"The doll can't talk." Deng Junjie, a puppet actor in Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, while sorting out the thick doll clothes on his body, told the Beijing News Shell Cai reporter that in the theme park, "in order to better create a sense of immersion, it is strictly forbidden for actors to speak when they work." ”
You can't see the real face, you can't hear the sound, but you must have seen those in cute doll costumes in various theme parks, "dreaming" for every visitor who comes.
图/IC PHOTO
For puppet actors, they are not only faced with smiling faces, likes and even pursuits. Just a few days ago, the topic of "Ling Na Belle's head" rushed to the hot search, in order to maintain the role image, some netizens will Ling Na Belle's puppet actor and role "cut", and the puppet actor is called "inner tank", which has caused more controversy. In addition, it is not uncommon for puppet actors to be slapped by tourists for no reason at work.
The tight doll suits cut off all sight, and the stories of these actors are unknown.
"Anonymous" under the puppet costume
In December, the good weather in Beijing made people unable to resist the urge to go out, and Universal Studios Beijing, which had just opened for more than two months, was crowded. Coinciding with the opening of the park's first season, visitors are excited and joyful to shuttle through large and small projects, highlighting the popularity of this theme park everywhere.
Inundated with visitors, the "Shrek" who had just finished interacting and was ready to leave the scene looked less conspicuous.
Photo / Beijing News reporter Guo Yanbing photo
This friendly green "monster" is the protagonist of the animated film Shrek released in 2001. At this time, the "Shrek" in Universal Studios naturally did not jump out of the movie, but was played by a puppet actor. However, in contrast to the characters in the movie, the "Shrek" in front of him is being supported by two staff members, slowly and little by little, moving forward along the road, as if he can't walk independently, and each step is difficult.
The staff next to him explained: "The puppet suit blocks the actor's view, so it must be carried by someone. ”
Thousands of miles away, in another equally popular theme park, the puppet actors have attracted more attention. Lingna Belle, a character who was born with a Disney aura, gathered unexpected attention in a short period of time. For a time, all major social media seemed to be "swept" by the pink fox, cute memes and videos performed by puppet actors could be seen everywhere, and derivatives of characters were in short supply.
Controversy soon followed, and "Lingna Belle's lower head" rushed to the hot search, because Lingna Belle was accused of "perfunctory" and "disrespectful to tourists" in the process of interacting with tourists. After the incident, some netizens immediately "cut" the puppet actor of Ling Na Belle and the character to maintain the image of the character, and called the puppet actor "inner tank". Subsequently, the term "inner tank" quickly sparked more controversy because it was deemed to be disrespectful to the cast and crew.
"It's good to bring happiness to tourists." Commenting on the feelings about being called the "inner tank", a puppet actor who did not want to be named said so. The thick hood of the doll suit cuts off all sight, and outsiders can't see the expression of the wrapped puppet actor.
"After putting on the doll costume, feel like another self"
When she found the puppet actress Deng Junjie, she was busy rehearsing the New Year's program in Shanghai's Haichang Ocean Park. Taking off the doll costume, this young girl is no different from the others, with a height of about 1.6 meters, looking a little restrained. When asked if she could "spoil" the content of the new show, she replied sheepishly: "Not yet." ”
On November 16, 2018, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park was officially opened, and this day was also the day when Deng Junjie officially joined the company.
During the soft opening of Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, Deng Junjie once came to the park with friends. Coincidentally, she simply came to play and caught a glimpse of the sea lion "Luke" in the crowd, an IP image played by a puppet actor.
Photo: Courtesy of Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park
Luke the Sea Lion is one of the characters of the Haichang Ocean Park IP "Seven Cute Troupe", with a smart personality, likes to perform, and can invent gadgets. Along with Luke are members such as polar bear Bobo, penguin Pam, Dolphin Duoduo, Jellyfish Chirping, and seven friends living happily in Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park and embarking on a magical ocean journey.
"My mom, it's so cute!" At first sight. Even after three years, Deng Junjie, who now recalls that heartwarming moment, still screamed quietly.
