music. Among the different manifestations of theater, there are works represented by dolls such as puppets and marionettes. These are made with different materials such as fabrics, plastic containers, threads, foam rubber, among others, and are manipulated by puppeteers or puppeteers, who give the doll movement, as a play is narrated.
Thus, it is said that the history of puppets and marionettes is linked to the origin of theater and they were brought to America with the process of conquest by the Spanish and today, there are a variety of schools at the national and international level, that are organized to carry out events for the distraction and entertainment of the public, mainly boys and girls.
So, considering that the theater belongs to one of the performing arts and that many works are represented by puppets and marionettes, we will show in this article some differences between these two types of dolls.
The puppets
We can say that the puppets are dolls made with rags that have a head, upper extremities and a suit that has a hole through which the puppeteer (person who manipulates the puppet), makes the respective movements. Thus, with the index the head is activated, while with the thumb and the middle, it activates the left and right hand, respectively.
Similarly, the puppets usually have human, animal or fantastic beings and are used to represent theatrical works mostly aimed at boys and girls, generally being shown through a little theater called an altarpiece, made of wood, cardboard, fabrics or other materials. Finally, his movement depends on the hand of the puppeteer, who brings him to life so that his movements appear autonomous.
the puppets
Basically, puppets are puppets made of cloth or wood, operated by a puppeteer, who manipulates it either in front of or above him, through threads or wires to dramatize a theatrical work. These dolls have a complete body and their limbs are mobile, being attached to strings that are in turn tied to wooden sticks that the puppeteer uses to make their movements seem real.
Once both types of dolls used in the theater have been defined, below we summarize some differences between puppets and marionettes:
- The puppet is operated by a puppeteer while the puppets are handled by a puppeteer.
- The puppet does not have lower limbs (legs) while the puppet does.
- The puppets are used in the form of a glove, being inserted into the puppeteer’s hand while the puppet is powered by strings that are tied to wooden sticks used by the puppeteer.