More Misc. Marionettes - Liza Meownelli

This was a vanity project for me. When I was working as a professional puppeteer in the 1970's I had a chance to perform with a marionette designed and built by the Great BIL BAIRD. It was a diminutive little cat very similar to this one, about 24" tall and so beautifully carved and balanced that she practically performed by herself with very little input from me on the strings.

I wanted to see if I still had it in me to create a fully hand-carved marionette and so I spent several weeks on the patterns before finally committing to the blocks of pine and the saw and knife. The Legs and Hands being the hardest to get just right. I re-did the toe shoes three times before I got the scale just right. Needless to say these patterns are worth gold now and will be included in my forthcoming book on marionette construction.

The Head is the same styrofoam and felt construction which I find so durable and simple to execute.

Liza sings quite sweetly and dances with grace and style. The Controller boasted 12 strings all together, with special ones for her toes and hips and elbows in addition to the standard ones to support the head, hands and knees.  She is not as wonderfully balanced as the marionette I remember from so long ago, but pretty close. In all I was pleased with the effort.

Since I no longer perform I eventually sold Liza Meownelli to BOB ABDOU ( MR. PUPPET ) in Austin, Texas where I believe she is on special display today.