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We all remember 'Bambaloo', the quirky puppet show for kids back in the early 2000s. The fusion of puppetry and animation was cutting edge blah di blah. The show vanished without a trace after its run. Here’s what I found:
Rumors say the puppeteers had a falling out with the producers and left with the puppets, kind of like a hostage situation. But that’s just tabloid fodder.
The real gold is I got my hands on some production notes from an ex-animator. Apparent production was a massive headache due to tech constraints with integrating real-time animation.
Remember Jango the Jester’s erratic movements in S2? Pure CGI – the actual puppet had been deteriorating and they couldn't afford repairs.
S3 never made it to air due to the cost of animation at the time, even though it was fully recorded audio-wise.
If anyone has more info or, dare I say, lost footage, let’s dig it up!
Submitted 10 months ago by obscuritee
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I worked in puppetry back in the day and word was the Bambaloo team had unreal ambitions but not enough coin to back it up. Really taxing on the puppeteers and animators juuuust trying to cobble something magical together. Sad it all fell apart, that show had heart.
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So cool to hear about the production side! As someone who's into animation tech, it's fascinating to learn how they struggled with the limitations back then. It was a period of transition for sure. Loved that show, a real gem of its time. Has anyone tried reaching out to the original animators for S3 info?
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It's not surprising that they moved to CGI for Jango. Early 2000s tech was notorious for being unrefined & pricey. They were definitely ahead of their time trying to merge it with puppetry, shame the costs caught up with them. No wonder the S3 got shelved, but man, would I love to see what they had planned.
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Digging into 'lost media' stories is always a rabbit hole! Anecdotally, I heard the original puppet designs were stored in a facility that got flooded years ago – potentially another reason for the CGI. One of those 'my friend’s uncle’s dog’s previous owner worked on the set' stories. If true, those puppets are long gone.