Jethro I

Designed and Constructed in 1999/2000.

What started as a quick, simple project to advertise my studio 10 years ago, opened a universe all it's own. Oh well, that's the way the muses roll the dice! Creations have a habit of taking on a life all their own. How many bit characters throughout sci-fi productions turned out to be more fun and interesting than the heroes?

I started with Jethro © Mark I. He was sweet, 110% pure alien bad-ass. He was 7 feet long, 5 feet wide and over 7 feet tall. He weighed over 100 pounds. He was the way over-built Grandaddy of all prototypes. HE WAS AWESOME!

The Mark I was built and designed as one large unit. The Exo-pupeteer would carry Jethro © by means of a yoke-bar across the interior and strap his/her legs to Jethro's © ankles, leaving his/her arms free to control all other functions.

The Jethro © Mark I was a complete and fully functioning, walking, dancing entertainer. He had full armament including twin motorized 45 caliber water pistols, a silly string defense system and a sound system. He also had the "J-Missile" launch system which was a big slingshot that launched large, round, yellow sponges and/or water balloons. Like I said, 110% alien bad-ass.

I did have trouble finding big, strong pupeteers to carry that much weight. Over time, and under the elements, the exo-puppet began to show signs of wear from battle. The Jethro © Mark I prototype Exo-Puppet suffered total system wide failure and complete memory core meltdown in 2003. The life-form Bio-sphere stopped functioning immediately.