Puppet vs Muppet
It is hard to expect kids of today to know about puppets though there was a time when puppets and puppetry used to be an important part of the lives of people, especially kids living in rural areas. These puppets were sources of entertainment for people and puppeteers told stories making these dolls sing, talk, and dance through their fingers. There is another category of dolls that are seen on television these days that are called muppets. These muppets look like puppets in all aspects making people wonder whether they are just another type of puppets. This article takes a closer look at puppets and muppets to come up with their differences.
What is a Puppet?
If you type puppet on Google and look at the images, you can find a huge assortment of dolls of animals, human beings, and birds that are miniature in size and look comical. These figures have clothes on but are hollow inside and have free heads and even hands and legs that are attached with strings. A puppeteer can make these figures perform many things by controlling these strings to regale the audience. For small children these puppets are very interesting as they think they are live and performing whereas these are inanimate dolls that are moved by the puppeteer. In old times when there were few mediums of entertainment, puppet shows were much loved and appreciated by people, especially kids. Today, large size puppets with human beings inside them are used during parades and carnivals to regale the onlookers. In sharp contrast are the finger puppets that are so small that they fit on a single finger and can be made to entertain others.
What is a Muppet?
Muppets are the puppets created by Jim Henson in 1955. He made many different characters of these puppets giving each one a different name. These Muppets or characters are owned by Walt Disney at present though Jim Hansen used them in many movies and TV serials that were telecasted across the globe in different languages. People laughed at these funny characters and their humor. After Hansen died, the rights to make movies and serials with muppets were bought by Walt Disney, and the company has been making movies and serials on a commercial basis with the latest movie being The Muppets, released in 2011.
What is the difference between Puppet and Muppet?
• Puppet is a generic name for miniature dolls of animals, birds, and human beings being used since ancient times in various civilizations across the world.
• Muppets are funny characters designed by Jim Henson in 1955.
• Miss Piggy, Elmo, Big Bird, etc. are the names of the Muppets designed by Hansen.
• Muppets are a special type of puppets just like Ford is a type of car.
• Muppet is a brand currently owned by Walt Disney.
• Muppets are also available as toys for small kids though they are better known as funny characters in TV shows that are telecasted all over the world.
• Puppets are much older than muppets.
• Only Muppet Studio can make use of the name muppets for its movies whereas puppets are generic in nature.
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