TV commercials have started hitting the airwaves for “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” which makes its big screen debut Nov. 16, and Mr. Punch, one of four puppets created for the film by Cincinnati-based puppet artist Kevin Frisch, is definitely ready for his close-up.

 

“He’s in a red bed and is wearing a blue nightcap,” says Frisch. You can also spot Mr. Punch for a nano-second in the movie trailer. He’s lying in bed and wakes up and Natalie Portman gives him a sunny “Good morning!”

 

Frisch also created a rod puppet of Portman for the film and says if you go to the movie’s Web site – www.magorium.com – some of the wallpaper has toy balloons floating around and, Frisch laughs, you can spot the Portman puppet inside one of them, but “you probably need a magnifying glass.”

 

Frisch reports that he was contacted in spring 2006 when one of the film’s production teams came across the Frisch Marionette Web site and got in contact. There’s also a Buster Keaton marionette which Frisch believes made the film’s final edit. You can get a look at Marcel on the Frisch Marionettes home page.

 

Frisch adds that “The American Puppet,” a docu that chronicles the stories and history of American puppetry and puppeteers and has aired on PBS stations, was released on DVD in October and is a great place to spot Frisch Marionettes throughout the film.