For Mean Girls, the director wanted a lion puppet to appear in the first scene to show the companionship Cady shared with animals. We decided we wanted to put one of the kids in a Lion King-style rod puppet.

This was my first attempt ever at making a puppet, so I learned a lot as I went. I mocked one version out of plywood to make sure the mechanism would work. I had to put a weight belt as well as back straps on the chest piece of the puppet to make sure the puppeteer could carry the weight of it. I also added two rods that went to the lion’s feet so the puppeteer could make it walk as they walked.

I then made a second out of Palight and laminated 2-3 layers of foam on top of each piece. I then carved the foam downgiving it more detailed contours. The head was done using many refrence mages of lion faces from different angles. After the carving was done, I painted and sealed the foam with a base coat of while. Finnally I gave it its final paint treatment to give the lion its personality.