Puppets and Episode VII

When J.J. Abrams launched his charitable fundraising event from the set of Episode VII this week, he managed to send a strong message to Star Wars fans. That message was "Puppets". Halfway through his spiel- a puppet, who I am going to call "Ostrich Merchant", waddled through the market scene and turned to grunt at J.J. 

J.J.'s message (besides the one about his charity) is obvious. Episode VII won't just feature a few actors in a green screen room talking to thin air. Episode VII will include real models of starships, on-location shooting, extensive background characters, and yes, even some puppets.
 
It is an odd feeling that "Ostrich Merchant" gives off. Part of you wants to jump for joy at the return to "Star Wars" roots. Some of the coolest "Star Wars" characters were puppets, after all. Another part of you might feel a little skeptical. It's 2014, after all. When was the last time we saw puppets in a big blockbuster action movie? 

Before answering that question, I want to talk about how successful the original trilogy was with its puppet usage. First of all, 1980 Yoda is far more impressive than 2005 Yoda. He has more heart, more soul, he feels more real. He's weird and proud of it. CGI Yoda is kind of a parody of the original character. He's a little too cutsie. Yoda isn't suppose to be cute. He's an old hairy, crusty, wise mentor with some of the most beautiful lines that cinema has ever given us. 

But beyond Yoda we still have some great puppets. Jabba the Hutt needed 6 puppeteers to operate. He looks way more menacing in the original than his "Phantom Menace" doppelganger does. Taun Taun's feel real to me. The Rancor is scary. Even Admiral "It's a Trap" Ackbar is a freaking puppet.

The only puppet in the original trilogy that didn't feel quite real was Salacious Crumb, Jabba's little pet lizard monkey. Crumb is a popular Star Wars character but a little on the annoying side- Definitely a character who is there for the comic relief and not much else. Though he does look pretty scary, I'll give him that.

But could all of these characters have worked as CGI? My short answer is "NO!" Just look what happened to Yoda or Jabba when Lucas put them through the animation treatment. Look at what happened to Sy Snootles for force sake! There are many who argue that the problem with CGI is that it frees the directors to do whatever they think might be cool or funny. Directors are suddenly able to say "Let's have Yoda do a double-force jump in the air!" or "What if Sy Snootles pressed her lips right out against the camera?"

But if I had to give a longer detailed answer about CGI vs. Puppets. Things get a little more complicated. First of all, we know GCI can work. Gollum is proof of this. Actually "Lord of the Rings" does a great job of mixing practical effects with animated effects. The Orcs, for example, are costumed characters. No film-goer would dare say that a CGI orc would have been better than the costumed orcs. But, alas, the orcs weren't puppets. So, I ask again, can puppets really work in modern cinema?

Animatronics technology was used for the Rancor

To find a current filmmaker who still uses puppets, we have to dig a little deeper - as deep as Guillermo del Toro. Guillermo still uses puppetry and animatronic robots in all his projects. Creatures in "Pan's Labyrinth", the "Hellboy" films and even "Pacific Rim" are essentially puppets. The only difference is that del Toro blends the puppetry with some CGI. There's no fake-feel to anything del Toro does. Pan's Labyrinth is pure movie-magic. All movies should feel magical, and CGI rarely aids this process. Bad CGI (like bad puppetry) looks cheap and feels wrong.

An Early Design for Taun Tauns

Abrams seems to have a pro-practical-effects philosophy coming into this film. Fans are starting to feel that and they are jumping on board. Abrams has a lot of pressure on his shoulders, perhaps more pressure than Lucas was under when releasing the prequels. I think some strategically placed-puppets will give the viewers some nice nostalgia whilst giving the Star Wars universe a true 80s movie-magic feeling. This is something big budget films have been missing for, oh, I'd say about 30-years.