"Rudolph and Santa, as Good as New"

[eleny]

Found the link to this NYT article on a thrifting list I belong to. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/arts/television/23rudo.html?ex=1324530000&en=f8c21d587a5ff23b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

"ATLANTA, Dec. 22 — In Hollywood, a nip and tuck can often give an old star new life. So it is fitting that the puppets that starred in the 1964 stop-motion classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” are making a comeback after some cosmetic work.

Since Dec. 8, visitors have been flocking to see Rudolph and Santa Claus at the Center for Puppetry Arts here, where they will be on display until Jan. 13.

For restoration, he turned to another stop-motion studio, Screen Novelties, in Los Angeles. There, Robin Walsh, a puppet maker, ordered kid mohair for Santa’s beard, consulted museum restoration experts for the best ways to clean painted wood and grimy wool, and discovered, by freezing frames from “Rudolph,” that Santa’s mouth had once been painted. The broken lead wires in the puppets’ arms and legs also needed to be replaced.

The hardest thing, Ms. Walsh said, was getting over her fear of handling the puppets.

“I was holding my childhood in my hands,” she said."