April Puppet Poll (Patreon)

Happy Spring everybody!
As we explore the start of a season of refreshng autonomy and freedom, we're going to be looking at characters caught up in thngs larger than themselves, pulled by strings they themselves can't see and striving for more. To that end, we have 3 classics to select from this time around:

Pinocchio
Disney’s second feature really needs no introduction. It has astonishingly detailed animation and one of the most iconic songs in film history, “When You Wish Upon a Star”. It also served as some of the inspiration for AI, which we watched last year. This would also be a nice followup to viewing Fantasia, which was in production concurrently with this.  

Little Shop of Horrors Frank Oz’s adaptation of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken’s off-Broadway musical hit, itself a loose adaptation of a 60s Roger Corman movie, tells the story of a lonely guy taking care of a man-eating monster plant. There’s a lot to discuss with this one. It features a plethora of cameos including Steve Martin, Bill Murray, and John Candy, as well as a great lead performance by Rick Moranis. How the Audrey II puppet was brought to life is some incredible ingenuity, and the puppetry on display is still mind boggling. We’d be watching the original director’s cut, with the dark ending test audiences rejected, followed by the happier ending the film was released with, and discuss why the switch was made.  

Evil Dead II This has a surprising amount of puppets, and honestly we need to put something in here that might not make it into the next puppet movie block. After Sam Raimi and company’s first attempt at a big studio film ended in disaster, the gang decided to make a sequel (and semi-remake) of their celebrated debut, this time with a bigger budget and an emphasis on slapstick comedy. The result is one of the most beloved horror comedies of all time and an acting showcase for B-movie legend Bruce Campbell.