Mackinnon and Saunders- Character creation

Mackinnon and Saunders have created puppets for many stop motion films and commercials, with over 30 years experience, and even received a lifetime achievement award at Bradford Animation Festival this year.

Their puppets are intricately designed and built by a team of expert modellers. 

Some of the big feature films that they have worked on include Tim Burton's 'Corpse Bride' and 'Frankenweenie', and Wes Andersons ' Fantastic Mr Fox. They've also created the puppets for children's TV shows like 'Bob the Builder'.

Their characters are made by creating a metal armature made intricately with many screws and bolts etc allowing the metal skeletons to move fluidly. They then cast the faces and bodies etc in latex, so that they move better than they would with plasticine. The mouths and eyes can be controlled by tiny screws in the skull that can be adjusted to create realistic movements.

The costumes are then hand made by the costume department who make sure that their outfits flow and move realistically.