Puppetry can be traced to 1000 B.C. in India, where puppeteers used stick puppets to perform epic stories. Although using sacred texts as the dialogue for their shows, their purpose was mainly to entertain. Performances were loud and boisterous, not somber.
Puppets in Asia were traditionally large and took several puppeteers to control. They were so popular that in Japan, bunraku--extremely large and elaborate puppets that held up to three men--slowly replaced human actors on stage. Actors demanded too much, and directors found wooden actors to be much less maintenance. Each man would be clothed in black and go unacknowledged by the audience. Chinese puppetry is more commonly known as Chinese shadow theater.
"Punch and Judy," the world's first famous puppet play, was widely popular with children. This play originated in Europe in the 17th century and was usually performed around Christmas time by one puppeteer. While the story changed depending on the performer, its purpose was always to provoke shocked laughter from its audience as an outrageous comedy.
In the early 19th century, the Venetian puppeteer Pietro Radillo introduced a puppet that was controlled by eight strings, called a marionette These puppets, which allowed much more expressive motion from the puppeteer, replaced traditional puppets, which were controlled by a rod and two strings. Traditional puppeteers were lowered to the same social class as jugglers and gypsies.
First honing his talents on the TV show "Sesame Street," the puppeteer Jim Henson went on to create the show "The Muppets," with an exclusive puppet cast that featured human guests. The main character, Kermit The Frog, was performed by Henson until his death in 1990. Frank Oz performed both Miss Piggy and Fonzie Bear. Puppets were also used heavily in all the "Star Wars" movies. The puppetry behind the character Yoda was performed by Frank Oz.