Supermarionation (a blend of the words "super", "marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. was a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet TV series and feature films of the 1960s. They were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate. The characters in these productions were played by electronic marionettes with a moveable lower lip, which opened and closed in time with pre-recorded dialogue by means of a solenoid in the puppet's head or chest. Most of the productions were science fiction with  puppetry supervised by Christine Glanville, art direction by either Bob Bell or Keith Wilson and music by Barry Gray. They also made extensive use of scale model special effects, directed by Derek Meddings. Development history and use in Anderson productions List of Anderson Supermarionation productions Title Year(s) Format Notes Four Feather Falls 1960 TV series APF's first TV series to use marionettes with fibreglass heads and electronic lip-sync mechanisms. Regarded as the first Supermarionation series by some sources, although the term was not used until the production of Supercar.Sangster and Condon, pp. 318; 726-727. Supercar TV series First production to feature rocket effects, back projection effects and underwater scenes filmed "dry" through water tanks.La Rivière 2009, pp. 56; 61.Hirsch, p. 62. The 13-episode second series was the first to be credited as being "filmed in Supermarionation" and the first for which puppets were copied to allow episodes to be filmed in pairs by separate crews.Hearn, p. 33.La Rivière 2009, pp. 65; 67. It also marked the introduction of a dedicated special effects unit, led by Derek Meddings. Fireball XL5 1962-63 TV series First production to feature front projection effects and puppet heads with blinkable eyes.Bentley, p. 62.La Rivière 2009, p. 103. Stingray 1964-65 TV series APF's first colour series. First production on which puppets' facial expressions could be varied: main characters could now be fitted with "smiler" and "frowner" heads. For greater realism, poseable hands and glass eyes (bearing miniature prints of real human eyes) were also introduced.La Rivière 2009, pp. 97–98.Hirsch, p. 63. Thunderbirds 1965-66 TV series 1966 Nearly all puppet heads were by now made of fibreglass (previously, guest character faces were sculpted in Plasticine).La Rivière 2009, p. 132. "Under-controlled" puppets, lacking wires and operated from the studio floor, were introduced for scenes showing characters sitting – for example, fighter pilots in aircraft cockpits.La Rivière 2009, p. 152. Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons 1967-68 TV series The lip-sync mechanism was moved to the chest, allowing the puppets to be redesigned in natural proportions. Guest characters were now played by a "repertory company" of permanent fibreglass puppets that could be superficially altered for each role (e.g. by adding or removing facial hair).La Rivière 2009, pp. 154-155.Bentley, p. 119. Eyes were now plastic. Thunderbird 6 1968 Feature film The puppets mostly kept their pre-Captain Scarlet body proportions, although heads and hands were made slightly smaller.Bentley, p. 304. First production to feature extensive location shooting.La Rivière 2009, p. 169. Joe 90 1968-69 TV series The Secret Service 1969 TV series Featured extensive footage of live actors. Last series to be "filmed in Supermarionation".Bentley, p. 152. Captain Scarlet S.I.G. 2001 Documentary DVD documentary on the making of Captain Scarlet. Linking sequences feature the puppet characters of Captains Scarlet and Blue. Produced by Gerry Anderson and credited as being "filmed in Supermarionation".Bentley, p. 322. The Andersons' puppet work also included The Investigator (1973), a pilot for an unmade Supermarionation series. This featured both marionette characters and live actors  .Bentley, p. 314.La Rivière 2009, p. 201.   Successor techniques In 1983, Gerry Anderson returned to puppetry with his independent science-fiction TV series Terrahawks. The characters of this series were made as rubber hand puppets, operated from the studio floor in a process called "Supermacromation".Bentley, p. 227. This was similar to the techniques employed by American puppeteer Jim Henson. Revival In the 2010s, producer Stephen La Rivière and his  company Century 21 Films began a revival of Supermarionation. Their productions are listed below. Title Year Format Notes  2014 Documentary Includes newly filmed Supermarionation puppet sequences featuring characters from Thunderbirds.La Rivière 2014, p. 337. Thunderbirds: The Anniversary Episodes 2015 Mini-series Screen adaptations of three Thunderbirds audio plays originally released in the 1960s. Made in celebration of the series' 50th anniversary and filmed using 1960s Supermarionation production methods. Nebula-75 2020 Web series Puppet web series made during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. Filmed in the spirit of APF's early-1960s productions and credited as being "filmed in Supermarionation and Superisolation". Critical response Noting that Gerry Anderson would have preferred to make live-action productions instead of puppet series, Percy argues that his style of filming was developed to "make the puppet film as 'respectable' as possible". She also comments that APF's filming techniques "would not only result in a level of quality and sophistication not seen before in a family show, but also give birth to some of the most iconic series in the history of British children's television." Garland describes the underlying