[Master puppeteer Michael] Curry climbed inside the projected Dumbo image and pretended to manipulate the ears with his arms. But how to move the head, trunk and legs at the same time? And then came Currys a-ha moment.
Within two days, his crew had crafted an aluminum frame attached to a flying harness that allowed a puppeteer hidden inside the elephant to create sympathetic motions linking, say, a head tilt to a body twist with a simple hand movement.
Careful to minimize the overall weight of the Dumbo puppet, Currys crew crafted a lightweight frame with the puppeteers upper body positioned inside the elephants carbon-fiber head and the performers lower extremities inside the pachyderms inflatable body.
With an economy of motion, the puppeteer manipulates both ears with one hand and the head and trunk with the other hand. The puppeteers legs operate Dumbos front legs while the elephants rear legs remain motionless.
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