Hey folks, Harry here. I've been getting quite a bit of email, especailly from folks in Taiwan that are flabbergasted that I would suddenly 'make a big deal' out of traditional Taiwanese Glove Puppetry. You see folks, I've learned that on Taiwan Television... for generations, a show based around these characters has existed. Not only that, but apparently there has been one family behind it all.... going back generations. The Huang family has been the family at the forefront of traditional Taiwanese Glove Puppetry.
Through one AICNer, I am going to acquire some of the episodes of the television version of this stuff... which is apparently minus the expensive computer effects that you see so evident in the actual feature film, LEGEND OF THE SACRED STONE.
One fan, Jason, was a bit astonished that I was showing interest in this. But folks, it's this simple. Who would have dreamed that POKEMON would've succeeded like it has in this country? Or MIGHTY MORPHIN POWER RANGERS or ANIME's success? In the United States there is a history of puppet films and television that has been quite successful. BEANY AND CECIL, HOWDY DOODY, SESAME STREET, THE MUPPET SHOW and movies, Dark Crystal, THUNDERBIRDS, etc...
Now, from Taiwan, comes this puppet cinema where it combines the use of puppetry with Martial Arts, Fantasy and a bit of science fiction to be something entirely new.... maybe not to the folks in Taiwan, but to American Audiences yes. With the right voice casting and marketing push... Re-dubbing the original tv series for children's programming in the US... there is a possibility of a gigantic market in the United States for this medium. All it would need is a studio to get behind it. A studio that would look at the Huang family's work and have their own personal light bulb go off.
Is it really so far-fetched to believe that a martial arts fantasy sci fi puppet film with a great deal of CGI could become giganticly popular in the U.S.? I don't think so. Now, unfortunately for folks like me, the right way to do this is take the time to deliver it to American audiences over a period of a couple of years... to build a public awareness of the format and style. But ultimately if you build it, the market is there.
Here's Jason with a bit of info on this format:
Anyway, in the second post you had several pics up. In the poster the top line states (roughly) "Bring you into a world that surpasses human love." Anyways, this puppet show expands 10+ series, and all have "pili" in front of their title, the story is complex and the characters are numerous, I myself only have 4 of the series. It has both of the main characters in the movie, Su Huan-Jen and Ao Hsiao Hong-Chen (who's name literally means "laughing at the world")
