More Puppets for "LILI"

 Here is my sketch for the workings of the two Dog Marionettes which feature in my production of  LILI.
One Dog is roughly 22" tall and the other is smaller at just 14" tall. The two dogs are a part of a Carnival act which Lili witnesses on her first entrance into the carnival. They also feature later on in the show.

 This is the smaller of the two Dogs - "Pierre", a little white poodle, seen here in his test stringing on the "gallows" ( yes, that is what it is called!) and before his fur skin has been applied. The gallows holds the controller securely at the correct height for the puppeteer which  is just slightly above the waistline. A spool of black braided nylon fish line is positioned near the top which makes stringing the marionettes quite easy.

 The bodies of these marionettes were fashioned from pine and cedar, carved to shape with both a skill saw and a Dremel Mototool before finally being sanded smooth by hand. I built up the musculature on each dog by applying 5mm craft foam for head, ribcage and upper legs. This will all be covered with white fleece fur after the exposed sections have been painted white.

Pierre features a moving mouth animation which adds greatly to his fidgitty nature.
A small magnet is embeded in the tip of each dog's nose and a special string runs through the nose to a ring worn by the actor playing the Dog Trainer. At the right moment the Trainer tosses a ball into the air ( hollow ball with a tube running through it, string running through the tube )  raises his hand making the string go taut which allows the ball to fall right down onto the up turned nose of the dog. The magnet holds the ball in place as the Trainer lowers his hand and let's the string go slack.
A very simple but highly effective trick sure to delight any audience!