In the process of interacting closely with Luke, Deng Junjie became curious about the work of the puppet actor. After returning home, she found the recruitment information of Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park on the Internet, found that there was a vacancy in the puppet actor position, and she quickly submitted her resume, so she successfully entered the job.
For three years, Deng Junjie has been active in the park and on the stage as a puppet actor, bringing joy to countless tourists by playing various roles, which has also become her source of motivation: "I will have a little introverted personality, after putting on the puppet costume, I usually dare not perform what I dare not perform, just like another self." 」 ”
Also in 2018, the dessert kingdom of the fourth phase of Beijing Happy Valley project was opened, which was also the first time that Na Fensan and Yang Jie "debuted" as puppet actors. Unlike Deng Junjie, Na Fensan and Yang Jie are both veteran employees who have worked in Beijing's Happy Valley for more than a decade. Prior to that, Na Fensan and Yang Jie were both dancers at Happy Valley in Beijing.
Photo/ Courtesy of Happy Valley, Beijing
"At that time, the dessert kingdom was open and needed puppet actors to interact with tourists, so I offered to play puppets. When you get close to tourists, you will see that they are happy, and you will also have a sense of accomplishment, that is, the feeling that dreams are realized little by little. Na Fensan recalled, "I hope that while I feel happy, I also bring happiness to everyone." Similarly, Yang Jie also took the initiative to become a puppet actor when the Dessert Kingdom opened. Now, one of them is the "Princess Cocos" and the other is the villain "Berry Face Thief".
The simple puppet suit weighs more than 3.5 kilograms, "summer is like wearing a down jacket for a long run on the beach"
Although the roles are different, the reasons why "Deng Junjie" chose to become puppet actors are all love.
In order to facilitate work and life, Universal Studios Beijing, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, Beijing Happy Valley and other theme parks have staff dormitories, and some theme parks also provide subsidies such as catering subsidies for puppet actors. However, this does not mean that puppet actors are an easy job.
Puppet actors usually have a fixed workflow every day. After the opening of the park, whether it is a public weekday or a holiday, it is necessary to participate in stage performances, float parades, meet-and-greets, tourist interaction and other activities, and there will be time to rest after each performance. During the summer when the park is opened for night shows, puppet actors often need to work until 8 p.m. After work, you also have to work overtime often for training or rehearsals. Deng Junjie estimates that she walks 10,000 to 20,000 steps a day.
After each use, the doll suit needs to be disinfected, and the related matters are usually handled by the clothing group in the park, which is also responsible for the production and daily maintenance of the puppet dress. In addition, due to the impact of the epidemic, puppet actors have also been advised to wear masks when wearing puppet clothes.
The Beijing News shell financial reporter asked some puppet clothing manufacturers to learn that the weight of simple style puppet clothes is usually more than 3.5 kg, and the weight of inflatable doll clothes plus batteries is more than 5 kg. Simple puppet suits usually use a hollow spherical inner membrane made of foam material in the hood as an overall support, and then add a hat that can be worn in the inner film, and connect the hat to the top of the hood through the bracket, and finally fix the hood on the person's head. If the design is fine, the complexity of the puppet suit structure and the overall weight will increase accordingly.
More critical than the support weight is the issue of action. Deng Junjie made an analogy: "After we put on the puppet suit in the summer, the whole person was like running a lot of laps on the beach in a down jacket, which was very hot. Winter is not cold, it still sweats, and the clothes are completely wet. Sweat droplets are very itchy on the face, and they often drip into the eyes, and the eyes cannot be opened when they are hottest. ”
Doll costumes also restrict the actor's movements. "For example, the dolphins of the Seven Cute Group, the killer whale Oak, these dolls belong to the two-headed doll, the doll suit will just get stuck on our calves, the action will be affected, each step may only step out of the distance of half a foot, sometimes others may fall down with a gentle push, and after falling down, we can't get up on our own, so each of our dolls is equipped with one or two customer service personnel to ensure safety."