theme of Anderson's work as a "self-reflexive obsession with an aesthetic of realism (or more accurately a surface realism often associated with naturalism) borne of an unfulfilled desire to make live-action films for adults", further commenting that Anderson's typecasting as a puppet TV creator "led him on a lifelong quest to perfect a simulation of reality". He notes that Anderson's involvement with puppets began at a time when Western puppet theatre "had become increasingly marginalised to a niche, to an association with children's entertainment", and that APF's productions used an "aesthetic of incremental realism" to appeal to children and adults alike (a target audience that the Andersons referred to as "kidult").Garland, pp. 62-64. Garland suggests that this drive towards increased realism echoed "19th-century marionette theatre's own attempts to distinguish itself from other forms of puppetry (especially glove puppets), which also involved a tethering to the newly-emergent realist aesthetic across the arts".Garland, p. 66. Non-Anderson productions using similar techniques The puppet series Space Patrol, created by Roberta Leigh and Arthur Provis and filmed by Leigh's company National Interest Picture Productions, used marionettes similar to those of APF's early series (including the use of automatic mouth movement). However, they were made in natural body proportions.  "200" , a 2006 episode of the live-action series Stargate SG-1 , features a self-parody in which the characters are played by Supermarionation-style puppets. Category:1960s in British television Category:  AP Films Category: Puppetry Category:1960s neologism
Supermarionation (a blend of the words "super", "marionette" and "animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. was a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet TV series and feature films of the 1960s. These productions were created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed at APF's studios on the Slough Trading Estate. The characters were played by electronic marionettes with a moveable lower lip, which opened and closed in time with pre-recorded dialogue by means of a solenoid in the puppet's head or chest. The productions were mostly science fiction with the puppetry supervised by Christine Glanville, art direction by either Bob Bell or Keith Wilson , and music composed by Barry Gray. They also made extensive use of scale model special effects, directed by Derek Meddings. Development and use in Anderson productions List of Anderson Supermarionation productions Title Year(s) Format Notes Four Feather Falls 1960 TV series APF's first TV series to use marionettes with fibreglass heads and electronic lip-sync mechanisms. Regarded as the first Supermarionation series by some sources, although the term was not used until the production of Supercar.Sangster and Condon, pp. 318; 726-727. Supercar TV series First production to feature rocket effects, back projection effects and underwater scenes filmed "dry" through water tanks.La Rivière 2009, pp. 56; 61.Hirsch, p. 62. The 13-episode second series was the first to be credited as being "filmed in Supermarionation" and the first for which puppets were copied to allow episodes to be filmed in pairs by separate crews.Hearn, p. 33.La Rivière 2009, pp. 65; 67. It also marked the introduction of a dedicated special effects unit, led by Derek Meddings. Fireball XL5 1962-63 TV series First production to feature front projection effects and puppet heads with blinkable eyes.Bentley, p. 62.La Rivière 2009, p. 103. Stingray 1964-65 TV series APF's first colour series. First production on which puppets' facial expressions could be varied: main characters could now be fitted with "smiler" and "frowner" heads. For greater realism, poseable hands and glass eyes (bearing miniature prints of real human eyes) were also introduced.La Rivière 2009, pp. 97–98.Hirsch, p. 63. Thunderbirds 1965-66 TV series 1966 Nearly all puppet heads were by now made of fibreglass (previously, guest character faces were sculpted in Plasticine).La Rivière 2009, p. 132. "Under-controlled" puppets, lacking wires and operated from the studio floor, were introduced for scenes showing characters sitting – for example, fighter pilots in aircraft cockpits.La Rivière 2009, p. 152. 1967-68 TV series The lip-sync mechanism was moved to the chest, allowing the puppets to be redesigned in natural proportions. Guest characters were now played by a "repertory company" of permanent fibreglass puppets that could be superficially altered for each role (e.g. by adding or removing facial hair).La Rivière 2009, pp. 154-155.Bentley, p. 119. Eyes were now plastic. Thunderbird 6 1968 Feature film The puppets mostly kept their pre-Captain Scarlet body proportions, although heads and hands were made slightly smaller.Bentley, p. 304. First production to feature extensive location shooting.La Rivière 2009, p. 169. Joe 90 1968-69 TV series The Secret Service 1969 TV series Featured extensive footage of live actors. Last series to be "filmed in Supermarionation".Bentley, p. 152. Captain Scarlet S.I.G. 2001 Documentary DVD documentary on the making of Captain Scarlet. Linking sequences feature the puppet characters of Captains Scarlet and Blue. Produced by Gerry Anderson and credited as being "filmed in Supermarionation".Bentley, p. 322. The Andersons' puppet work also included The Investigator (1973), a pilot for an unmade Supermarionation series. This featured both marionettes and live actors but did not include the term "Supermarionation" in the credits .Bentley, p. 314.La Rivière 2009, p. 201. Critical response Noting that Gerry Anderson would have preferred to make live-action productions instead of puppet series, Percy argues that his style of filming was developed to "make the puppet film as 'respectable' as possible". She also comments that APF's filming techniques "would not only result in a level of quality and sophistication not seen before in a family show, but also give birth to some of the most iconic series in the history of British children's television." Garland describes the underlying theme of Anderson's work as a "self-reflexive obsession with an aesthetic of realism (or more accurately a surface realism often associated with naturalism) borne of an unfulfilled desire to make live-action films for adults", further commenting that Anderson's typecasting as a puppet TV creator "led him on a lifelong quest to perfect a simulation of reality". He notes that Anderson's involvement with puppets began at a time when Western puppet theatre "had become increasingly marginalised to a niche, to an association with children's entertainment", and that APF's productions used an "aesthetic of incremental realism" to appeal to children and adults alike (a target audience that the Andersons referred to as "kidult").Garland, pp. 62-64. Garland suggests that this drive towards increased realism echoed "19th-century marionette theatre's own attempts to distinguish itself from other forms of puppetry (especially glove puppets), which also involved a tethering to the newly-emergent realist aesthetic across the arts".Garland, p. 66. Successor techniques In 1983, Gerry Anderson returned to puppetry with his independent science-fiction TV series Terrahawks. The characters of this series were made as rubber hand puppets, operated from the studio floor in a process called "Supermacromation".Bentley, p. 227. This was similar to the techniques employed by American puppeteer Jim Henson. Revival In the 2010s, Stephen La Rivière and his production company Century 21 Films began a revival of Supermarionation. Their productions are listed below. Title Year Format Notes Filmed in Supermarionation 2014 Documentary Includes newly filmed Supermarionation puppet sequences featuring characters from Thunderbirds.La Rivière 2014, p. 337. 2015 Mini-series Screen adaptations of three Thunderbirds audio plays originally released in the 1960s. Made in celebration of the series' 50th anniversary and filmed using 1960s Supermarionation production methods. Nebula-75 2020 Web series Puppet web series made during the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK. Filmed in the spirit of APF's early-1960s productions and credited as being "filmed in Supermarionation and Superisolation". Non-Anderson productions using similar techniques The puppet series Space Patrol, created by Roberta Leigh and Arthur Provis and filmed by Leigh's company National Interest Picture Productions, used marionettes similar to those of APF's early series (including the use of automatic mouth movement). However, they were made in natural body proportions. A Stargate SG-1 episode, "200" ( 2006 ) , features a self-parody in which the characters are played by Supermarionation-style puppets. Category:1960s in British television Category: 1960s neologisms Category: AP Films Category: Puppetr
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Critical response Noting that Gerry Anderson would have preferred to make live-action productions instead of puppet series, Percy argues that his style of filming was developed to "make the puppet film as 'respectable' as possible". She also comments that APF's filming techniques "would not only result in a level of quality and sophistication not seen before in a family show, but also give birth to some of the most iconic series in the history of British children's television."
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Garland describes the underlying theme of Anderson's work as a "self-reflexive obsession with an aesthetic of realism (or more accurately a surface realism often associated with naturalism) borne of an unfulfilled desire to make live-action films for adults", further commenting that Anderson's typecasting as a puppet TV creator "led him on a lifelong quest to perfect a simulation of reality". He notes that Anderson's involvement with puppets began at a time when Western puppet theatre "had become increasingly marginalised to a niche, to an association with children's entertainment", and that APF's productions used an "aesthetic of incremental realism" to appeal to children and adults alike (a target audience that the Andersons referred to as "kidult").Garland, pp. 62-64. Garland suggests that this drive towards increased realism echoed "19th-century marionette theatre's own attempts to distinguish itself from other forms of puppetry (especially glove puppets), which also involved a tethering to the newly-emergent realist aesthetic across the arts".Garland, p. 66.
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Critical response Noting that Gerry Anderson would have preferred to make live-action productions instead of puppet series, Percy argues that his style of filming was developed to "make the puppet film as 'respectable' as possible". She also comments that APF's filming techniques "would not only result in a level of quality and sophistication not seen before in a family show, but also give birth to some of the most iconic series in the history of British children's television."
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