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Jack Skellington Puppet/Costume

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I wanted to dress up as Jack Skellington from the Nightmare Before Christmas for Dragon Con '07. However, it is impossible to make a good Jack costume because his proportions are so drastically different from me and (hopefully) you. So, instead of a traditional costume, I built a nine-foot-tall mobile puppet that I could control from behind. The head is mostly paper mache reinforced with spray foam. The skeleton is PVC pipe. The suit was custom tailored by myself with the pin-stripes added with fabric paint. The hands are wood with copper wire knuckles for poseability. The harness I'm wearing is motocross armor that connects to Jack via a square aluminum pipe. Braced aluminum bars attach my shoes to his so he can walk. I'd love to make an instructable from this, but, alas, my documenting skills weren't great back then.

21 comments

112

Nov 13, 2011. 5:19 PM

jessyratfink says:

I love this so much. Makes me want to try Slenderman!

Nov 13, 2011. 1:06 PMhaventmadeabombyet (author) says:

Much thanks! Slenderman would be pretty sweet.

Nov 12, 2011. 9:27 AM

depotdevoid says:

Honestly, I would say this is my favorite costume for this year. It's a novel way of getting past the fact that Jack is not really human proportioned, I really like that you stepped entirely out of the costume, yet literally maintained your connection to it.

In future years, I would hope that you keep a camera at hand to document the process. I want to see a full instructable from you on a detailed costume like this! This is absolutely brilliant!

Sep 10, 2011. 9:24 PM

D00M99 says:

I would love to do this costume sometime! Looks like fun and everyone knows who he is. ;D

At any rate I have a few questions:

How did you make the head? What did you paper mache the head around? What are the teeth made of? How did you fill out the body? (Foam? Pillow?)

If I ever get around to making this I would love to document it for you. ;)

Sep 11, 2011. 12:18 AM

D00M99 says:

I was also wondering how you made the details on the head, such as the ridges around the eyes and the mouth...

Sep 11, 2011. 5:14 AMhaventmadeabombyet (author) says:

I started by making a sphere around a Punch Balloon, the type they have at kids parties. I used two layers f paper mache using construction paper. Next, I taped copper wire (14-16guage) to the face using masking tape (the best when paper macheing). Then I uses strip of masking tape to bridge the gaps between the wire and the rest of the head. The lower jaw is curved piece of poster board. Then I added two layers of paper mache using news paper. For the final layer I covered the entire head with the cheap brown paper towels you find in public restrooms; it really gives you a nice smooth skin.

The teeth were carved from blue insulating foam. Before yo paint the teeth, brush on a layer of elmers glue to give them a protective layer.

For the body, I only padded the torso. I used bubble wrap for the interior then covered it with upholstery foam. The torso is wider than the rest of it, so I began by adding cones of bubble wrap to each side of the spine before I started adding layers.

Oct 5, 2011. 6:05 PMo_grande_rei says:

Another thing you can do for the head is buy a giant foam ball from a craft supply store. They can be expensive, but they stay on the torso easily. I used one and then molded the faces with dryer lint mache and then paper mache. I used the cheap brown paper towels to finish it off too.

Sep 29, 2011. 1:29 PMo_grande_rei says:

I made one of these a few years ago. Did it practically the same way, except I made "animatronic" hands on mine. Attached to my harness is Zero the Ghost Dog, complete with glowing nose. He floats about three feet in front of Jack to avoid being kicked. I also created a rig that allows his head to turn if I turn my head. This year, I'm stitching up his Sandy Claus suit. The kids love it and now expect to see him on the streets every year. My oldest started Kindergarten and the school has a Halloween carnival, so Jack will be making a visit. I've also made an alien puppet based on the same structure that attaches to the harness.

Sep 29, 2011. 4:18 PMhaventmadeabombyet (author) says:

Yeah, I wanted to make the hands move, but I got some bad advice, so I simplified them.

Have you by any chance attended DragonCon in the past?

Oct 5, 2011. 5:58 PMo_grande_rei says:

Nope.

Mar 14, 2011. 6:20 PM

SHIFT! says:

Oh my god this is amazing! I love The Nightmare Before Christmas and your "Bone Daddy" is absolutely spot on!

I wonder if the same puppeteering mechanism can be rigged for a life scale Oogie Boogie? He's my favorite character :)

Aug 28, 2011. 11:40 AM08motooley says:

it probably could but i can see it being slightly more complex due to his massive bulk

Apr 25, 2011. 3:52 PM

poofrabbit says:

WOW! This is amazing. I could see the technique used for different things, any chance you will make an instructable on how you did it? Simply awesome! Voted for you for the I made it! Good luck!

Apr 25, 2011. 4:14 PMhaventmadeabombyet (author) says:

Maybe one day, but I wouldn't hold your breath just yet.

Apr 25, 2011. 5:24 PM

poofrabbit says:

LOL I can understand, it's brilliant though! :)

Apr 21, 2011. 3:17 PMempty___ says:

Thank you, It's really amazing! :))

Mar 15, 2011. 8:54 AMelleadnih says:

is there a video? it looked like it was a great show! :0

Mar 15, 2011. 7:44 PMhaventmadeabombyet (author) says:

It's all I've found. Didn't have much time to practice working Jack after I built him, so I'm not as agile as I'd like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB8f1lVf84I

191

Mar 14, 2011. 6:02 PM

scoochmaroo says:

Brilliant! What costume shop is that?

Mar 14, 2011. 9:41 PMhaventmadeabombyet (author) says:

That's the Constans Theater Costume shop at the University of Florida, or their craft room anyway. Half was made there, and the other half was made at home.

Mar 12, 2011. 12:25 AMinsomniaSAH says:

Several years back, inspired by the cheetah from the Broadway take on The Lion King, I had an idea for a bunraku Skeleton Jack. I didn't have the budget or time for it back then though, and after a while just never got around to it - I always figured, eh, now that I've thought of it, someone else will do it :p

Sure enough, this popped up http://www.instructables.com/id/8-Jack-Skellington-Puppet/

But yours is definitely closer to what I envisioned. You did an EXCELLENT job with the design and follow through on this :D