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Murray the Monkey

Making a Puppet - Murray the Monkey
Making a Puppet - Murray the Monkey

Murray was 'born' in 1995. He was put together as part of a design project at college, and then went on to star in many of my videos during my course in Media Production. Shortly before, I had spent some weeks work experience at The Children's Channel on a television show called Ratkan. This programme involved puppets, and with their blessing I took a closer look. Very quickly, I realised how light their puppets were, even though they were far bigger than the only puppet I had created myself. Although I could not see the inner workings, it gave me ideas for a new puppet.

I had learned the lessons from making Fiesta, and the Meccano was banished. This time I carved the entire head from a block of foam that I ripped out of an old sofa. Once it was sculpted to the correct shape, I hollowed out a hand-shaped space, and used wire gauze to create the mouth. The head was then covered in ginger fur fabric. With additional details such as black and pink felt for the mouth, ping pong balls for eyes, and brown and black felt as the eye's iris and pupils, his character was brought to life.

The main body was made from ginger fur fabric hiding a few strips of chicken wire, which provided both strength and shape. The arms were also made of fur fabric, but this time filled with cotton wool. The puppeteer's left arm is actually inside the lower part of the Murray's left arm - very much in the same way as the muppet Fozzie Bear. This meant he could pick up items, aiding in the illusion of life. For his right arm, I built a grippable hand. This was done using finger shaped pieces of metal, bound together with elastic bands and covered in fur. Now he could hold his banana! In addition, I built legs and feet, again with fur fabric and cotton wool. To finish him off, I dressed him in a pair of my own discarded cut-off jeans, and a Hawaiian shirt from a charity shop.

In the end, Murray turned out to be sophisticated type of hand puppet. His head is operated with the puppeteer's right arm to move the mouth and neck, and Murray's left arm literally fits like a glove. He was a major jump forward from Fiesta, and was both light (for his size) and easy to work with. He is also the biggest puppet I have built, standing approximately four foot tall, and has the uncanny knack of looking alive even when he is dumped in the corner. He probably needs to sleep off all those bananas.

Murray is an awfully flamboyant, boisterous monkey. Unfortunately he is not the most intelligent of creatures, and is so laid back that he often misses the point of anything important going on around him. His professional biography says he used to work for a company doing 'gorilla grams', but got the sack when his employers discovered he was not a gorilla. Now he works as the DJ for Steam Dragon FM, where as well as playing records with a distinctly banana theme, he also acts as the agony aunt in Uncle Murray's Problem Phone In. Of course, he always includes a banana in the problem solving, believing bananas can solve everything. Well, he is a monkey after all.

Building Murray

Murray
 Concept Art

This website is the copyright of Benjamin Burford-Jones 2014, except quotations and photographs used to illustrate various traditional and television puppets.
No material should be reproduced in any form whatsoever for purposes of commercial gain without obtaining the copyright holder’s express permission. 
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