August 30, 2004

If you've ever wondered why there are so few feature films made entirely with marionettes, then you're in good company. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone asked that question as they watched rerun after rerun of the 1960's Gerry Anderson tv series "Thunderbirds." Hollywood's conservative herd mentality or simple common sense might have forewarned the pair that marionettes spell trouble. But for Parker and Stone, the courageous producers behind "South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut," "Orgazmo," "Baseketball" and "That's My Bush," the prospect of directing an army of brainless wooden dolls on strings made up to look like celebrities and politicians proved too tempting to pass up.

"Team America: World Police," tells the story of a team of larger-than-life heroes called upon to save America and the world from the scourge of terrorism. All of the 200 plus characters in the movie are portrayed by marionette puppets -- jointed dolls manipulated by thin wires and wooden dowels. These are not only the first marionettes to star in a major motion picture since 1968's "Thunderbird Six," but they are also the first to feature animatronic heads atop marionette bodies.

The story behind the movie began when Parker and Stone fell in love with syndicated re-runs of the "Thunderbirds," a superhero adventure series which used marionettes to depict the characters in the show. The two inquired about the rights for the film and discovered that Universal was producing a live-action version of a "Thunderbirds" movie directed by "Star Trek: Generations'" star Jonathan Frakes. Parker and Stone were intrigued by the choice of director, but extremely disappointed that the movie was based around human actors as opposed to marionettes.

The two felt the best parts of the old "Thunderbirds" TV show were the explosions and the puppets. This made Gerry Anderson's "super-marionettes" from the original "Thunderbirds" a natural fit for "Team America," a satire of Jerry Bruckheimer big-budget action movies and the culture of Hollywood's A-list. Through the use of over 60 marionette bodies and hundreds of interchangeable animatronic heads, the movie depicts personalities across the political and cultural spectrum, from North Korean leader Kim Jung Il to filmmaker Michael Moore.

As early as a few months before the anticipated release date, conservative critics are already protesting the movie's perceived anti-Republican theme. Parker and Stone insist that they spend as much time lampooning liberal Hollywood as they do the current administration and add that they are more interested in producing laughs than making a political statement. Since the entire cast is composed of marionettes, anyone who appears in the movie faces comparison to a brainless wooden puppet manipulated by a team of handlers. The filmmakers have also pointed out that although dozens of celebrity and newsmaker likenesses appear in the movie, a likeness of George Bush does not.

So why don't more marionettes play starring roles in movies? In struggling through the laborious production phase of "Team America: World Police," Parker and Stone found the answer to their question.

Reports from the set indicate that the combination of puppets and animatronics was extremely difficult to work with. Each character required several technicians to make its movements. Apart from the usual production team, it took a crew of 200 just to handle the marionettes themselves. What would have been the simplest gesture for a human actor, like drinking from a cup or walking a few feet, became a feat of engineering for the marionette crew. Because Parker and Stone wrote the script before they had much experience with the puppets, they had to rewrite scene after scene during production as they discovered the limitations of their "actors."

Although never rarely means never in Hollywood, it appears unlikely that Parker and Stone will ever cast another puppet in a leading role again.

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