Pinocchio
An English toymaker has been handpicked by Disney to share his skill with the world, for the 70th anniversary DVD release of Pinocchio.
Cyril Hobbins has been billed as the modern day Gepetto, and stars in his own special feature on the DVD called Gepetto’s Now and Then.
A childhood fan of the world’s most famous wooden boy, Cyril has delighted children over the years by single-handedly resurrecting a dying art form with his toy making skills.
In these tough economic times, why not have a go at following Cyril's steps with your child, to make a simple wooden marionette like Pinocchio.
Tools List:
A fine wood saw
Thin-nose pliers
Small drill or a sharp bradawl
Fine marker pens - permanent are best
Medium sand-paper
Materials List:
Any suitable softwood to cut into blocks as shown
Small screw-eyes
A large cup-hook
Thin cord or string
Woodworking adhesive/glue
You will need wood suitable for the head and body blocks, for limbs and for the simple two-piece controller
Very often odd lengths of wood can be found round the home or can be salvaged from DIY project but most DIY stores will be happy to supply you with small off-cuts if you ask nicely. Don’t worry about exact dimensions just use your eyes to cut each block in proportion.
Method:
1: Mark out then carefully cut the head and the body blocks to the sizes chosen:
2: Mark out then cut the smaller sections of wood into the eight parts that make up your puppet’s limbs:
3: Use sandpaper to rub the edges and corners of all the wooden parts until smooth, then use marker pens to draw the face plus any other detail:
4: Count out 20 small screw eyes then, using the thin-nose pliers carefully prize open the join of 10 of them, so that they can be linked together then pinched shut again after assembly:
5: Use a fine drill or a sharp bradawl point to help mark and position where each screw-eye is to be screwed in:
6: Assemble each part until you have a dingly-dangly loose-limbed figure:
7: Drill the holes in the two controller bars as shown then, in the centre of the back one screw in the large cup-hook:
8: Stringing the puppet can be a little frustrating at first but to make things much easier it is best to tie a loop of string to the controller so that it can be hung from a hook or even from a door-handle. Begin by tying the first control cords from the ear hooks each side of the puppets head up to the controller as shown; this stabilises the figure for the rest of the stringing:
9: Once you are happy that each string is secure and that the figure is hanging just right a small dab of glue on each knot will prevent them slipping undone:
10. Job done – start playing with your very own Pinocchio.
Pinocchio is released on two-disc Platinum Edition Disney DVD and Blu-ray Disc on 9th March 2009.