In order to achieve the performance effect and ensure the safety of the actors, the puppet costume actors need to receive relevant training before taking up their posts. For example, in terms of action, because the window position of each puppet suit may be different, the puppet actor needs to constantly practice the line of sight to minimize the impact of the puppet suit on the field of vision. Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park will also conduct scenario simulation training for puppet actors, such as placing obstacles, simulating how to prevent children from being in blind corners of sight, and so on.
On the other hand, in order to fit the image of the IP, theme parks usually make detailed regulations on the behavior of puppet actors. Among them, Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park has a set of explicit regulations, such as prohibiting acts that damage the image of the character, puppet actors are forbidden to speak during performances, etc., and even when avoiding tourists patting, you need to pay attention to whether the actions when dodging are appropriate. Beijing Happy Valley also has requirements for puppet actors, for example, although Yang Jie's role is a villain, the behavior is characterized by "some stupidity", and it is necessary to present the character characteristics through some uncoordinated small movements from time to time. Nafonsan added that in addition to the usual must-have content such as the "Joyful Operation Guide", the puppet actors will also conduct special training, such as how to express the mood and sorrow of the character through body movements, how to interact with tourists, and a series of skills such as taking pictures.
There were occasional beatings by tourists, and puppet actors were beaten and sent to the emergency room
Despite the day-to-day training, accidents are still difficult to avoid. In 2018, Shanghai Disneyland attracted widespread attention because the puppet actor was nodded by tourists, one of the tourists involved was banned from re-entering the park in the next six months, but the related incidents were still repeatedly prohibited.
"Tourist patting does exist." Na Fensan confessed, "I have also been beaten, and the tourist's heavy punch directly hit me in the chest, which was very painful. I don't know why these tourists would want to hit us, maybe they think it's a way to say hello, but it hurts to hit us. ”
"It's like holding a pot on your head and being slapped by someone next to you, who may not feel anything on the outside, but the people inside hear deafening." Deng Junjie said, "Before there was a little friend in the performance, there was a child who probably thought Luke was too cute, so he beat it, she has been very uncomfortable after she came back, and then directly sent to the hospital emergency department." ”
In addition, in order to ensure the safety of puppet actors, theme parks such as Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park, Beijing Happy Valley, and Universal Studios Beijing will assign puppet actors to maintain order, but it is still difficult to eliminate inappropriate behavior of tourists, which may be a long-term process that requires tourists to reach consensus with the park.
Puppet actors are not a simple job, and the phrase "all the persistence in the world is because of love" is particularly evident in them.
Once, Deng Junjie was at the Shata Restaurant in Haichang, Shanghai, and it was summer, and Deng Junjie was very hot in a doll suit. A child was particularly well-behaved and watched a few puppet actors next to him, and then ran to the vending machine himself, bought a bottle of water and handed it to Deng Junjie. Deng Junjie laughed, "At that time, my tears were swirling in my eyes, really warm and happy." ”
Children often take the initiative to share the sugar in their pockets with Nafonsan and her colleagues. "Although we can't accept it, it is really touching." Nafonsan said, "We don't show our faces, and other tourists can't see us, but if we can bring them a smile, we will be happy." ”
According to Tianyancha data, as of August 2021, there are more than 130,000 domestic theme park-related enterprises. According to the 2021 China Theme Park Competitiveness Evaluation Report, as of 2019, there are 339 theme parks on the domestic standard definition. Under the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, peripheral tours and short-distance tours are prevalent, and the development of theme parks has accelerated. It can be expected that as an important role in the landing of theme park IP, puppet actors are becoming more and more important for the image shaping of theme parks.
This importance may be seen in some details. In the process of finding a puppet actor, a theme park declined the interview request for unexpected and reasonable reasons. The person in charge seriously told the Beijing News shell financial reporter: "The doll is real, not played by an actor. ”
Beijing News shell financial reporter Zheng Yijia
Edited by Li Zheng Proofreader Zhao Lin