Limelight on Content Providers

Can that Cat Really Talk?
The Center for Puppetry Arts, a long time provider of dynamic educational programming through videoconference, can now answer that question. The Center recently acquisitioned Salem, an animatronics cat puppet, from the popular TV sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The series ran from 1996 to 2003.

In 2006, the Center for was awarded an NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) Planning Grant. They are now working with puppetry scholars around the nation to create an acquisition list of items to fill the gaps in the museum collection. In North America, puppetry has played a large role in television, film, and pop culture. The Center has several pieces that reflect this area of puppetry (Pigs in Space from The Muppet Show and a Skekis from The Dark Crystal). Salem, used in both film and television, adds to this area of necessary acquisitions.

What does this latest acquisition mean for educators?
The Center is in the midst of developing a wonderful new program to be offered over videoconference. The puppeteer who manipulated Salem, Thom Fountain, will present a videoconferencing program offering a behind-the-scenes look at puppetry in Hollywood. Program highlights include: the puppets and particular props used on the series, demonstration of manipulation techniques, episode clips from the series and the movies, prepping for an episode, and a typical production week. The program will be offered on May 14th from 1:00-2:00 pm EST. It may be repeated depending upon the response received. For more information, contact the center.

The rest of the story…

• It took five years of working with Viacom and then Paramount Pictures to finally get Salem to the Center.
• The Center initially received two other puppets/props from the production: Hillary, Salem’s girlfriend from the film Sabrina Down Under, and prop of Salem as a waffle (In one episode, Salem gets turned into a waffle by one of Sabrina’s aunts).
• Salem, in addition to his costumes and various props, is officially on "permanent loan" because movie studios never relinquish their rights to items used in productions.
• The puppeteer who manipulated Salem, Thom Fountain, worked on the effort to bring Salem to the Center. Thom divides his time between Atlanta and Hollywood, but remains active in Hollywood. Thom has worked on several movies as a puppeteer including Men in Black and Team America.
• The Center also recently acquired Gumby and Pokey.

Check out other highly rated programs offered by the Center for Puppetry Arts. To search for this and programs by other providers, visit www.cilc.org click Education Content > Content Provider Programs. Select Center for Puppetry Arts, or the provider of your choice, in the drop down list of providers.

Article by:
Patty Petrey Dees
Distance Learning Program Director & Museum Special Projects Coordinator
Center for Puppetry Arts

Julia Shildmyer-Heighway
Director of Content Services, CILC

Fred Newman: Stories, Voices and Real Life!
Friday, March 9, 2007

This one time event was sponsored by the Young Dyslexics of The Indiana Chapter of the International Dyslexia Association and managed by CILC.

POP! BING! MEEEROOOOWWW! The ‘mouthsounds’ of Fred Newman emanated from 16 videoconferencing sites reaching over 800 students from Kindergarten through eighth grade connecting from Texas, Indiana, Michigan, Kansas, West Virginia, and New York. Known for his talents in voice and sound effects in Gremlins I & II, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, the cartoon Doug, the PBS award-winning series Between the Lions, and the weekly public radio program, A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor, Fred turned to videoconferencing to inspire students and talk about celebrating their differences and their talents.

He told them what it was like to grow up in Georgia learning to be a storyteller from home-spun roots and used a mix of Q&A and storytelling to emphasize to students the importance of embracing their talents and following their dreams. Fred had the students trying their own "mouthsounds" as he shared ‘tricks of the trade,’ his favorite sounds, and some the ‘hardest sounds’ for him to make. His casual performance allowed for questions from the onsite students as well as questions sent in by some of the participating sites. Mr. Newman left the students trying new sounds with the suggestion that they Learn, Have Fun, Be Nice to People, and Dream.

One teacher stated that this "was not really a program that teaches a new skill, more like a new attitude. It was very effective for that. . .It shows us what some of our more active students who have a great deal of trouble focusing in class can possibly do with their problem to turn it around and make it work for them instead of against them."

Another educator says, "WOW! WOW! WOW! That was awesome! . . .The principal kept bringing kids into the room that were out in the hall because she just wanted every kid to see that program."

Hats off to Fred for sharing his time and talent as well as the Young Dyslexics for this tremendous program!

Note: Fred Newman was diagnosed with dyslexia when he was in college.

Event Management
CILC offers comprehensive videoconferencing event management services. Whether you need assistance with all aspects of event planning, or just select components, we are available to assist you. Contact Tonia Carriger at 317-231-6587.