Mark Dodson, who voiced strange puppet creatures in “Star Wars,” including Salacious B. Crumb, the cackling monkey-lizard pet of Jabba the Hutt, and “Gremlins” films, died on Saturday. He was 64. His death was confirmed in statements on social media by his agent, Peter DeLorme, and the Evansville Horror Con, the Indiana fan convention where […]
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Brazil’s Carnival Only Starts When 12-Foot John Travolta Arrives
It was near the start of one of Brazil’s most famous Carnival celebrations, in the northern seaside city of Olinda, and the town plaza was jammed with thousands of revelers. They were all awaiting their idol. Just before 9 p.m., the doors to a dance hall swung open, a brass band pushed into the crowd […]
Read MoreWhy Are Puppets Everywhere Right Now?
Illustration: Natalie Moreno You know what they say, you either die a hero or live long enough to see the whole world trauma dump on Elmo. It started innocently enough. Elmo – the fuzzy red monster from Sesame Street, who is near-universally beloved despite his irritating habit of speaking in the third person – logged […]
Read MoreNom Nom Nom. What’s the Deal With Cookie Monster’s Cookies?
Years ago, a reader wrote probing for details on a mystery that had vexed him: What’s the deal with the cookies that Cookie Monster eats? The email said nothing else. I chuckled and filed the note in the cupboard of my brain where such things go. Until I realized something: Me want cookies. And me […]
Read MoreMarty Krofft, Co-Creator of Fantastical TV Shows, Dies at 86
Marty Krofft, who, with his brother Sid, created a string of television shows that captured audiences from Saturday morning to prime time, including fantastical children’s fare, like “H.R. Pufnstuf” and “Land of the Lost,” and variety shows, like “Donny and Marie,” died on Saturday in Los Angeles. He was 86. His publicist, Harlan Boll, said […]
Read MoreHundreds of Shadow Puppets Were Stolen. A Bystander Helped Crack the Case.
Inside the U-Haul were nearly 500 handmade shadow puppets and dozens of masks, costumes and backdrops — the culmination of three years of painstaking labor, which, on Sunday evening, came to life in a balletic performance before a crowd of hundreds at a theater in San Francisco. On Monday morning, the puppeteers awoke to find […]
Read MoreThis Effigy-Burning New England Town Still Isn’t Over Benedict Arnold
Connecticut, 1781. New London is burning after British troops — led by Benedict Arnold — raided the town. Dozens of people are dead. Hundreds are hurt. The sky is full of smoke. About a month later, soldiers fight in Yorktown, Va., in the last major battle of the Revolutionary War. A rallying cry: “Remember New […]
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