Hand-Rod Muppet

Jim and Brian Henson demonstrate hand-rod puppets.

Steve Whitmire and Kermit, a hand-rod puppet.

Jerry Nelson and Steve Whitmire perform hand-rod puppets on Fraggle Rock.

A hand-rod puppet, a style developed by Jim Henson, is a puppet which is controlled by both hands. The puppeteer's dominant hand goes into the head of the puppet, operating the mouth, and at times, facial features. Their less dominant hand controls a rod connected to each of the puppet's hands. The puppeteer can control either one or both of the arms. Moving the rods believably is similar to learning how to use chopsticks. These rods tend to be painted black, and have wooden dowels connected at the bottom for easier grip. Popular examples of this type of puppet are Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, Grover, Elmo, and hundreds of others. Hand-rod puppets tend to have smaller arms and hands than live-hand puppets, in order to be proportionate to their body.