Rankin-Bass Rudolph puppets - re-creations?

WOAH WOAH WOAH, THERE IS A PUPPERTY MUSEUM!?!?!? In ATLANTA? wheres it at? I'd love to visit there one day

Pumpernickel said:
Has anyone ever made or sold re-creations of the Rankin-Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer puppets? I've seen the various plush/stuffed toys, action figures, resin kits, etc., but I'm wondering if anyone makes replicas of the actual filming puppets? Would love to see some or get info.

Here's a pic I took when the original puppets were on display here in Atlanta at the Puppetry Museum.

Thanks,

Pumpernickel

IMG_0388.jpg
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punisher said:
WOAH WOAH WOAH, THERE IS A PUPPERTY MUSEUM!?!?!? In ATLANTA? wheres it at? I'd love to visit there one day
Click to expand...
Center for Puppetry Arts. 30+ years old. Has original Muppets and Dark Crystal pieces, a stunning Japanese Miniature collection, a Madame, Gumby and the gang may still be there. They have shows 3 times a day, everyday.
http://www.puppet.org/

The Atlanta History Museum has a Henson Exhibit going on now and was showing "Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas" until the weekend on the big screen.
http://www.atlhist.org/cms/Exhibit+Related+Programs/64.html

The gallery next to the Puppetry Center recently had a Maurice Sendak Exhibit and a Golden Age Comics exhibit with a huge collection of original pieces.
http://www.thebreman.org/exhibitions/travelingexhib.htm

Read the paper man.
Laffo.
 
Jedi-72 said:
My sister just got the figures from timespacetoys. It looks okay, but the Sanat likeness doesn't really look like the Santa puppet. The materials are different. I would hardly call them replicas. I was really disappointed in what they turned out to look like. Again, nice...just certainly not worthy of the "replica" title, and certainly not up to any standards on these boards.
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Yeah they looked like crap.
 
Wow, I need to get out more:sick

Laffo said:
Center for Puppetry Arts. 30+ years old. Has original Muppets and Dark Crystal pieces, a stunning Japanese Miniature collection, a Madame, Gumby and the gang may still be there. They have shows 3 times a day, everyday.
http://www.puppet.org/

The Atlanta History Museum has a Henson Exhibit going on now and was showing "Emmett Otter's Jug Band Christmas" until the weekend on the big screen.
http://www.atlhist.org/cms/Exhibit+Related+Programs/64.html

The gallery next to the Puppetry Center recently had a Maurice Sendak Exhibit and a Golden Age Comics exhibit with a huge collection of original pieces.
http://www.thebreman.org/exhibitions/travelingexhib.htm

Read the paper man.
Laffo.
Click to expand...
 
Laffo said:
Most of them are gone. There were tons of faces but few bodies.
Click to expand...

Heck, in the single year between the shooting of the original version of Rudolf with the Hermy/Rudolf "misfits" reprieve, and the re-do a year later as "fame and fortune, the Hermy puppet had apparently disappeared. When "Fame and Fortune" starts, the Hermy puppet changes to a new one. Very close, but not the same puppet.
 
I remember watching the Antique Roadshow on PBS one evening when some lady had Rudolph and the Santa.

Said she found them in her attic. Story goes, one of her family members worked for one of the sponsors and they got them as gifts.

The puppets in the picture posted are the ones she had restored.

I own the making of book and Rick Goldschmit, historian for Rankin/Bass said all the puppets are gone. Most were destroyed or handed out to the cast. Burl Ives got the Sam the Snowman. Most of the Rankin/Bass shows were shot in Japan, so not much came this way unless they were given as gifts.

What a wonderful show. I am 44 years old I look forward to watching ALL of the Rankin/Bass Christmas Specials like I am 5.
 
At one time I was corresponding with Rick Goldschmit fairly regularly and this was about the time the roadshow came on. I remember saying "Holy *****, they found the Holy grails and they don't even know it".

I jumped out of bed and emailed Rick. He emailed me back almost instantly telling me he was already on the phone trying to get the details on the find. I was in Hawaii at the time so the airing of the show was hours behind when it aired on the mainland so the process had already begun.

Being a stopmotion hobbyist, and active in the stopmo community, it was quite the topic over at stopmotionanimation.com and we kept track of the restoration with great enthusiasm. It was like finding a fairly intact 1933 Kong puppet.
 
Jet Beetle said:
Was the same puppet used in Rudolph's Shiny New Year and the one with Frosty?
Click to expand...


Pretty sure that none of the puppets carried over from one Rankin-Bass special to the next. I remember when I was a kid, I wondered why Santa/Rudolph/Santa's sleigh/Santa's castle/elves, etc. looked different in every special. It was very puzzling to me, because I bought the stories hook, line, and sinker. :lol

Pumpernickel
 
BrundelFly said:
ruler2.jpg
Click to expand...

From the reference ruler on the right, I would venture closer to 2 1/2" or even closer to 3" depending on how far away that ruler is... The out of focus of the rule and the offset of the red nose guys shadow suggest he is pretty far forward of the ruler, at least IMO
 

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