Thread: Creature Cart info???

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If you go to gore-galore-com or look at videos on youtube related to "halloween oversized puppet" then you will see these cool puppet / costumes that can supposedly be worked on a proprietary "creature cart" system.

http://www.gore-galore.com/costumes.php

If you look at this link they show a man diagram working a few levers and what looks like a bicycle brake.

My question is this -- does anybody have any details on how this creature cart system works? Or a photo whithout the costume on it.

I ask because this year I am trying to make a lot of "puppet" props: Creatures controlled by people using various puppet mechanisms. (people are cheaper than animatronics...) So I am always looking for more ideas on how to control things. The puppets on this site are expensive but if I can get the control principles down then I can easily create my own puppets.

I think there's a chord hooked up to that brake and when he sqeezes it, the claws shut (like a bike brake). It seems as if that rod that he's holding on to is attached the the creatures forearm. The back end of the rod is bent a a 90 degree angle to make it easier to hold as the creature is low and you have to crouch. The creature does have an upper arm, that's why it moves realisticly. The whole frame sits on four wheels that ALL PIVOT like shoping cart wheels. It aslo seems as if the body of the creature has a little bit of movement to make it seem more realistic but I wouldn't worry about that. Does that clear it up? If not check out Devil's Chariots puppet (Just to simplify the actual puppet part). Good luck!

It's amazing how much I didn't know about it before you asked. Very close observation is all it takes.

yeah i see, you have great powers of observation. The head just bobbles around on some sort of spring loaded mechanism while he moves the forearms forward and back and to the sides. The forearms have got to be hanging from some sort of sling from the "shoulder hump" in order for him to have enough leverage to move the arms from so far back. On the puppet in the video it is unclear what the bike brake operates. I dont see the claws moving around but maybe they move in some other puppet.

Problem is that he can't see who he is scaring from that angle.

and the lobster uses a slightly different mechanism -- with the L shaped thing like you mentioned

Too bad you cant see how it handles the "sling" system to hang the forearms from. That's where most of the work is being done

The base unit looks like a handcart to me.

Thats pretty cool! I like the entire concept/design! I agree by looking closely you can get a general idea of how it works.