The Mind Creative APRIL 2014 | Page 13

The Mind Creative March 2014 On the other side of the world, there are evidences of figures with movable arms and legs going back to 600 AD in Mexico while Native Americans have been known to have used ceremonial puppets since centuries. North America is credited to further the popularity of puppetry in the 20th for larger masses. In fact, puppets were introduced to American television in the 1940’s. Later puppeteers like Bil Baird and Jim Henson added global commercial exposure to puppetry through their own theatres, television and films. It was during this period that the Russian master Sergey Obratzsov established puppetry as an influential art form for the masses in spite of Stalin’s insistence on realism. American puppeteers Bil and Cora Baird Russian master puppeteer Sergey Obratzsov Jim Henson with his Muppets 13