Over the course of two memorable days and four performances, members of D23, the official Disneyana fan club, celebrated the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, in Los Angeles since 1963. Arriving at the theater, guests for the sold out performances were greeted with snacks, a commemorative set of gift buttons, and a program for BBMT’s latest production, Something to Crow About.
Making their way into the converted movie house that has been the home of the BBMT since 2019, guests admired the plush red curtains, whimsical scenery, and glittering chandeliers.
A gold jacketed maestro at an ornate organ console kept early arrivals entertained with a spritely stream of familiar Disney show tunes and theme park anthems.
As the seats filled, the music reached a crescendo and the lights began to dim…
But what, you may ask, does a marionette theater in Los Angeles have to do with Disney fans?
As it turns out, Bob Baker, who founded the BBMT in 1963, had a long and cordial relationship with the Walt Disney Company. Some of this was evident in special displays that had been set out around the theater. The Bob Baker Archives go back a long way, and include some surprising artifacts.
Bob Baker (1924-2014) was born in Los Angeles and lived his entire life in the same house. When he was five years old, young Bobby saw his first puppet show at Barker Brothers Department Store, and he was hooked. His parents encouraged his artistic pursuits, and in no time he was staging his own puppet shows in the family garage. At age eight he bought his first Disney puppet, Mickey Mouse. In 1933 he wrote a letter to Walt Disney, asking if he could visit the studio where Mickey and his friends lived. The very polite rejection letter, along with a personalized fan card, is still in the Bob Baker Archive.
By 1937, thirteen year old Bob was already a professional puppeteer, and got to meet Walt Disney while working on a production to promote Disney’s upcoming feature film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs at J.W. Robinsons. Bob also met Walt while working on a production of Dumbo in 1940.
Disney also called upon Baker when Disneyland was in its final stages of development. Two artifacts on permanent display at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater are a pair of whimsical jester figurines. They were designed for a window display in the Fantasy of Disneyland Shop (later Tinker Bell’s Toy Shop) in Fantasyland. They can be glimpsed behind a quartet of dancers during the Dateline Disneyland live TV broadcast from July 17, 1955. Today they adorn the lobby of the BBMT.
Bob Baker continued his association with Disneyland through the years. In addition to contributions to the Babes in Toyland exhibit in 1961 and “Fantasy on Parade” the same year, Baker also provided animated figures and miniature props for many of the elaborate show windows in the Main Street Emporium. His work could be seen from 1969 through 1972 for the revival showings of the animated classics Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, The Aristocats, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and 101 Dalmatians.
Bob Baker was approached to operate a Fantasyland marionette theater during Disneyland’s early years. He was unable to do so, but a friend and associate, Bob Mills did. When the attraction closed, Baker acquired Miller’s troupe of performers, who are still in use at the BBMT.
Many Disney fans recall that Bob Baker marionettes were sold at the Disney theme parks and through mail order from the mid-1980s through the 90s. The first pieces celebrated Pinocchio, and the last were special marionettes created for The Nightmare Before Christmas.
Through the years different materials and styles were employed, all with exacting attention to recreating the beloved Disney characters. A variety in different sizes were displayed in the lobby of the theater that night.
Of special interest was a “life-sized” Pinocchio. Only two hundred of these were produced, as a special promotion for the release of Pinocchio on home video. They were never offered for sale to the public. When one of them does appear on the secondary market, it commands high prices among eager collectors.
Bob Baker also worked with Figment, the mischievous little pink and purple dragon from Epcot’s Imagination pavilion. At the end of the attraction, Figment imagined himself in a variety of roles, which appeared projected on screens. Each of these was a marionette, produced and performed by Bob Baker. Some of the castings used in creating Figment were on display.
The Bob Baker studio also worked with Walt Disney Productions on two memorable films: Bedknobs and Broomsticks and Escape to Witch Mountain. On display was a letter from
Producer Bill Walsh, accompanied by a sketch and photo from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. The letter specifically mentioned the musical number “Substitutiary Locomotion.”
