From Puppets to Muppets Trivia Quiz

Answer: Virgin Mary

The female name of Marion is a diminutive form for Mary - the word "marionette" means "little Mary". Puppets have been traced back to 2000 BC Egypt, as well as dolls found in tombs dating back to Greek and Roman times. Japan and India also have a history of early puppetry. More modern locations famous for puppetry include the Czech Republic and Austria.

Answer: Manipulator

The "manipulator" controls the puppet by manipulating the strings. This is normally done hidden from view so the audience is unaware of what is happening backstage. Puppets can be controlled by one manipulator, or two or three, all depending on the complexity of the model. The manipulator is also known an a "controller" in certain places in the world.

Answer: False

Bill Baird was an American puppeteer who with his wife, Cora Eisenberg Baird, created and performed the puppetry scenes in "The Sound of Music". Bill entertained young and old alike for 60 years until his death in 1987. The film version shows Maria and children getting entangled amongst the strings but somehow managing to pull off an excellent performance while yodeling "Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo".

Answer: Bunraku

"Banraku" was first introduced during 1612 in Osaka. The production features life size puppets controlled by puppeteers, a chanter who narrates the story and a musical instrument player. The musical instrument is similar to a lute.

Answer: The art of projecting one's voice

Ventriloquism is the art of projecting, or throwing, one's voice. The term is Latin and roughly translates as venter (stomach) and loqui (speak). Modern day ventriloquist acts started in the 19th century and these were accompanied by a dummy. The dummy would be made of papier-maché or wood with more recent dummies being made of fibreglass.

Answer: Opera

Operatic productions have been a popular feature at the Salzburger Marionettentheater since 1913. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was famously born in Salzburg so his music features a great deal. The puppet show has also included music by Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Debussy.

The year 2001 saw the premiere of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". An artistic sculpter is on hand to design new marionettes and there are approximately 500 puppets "employed" at the theatre.

Answer: Pleased as punch

The first sighting of Mr Punch in England was in 1662 during the reign of King Charles II. An Italian puppeteer called Pietro Gimonde, or "Signor Bologna", introduced the hunched back puppet with its jutting chin and jesters' hat. His name changed from Pollicinella to Polichinello, Punchinanello to Punchinello, until he was finally called Mr Punch. Punch was always "pleased as punch" after beating his wife, Judy, and killing the policeman, doctor, lawyer and hangman. "Punch drunk" was an America term for when a boxer suffered from concussion.

Answer: Supermarionation

Supermarionation is a blending of the words "super", "marionette" and "animation". Each marionette was fitted with a solenoid motor in their head and the signals were fed through thin wires back to the manipulator. From there, synchronized lip movements could be matched with the dialogue.

Answer: Howdy Doody

"Howdy Doody" was televised in America between 1947 until 1960. E. Roger Muir played the part of Buffalo Bob while the freckle faced marionette, Howdy Doody, would prance around with other characters like Clarabell the Clown and Phineas T. Bluster.

Answer: The Muppet Movie

Jim Henson (1936 - 1990) created television shows such as "The Muppet Show", "Sesame Street" and "Fraggle Rock". He also worked on two fantasy films, "The Dark Crystal" (1982) and "Labyrinth" (1986). "The Muppet Movie" (1979) was the first full length film which featured Kermit, Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear, who all traveled to Hollywood to make a movie. The film also included non-muppets, Dom DeLuise, Mel Brooks and Orson Welles.