Puppets - Stop Motion: Passion, Process and Performance - page 22

works aimed for adult audience, describing philosophical theme, to those fantastic works aimed for
children - I feel as if I am appreciating a high-quality one-act play.
Puppet animation is a dynamic art form which allows us to do something closest to the gods, or perhaps,
even more than the gods, as it gives life to things without life. As such, I well understand the feeling of
the fi lm-makers who become captivated by puppet animation. And, I am happy that, today, there are
many artists who create puppets professionally and enthusiastically aimed for puppet animation, and
also, that there are so many fans around the world who love this art form profoundly.
Sayoko Kinososhita and me, Tokyo, 1992.
Exciting and imaginative stories have always been told, sometimes to make sense of or to justify
things not understood, sometimes to boast, sometimes to escape a harsher reality, sometimes to
seduce, sometimes to l atter, sometimes to record, sometimes to caution, sometimes to pass on
or sometimes to excite with the simple pleasure of a darn good yarn. Inevitably these stories get
elaborated and embroidered, with the boring details left out. Most of them are told with relish,
the success of the story more often depending on the telling. The stories can wander so far from
the actual events that they become almost abstract, or symbolic, although the l avour, the point
and intent of the original are still there, albeit in a heightened, more stylised and dramatic form.
This is where animators come in. My immediate reaction to animation is of a
good story, a good idea, told with complete and utter joy for storytelling taken
to imaginative extremes, using all the elements of sound, music, movement,
design and character. Using animation to tell a realistic story would seem to be
a waste of its potential. Using animation to tell a credible story with l amboyant
relish is another matter. I get the same satisfaction from good animation as I do