Lemmy and his trusty Rickenbacker bass and his pal Wendy O. Williams with her chainsaw. These marionettes were made by Canadian artist, Darren Moreash of Darrionettes.
If there is one thing I have learned as a contributor to Dangerous Minds for the last seven years is this—you can always count on the members of this collective to bring things to your attention that you perhaps did not know existed. I’ve done this many times myself here, including when I wrote about the fact an anatomically correct GG Allin marionette exists, poop stains, and all dubbing him the “Masturbator of Puppets.” I still get a kick out of that wordplay because I am, as far as you know, a fifteen-year-old boy. Also, my DM colleague, the always intriguing Paul Gallagher posted about these gorgeous marionettes fashioned after rock and roll royalty last summer, and boy, did you all dig that (as you should).
Anyway, as people do, I recently spent too much time scrolling through my social media feeds and looking at old photos of Alice Cooper from the early 70s and BOOM. Suddenly there was a photo of Alice holding an Alice Cooper puppet by its little paddle control that pulls its strings, and the search to find out more began.
This brings us to Canadian artist (and stand-up metal fan, I might add) Darren Moreash—the self-dubbed “Geppeto” of Harrietsfield, Nova Scotia. And Moreash’s efforts have brought him good fortune. Apparently, when he was still dating his soon-to-be wife, he gifted her with an Alice Cooper marionette. In 2012, Cheap Trick used puppets Moreash made in their images for their video “I Want You For Christmas.” Of the countless marionettes Moreash has produced during his lifetime, he has been able to gift them to many of his childhood heroes like Lemmy Kilmister and Stan Lee.
Now, I have to say that my kid went through a phase when he was a little kiddo, during which he became quite enamored with marionettes. And I gotta say, they were a lot of fun to play with once you got the hang of making them move the way you wanted. If I had known about Moreash during that time period, I would absolutely be the proud owner of a David Bowie marionette that I would lie to people about, telling them it’s really for my kid. In the past, Moreash’s marionettes have been auctioned off for charity fetching as much as $500. Anyway, as it’s the photos you came here for so, I’ll stop jawing so you can keep scrolling and see some of Moreash’s marionettes. If you are curious, yes, it does appear that you can get in touch with Moreash and have one of his wooden creations for your very own, such as his latest, a marionette in honor of the Bernie Sanders mitten meme. More info on that, here.
Feel the BERN!
Booji Boy!
Mark Mothersbaugh of DEVO wearing his red energy dome.
Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman.
Peter Gabriel.
Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy.
Frank Zappa.
Andy Kaufman.
Dr Frank-N-Furter and Riff Raff from ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’
The Dude abides. As a marionette.
‘Earache my Eye’ versions of Cheech and Chong.
Bootsy Collins.
The Headmaster from ‘Pink Floyd: The Wall.’
Ziggy sticking it to that fucking Elf on the Shelf.
Another David Bowie marionette as Pierrot from the ‘Ashes to Ashes’ video.
Charles Manson.
The image that started all this!
Moreash’s Cheap Trick marionettes take the place of the actual members of Cheap Trick in the 2012 video for ‘I Want You for Christmas.’
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Masturbator of puppets: The anatomically correct GG Allin marionette
Marionettes & the mythological world of Austrian puppeteer Richard Teschner
Your favorite rock ‘n’ roll, country and R&B legends as marionettes
‘Let My Puppets Come’: The 1976 puppet porn that nobody asked for but we got anyway
Disturbingly large puppets of the Tall Man from ‘Phantasm’ & the evil sewer-dwelling clown Pennywise
Jumping jack dancing ‘puppets’ of Klaus Nomi, David Byrne, Kathleen Hanna & many more
Paul Klee’s awesomely charming hand puppets
Topless crocheted finger puppets of Tura Satana, Wendy O. Williams, Siouxsie Sioux & other bad girls