A very old form of spectacle, Puppet Shows use some kind of puppetry to feature their characters in real-time (setting it apart from animation, including Puppet Stop Motion). Mostly seen within children's entertainment, but also used for satirical parodies, with puppets caricaturing real-life people.
There are two main categories of such shows:
- Hand Puppets, the most well-known being Jim Henson's The Muppets.
- Marionettes, mostly using Supermarionation. Usually features down-to-scale decors.
Other possible types include:
- Animatronic puppets, a modern development of Muppets.
- People in Rubber Suits, a.k.a. Suitmation, which can appear alongside either type (on the same scale with hand puppets, or as giants with marionettes).
An otherwise human-centric show using a few puppet characters doesn't belong here. However, some Puppet Shows, while using mainly hand puppets or animatronics, may also involve some human characters and thus tread the line. Marionette shows can also make use of live animals to figure monsters. For the people who perform them, see Puppeteers.
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Animatronic Puppets
Films
- The Dark Crystal
- Labyrinth (only had three human characters for most of the movie)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (largely live-action, but the main characters are these)
TV Series
- The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
- Dinosaurs
- Fourways Farm (the characters are all robots)
- The Storyteller (the main characters are generally human, but monster characters and the Storyteller's dog are animatronic puppets)
- Swamp Critters
- Tweenies (overlaps with People in Rubber Suits)
Hand Puppets
Fan Works
Films
- The Happytime Murders
- Little Alvin and the Mini-Munks
- Meet the Feebles
- The Muppets Films & Specials:
- The Christmas Toy
- Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas
- The Great Muppet Caper
- Hey Cinderella!
- It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie
- The Muppet Christmas Carol
- A Muppet Family Christmas
- The Muppet Movie
- The Muppet Musicians of Bremen
- Muppet Treasure Island
- The Muppets (2011)
- A Muppet's Christmas: Letters to Santa
- Muppets from Space
- Muppets Most Wanted
- The Muppets Take Manhattan
- The Muppets' Wizard of Oz
- Muppet*Vision 3D
- Muppet Classic Theater
- The Tale of the Bunny Picnic
- Tales from Muppetland: The Frog Prince
- Thunderbolt Fantasy: The Sword of Life and Death
- Scooby-Doo! Adventures: The Mystery Map
- Strings (2004)
Music
- Doctor Steel's rare live shows feature one, which include both hand and stick puppets.
- The videos for "Sing" and "Happier" by Ed Sheeran feature a puppet based on him.
TV Series
- 31 Minutos
- The Adventures of Timmy the Tooth
- Allegra's Window
- The Basil Brush Show
- Between the Lions
- Big Bag
- The Big Garage
- The Book of Pooh
- Käpt'n Blaubär
- Charlie Horse Music Pizza
- Chicken Minute
- Crank Yankers
- DC Follies
- Don't Eat the Neighbours
- Eureeka's Castle
- The Ferals
- The Great Space Coaster
- Greg the Bunny
- Les Guignols de l'info
- Hallo Spencer
- Hector's House
- It's a Big Big World
- Johnny and the Sprites
- Julie's Greenroom
- The Junior Christian Science Bible Lesson Program
- Kingdom Adventure
- Lamb Chop's Play-Along
- LazyTown
- The Letter People
- Die Liewe Heksie
- Little Mermaid's Island
- Michael Bentine's Potty Time
- Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
- Mongrels
- Mother Goose Treasury
- The Mr. Potato Head Show
- The Muppets TV Shows:
- The Noddy Shop
- Oobi (also fits under Muppet shows)
- The Pajanimals
- Peppermint Park
- Pets
- Puppets Who Kill
- The Puzzle Place
- Roger and the Rottentrolls
- Rosie and Jim (although it mostly focuses on real life)
- A Scare at Bedtime (interspersed with live-action segments)
- Seemore's Playhouse
- The Sifl and Olly Show
- The Sooty Show
- Space Knights
- Spitting Image
- Süsü, a sárkány
- Terrahawks
- That Puppet Game Show
- Thunderbolt Fantasy
- Toby Terrier And His Video Pals
- Today's Special
- Tots TV
- Under the Umbrella Tree
- Weinerville
- What's in the Bible?
- Wimzie's House
- Wonder Showzen
- Wulin Warriors
- Yonderland
Stage Shows
Web Original
- Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (with one character who is a person in a suit and some computer animation)
- The Funday Pawpet Show
- Glove and Boots
- Neil's Puppet Dreams
- Puppet Power
- Steve D'Monster
- Technicolor Dreams
Marionettes
Films
TV Series
- Anytime Tales (overlaps with Stop Motion)
- The numerous Augsburger Puppenkiste productions in Germany
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons
- Fireball XL5
- Joe 90
- Die Liewe Heksie
- Mr. Squiggle
- Rimini Riddle
- Space Patrol (the British series)
- Star Fleet / Bomber X
- Stingray (1964)
- Strange Hill High
- Supercar
- Topo Gigio
- Thunderbirds
Suitmation
Films
TV Series
