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Art Style: Puppets?


DZComposer

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The original idea for Star Fox was based on British Puppet dramas like The Thunderbirds. Miyamoto had mentioned liking that style. Even planets were name after puppet shows (Papetoon was named after Puppetoon, a type of puppetry made famous by George Pal).

Lately, Nintendo has been experimenting with unusual art styles. You had Kirby's Epic Yarn, which featured Kirby draw with pieces of yarn. This was developed further with Yoshi's Woolly World with a crochet look to everything but the piranha plants. And we also have Kirby and the Rainbow Curse which looks like everything is made of clay.

What if the new Star Fox game's art style looked like puppetry? The Wii U is Nintendo's first console that could do it convincingly.

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I think Miyamoto brought up Thunderbirds when he was talking about Star Fox U as well, so it's very possible that they'd go that route. It would be cool, lord knows the series could use an artstyle update.

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I just saw that. It really seems like Miyamoto sees the chance to create his original vision for Star Fox. He's brought up "TV shows" several times, and you're right, he did mention the Thunderbirds specifically.

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If it was puppet-like, that would be a much welcomed change. But I'm also wary because sometimes these puppet things can be creepy, so there would need to be a balance between normal style anthro and puppet style anthro that won't look like nightmare fuel.

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The Fantastic Mr. Fox but a video game in space, basically.

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Oh man I'd be all excite for this. Especially if they cranked in as much old school anime space opera tropes as possible.

 



:D
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That guy at 0:16 looks like Andross.

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Well we got the SNES Star Fox team as puppets already. 

 

The thing about the Thunderbirds is that Miyamoto not only wants Star Fox to be a more episodic story line, much like Thunderbirds was, but also filled with more unique mecha (note: in Japan mecha means more than giant robots and can include spaceships, aircraft, etc.) like the Thunderbirds team had. We saw this with the various unique Arwings and mothership in Star Fox 2 and in 64 with the Great Fox, Arwing, Landmaster, and Blue Marine.

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As long as they actually make them look good and don't mess it up like they did back in 1993, I'm cool with the idea. it's definitely possible since technology has advanced since then and they can use CGI to render them.

 

I still think this would be the best ideal design for Fox in a new game though;

 

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I could get used to this idea, though I'd rather they didn't but what evs.

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I think it would be cool to see them experiment with different ideas, as long as the final game is good.

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  • 1 month later...

I'd much rather they didn't make it like a puppet programme. I've never been one for puppet stuff. Although be that as it may, even if it was like a puppet programme, I'd still definitely buy it. :)

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I always thought the Starfox puppets looked like tacky repurposed lawn décor. Heck, growing up, our next-door neighbors had a creepy statue on their walkway that was almost identical to the Fox puppet on the cover of the SNES game, albeit in a jockey's uniform. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they were just modified lawn statues.

 

Also, puppets are like clowns. Maybe Miyamoto, who grew up in 1950s Japan, found them cute and endearing, but I think anyone anywhere who grew up after the 1960s (the time of the John Wayne Gacy killings and the Chucky movies) is pretty skeeved out by them.

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  • 3 months later...

Sorry for posting in the abandoned threads, but I just looked this up. So where did the furries idea come from???

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I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they were just modified lawn statues.

They weren't. They were functional puppets:

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  • 2 years later...
On 11/28/2014 at 9:48 PM, DZComposer said:

 

They weren't. They were functional puppets:

 

 

Yes, this is quite true. But i have a feeling that these puppets also serve as fur suits. I was roaming the beautiful world of the internet until I've discovered an image I've never seen, maybe not one person, even. This was something I wanted to solve the longest for myself and others, so let me shine the searchlight on this image of the functional puppet featured in the video, exclusive to this website-> https://cgworld.jp/interview/1502-entry010-admiration.html59a73ca6cfa82_OHMYGODIFOUNDIT!!!1992Mr.YamazakiwhooperatesMuppetforSuperFamicomStarFoxCM.thumb.jpg.5ea32d71fa78ee9baac277e7da9f5ce7.jpg

This one is completely different from the one with DEM LEGS!

tumblr_nwazvtBZan1tu022ro1_1280.thumb.png.590c46a4d3221fd975cfea5452e04b10.png

So...My theory now is that they made 2 types, I suppose? hmm...if they brought these back for a commercial, let it be Star Fox 2...

Edited by Fapples
"Furpet?" Man I've been up too late
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Nice photo find! Suppose it makes sense they made a second one for the commercials.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sorry for the bump, I'm not very active here anymore.

Anyway, this is quite an interesting find. Not sure how that puppet can be a suit, though, unless it is intended for a small child, though it does appear to be mounted on a helmet. Though one of the things AP Films did with the Thunderbirds for some shots was to have an actor reach in front of the puppet to make it seem like the puppet had fully functional hands. Given that AP Films was Miyamoto's inspiration, I'm thinking this is what they did, especially after re-watching the video.

Interesting to see that Takashi Yamazaki was involved with these puppets.

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The commerical puppet does seem to lack hands, so they were probably meant for a physical actor to use yes.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 6 years later...
On 11/26/2014 at 6:39 PM, geoprimedonna said:

Sorry for posting in the abandoned threads, but I just looked this up. So where did the furries idea come from???

Almost a decade late, but the story I've heard is that the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine was close to where Nintendo was based, with rows and rows of gates. 

Spoiler

1862613672_Torii_path_with_lantern_at_Fushimi_Inari_Taisha_Shrine_Kyoto_JapanSmall.jpeg.004c530d6f778c95ac10414bd16751a7.jpeg

And at the end of these gates sits a fox.
 

Spoiler

1931521239_kitsune-fox-in-japanese-stands-sentry-with-key-to-rice-granary-at-fushimi-inari-taishaSmall.jpeg.e1f93117dd9b5083dc14313d36070cdd.jpeg

And then the term "Fighting like dogs and monkeys" was thrown around, which is like the equivalent of "cats and dogs". So that became General Pepper and Andross. 

I'll take an excerpt from a Eurogamer article to explain the rest:

"The aerial shooter's arches, through which Arwings fly, reminded Miyamoto of Japanese shrine gates, and in particular one often linked with the imagery of a fox. A baseball team near his former studio who used this imagery was also named the Foxes. "So it was the English word 'fox' from the start."

The game's other animal races were derived from Japanese folk tales, except for Slippy Toad. He was inspired by a former member of staff.

"There was a staff member who used a toad like a personal mascot," Miyamoto explained, "always writing 'ribbit, ribbit' and such on memos.""

But yeah, hope this notification on a decade old thread finds you well! I should definitely dig into more of the games development. 

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