Also on display were some papers related to a mystery project that had been proposed by the Sherman Brothers in 1979. The title and exact nature of the project has been lost, but there is a letter and sheet music for a number entitled “Piano Papa.” An intriguing note at the bottom of the letterhead said “cassette enclosed.” The D23 audience was treated to the first public performance of this previously unheard Sherman Brothers song. As “Funny Bones” played, a trio of zany skeletons performed.
But we are getting ahead of ourselves! This was part of the show, which was presented after everyone had settled in to their seats. The bulk of the evening was made up of excerpts from Something to Crow About. This signature production was debuted by Bob Baker and his troupe at the Laguna Beach Festival in 1959. Return engagements encouraged Baker and his partner Alton Wood to open a theater of their own, which they did in 1963.
In addition to numbers from their current show, the D23 crowd was treated to some special numbers directly related to Disney. Among them was a number performed by three puppets, a clown, a bee, and a vampish bird dressed as a flapper.
As the puppeteers showed their skills, the audience was informed that these were three of the puppets that had actually appeared in the feature film Escape to Witch Mountain in 1975. In the film, Tia, played by Kim Richards, can be seen dancing and interacting with them, as well as other “toys” in the room.
These are screen shots from the film, along with a publicity shot of Bob Baker with the same clown used in the scene, and presented at the theater.
Another set of “curtain raisers” were derived from the BBMT’s popular Halloween shows. One number was performed by a lab coated doctor and his “Frankenstein” creation. The piece was performed to “Puttin’ On the Ritz” from the movie Young Frankenstein.
At the conclusion of the number, the host pointed out that the monster had a truly “recycled” head. The Frankenstein sculpt was actually a repainted head produced for Edgar the scheming butler, as seen in a Disneyland show window for the Aristocats.
Something to Crow About is a fantasy musical about a day in the life of a farm, with an operatic chicken, singing flowers, and Mama Goat, the owner of the farm. One number featured a slick traveling salesman, hawking Cousin Victor’s Elixir, a salve for anything that ails you. This song was written by the Sherman Brothers and released on a concept album called Tinpanorama.
All too soon the show had ended, and it was time for an ice cream party. This is a tradition at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater and explains why there is a tiled “puppet parlor” just above the seats on the left and right-hand sides of the auditorium.
Guests for this special D23 presentation were invited for a guided backstage tour. On stage right was the stage manager’s position, and on stage left was the fly gallery where scenery and lights can be raised and lowered. Overhead, and in seemingly every last bit of available space, were the puppet performers. There are over 3,000 of them in residence backstage at the Bob Baker Marionette Theater.
By the time this late afternoon performance had ended, the sun had set. Guests departed under the brightly lighted marquee, topped by “Toot,” the heralding clown who had been welcoming guests to the Bob Baker Marionette Theater for over sixty years.
But that’s not all! For readers of Daps Magic only, a special Easter Egg to seek out the next time you are at Disneyland. As a tribute to Bob Baker’s work at the park, in 1983 the Imagineers working on new Fantasyland included some of Baker’s vintage commercially produced marionettes in the final scene of Pinocchio’s Daring Journey.
Look closely, and you will see the Dutch Boy, Ballerina, and Bobo the Clown hanging from the ceiling. (If you do not want to take the “daring” journey, you can see these from the outside of the attraction, near the exit.)
Bob Baker claimed his Marionette Theater was the “most no-profit, for-profit thing in the world.” Always in financial peril, following his death, there were fears it would come to an end. Fortunately for us, this did not happen, and the theater was reborn as a registered non-profit. Performances are regularly scheduled, and as of this writing final work is being done for the theater’s first all-new production in over forty years, Choo Choo Review. Readers are encouraged to support the mission of the Bob Baker Marionette Theater through purchasing tickets and making donations. Full details about their schedule and the foundation may be found at their website, BobBakerMarionetteTheater.com.
