Exilian
Off-topic and Chatter: The Jolly Boar Inn => Fandom Discussion - The Secret Garden => General Chatter - The Boozer => Supermarionation => Topic started by: Jubal on December 06, 2015, 10:46:17 PM
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Supermarionation: The Beginners' Guide
A quick guide for those who are unaware of this rather loosely defined fandom; supermarionation was/is a puppetry and filming technique famously devised by Gerry Anderson, with which he made a number of childrens' TV shows in the 1960s. Many of these are now cult classics and indeed classic pieces of sci-fi in their own right, and some have seen further spin-offs, most obviously Thunderbirds which is probably the most famous of the shows (followed by Captain Scarlet and Stingray).
The full list of Supermarionation shows is as follows - these, and all their spin-offs, are welcome in this forum:
- Four Feather Falls (1960)
- Supercar (1961)
- Fireball XL5 (1962)
- Stingray (1964)
- Thunderbirds (1965)
- Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons (1967)
- Joe 90 (1968)
- The Secret Service (1969)
It should be noted that whilst some of these don't obviously share the same universe, there are hints that others do and it's probably not impossible that all of them do - Stingray and Thunderbirds seem to coexist for example, as Gordon Tracy is noted as having been a former WASP pilot.
Other Homages
There are also various homages to the supermarionation style that exist, notably things like the satirical Team America: World Police, which uses the large puppet head-sizes of the earlier supermarionation shows and is something of a parody of Thunderbirds in particular, though there are some significant differences with the style of the actual Gerry Anderson shows - not least, the significant use of gore in Team America.