User:Thea80LWiki/Ron Binion

Ron Binion

Ron Binion is a puppeteer, puppet designer, and puppet fabricator from Eureka, California. He has puppeteered for many films and shows, including multiple Muppet movies with the Jim Henson Company, Lazytown, The Book of Pooh, Ghostbusters (2016), and Crank Yankers. He has also contributed to several of these as a puppet designer and builder. Binion is associated with No Strings International, which is a charity that utilizes puppet mastery to spread messages of awareness.

Early Life and Career

Binion’s first experience in theatre was in 1981, in which he worked on a production at the Ferndale Repertory Theatre. Soon after, Binion created small works of puppet theatre with his brother, Brett Binion, which prompted his interest in puppetry. They built a traditional booth, handcrafted puppets, and eventually performed Christmas variety puppet shows at the Eureka Inn. The two brothers also won a lip-syncing contest using puppets singing “Burning Down the House” by Talking Heads. Binion participated in a mask workshop led by Duane Flatmo, who taught him about building masks with features like a hinged jaw and closable eyes. Binion later moved to Atlanta and attended the Center for Puppetry Arts, where he practiced puppetry constantly. He then applied to the Jim Henson Company for two years before landing a job working on Muppet Treasure Island; a breakthrough for his career in puppetry.

Career

Binion is known for his work in puppetry as well as designing and building puppets with the Jim Henson Company. Binion’s contributions to the Jim Henson Company through designing/building puppets include: Jim Henson's Animal Show, Muppet Treasure Island, Muppets Tonight, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss, and The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland. As well as designing and building puppets for these films, Binion was a puppeteer with the Jim Henson Company for Zoe’s Dance Moves.

In addition to his work with the Jim Henson Company, Ron Binion has puppeteered in several separate shows and movies. One of his more well known works was puppeteering Pixel from Lazytown. He also puppeteered Major Meanswell's hands using a two person puppet from the same series.

Another of Ron Binion’s popular works is from The Book of Pooh, in which he puppeteered Eeyore as well as worked as a puppet designer and builder. He later received an Emmy award nomination for his work in the series.

Binion was a fabricator and puppeteer for Slimer from Ghostbusters (2016). Binion performed inside the suit of Slimer, while facial controls were puppeteered separately. A digital version of Slimer was used in the final version of the movie, though Binion’s puppeteered version was helpful as a reference for both the actors/actresses and the animation team.

Binion puppeteered a recurring character named Birchum in Crank Yankers, using a two person puppet, controlling one hand and some of the body movements. He also puppeteered multiple green screen scenes of the same series for characters such as Elmer Higgins and the monkey that appears in the episode Attacked by a Monkey.

Binion has also puppeteered for a number of individual projects, such as a Nike commercial and MTV music video awards ceremony. He puppeteered Mrs. Lewis in a Nike shoe campaign (2009-2010) commercial, featuring Kobe Bryant and Lebron James puppets. During the MTV music video awards ceremony, Binion puppeteered a Crank Yankers puppet that was comically beaten up by rap star Eminem on stage.

Charity and Workshops

Binion is an associate puppeteer artist with the charity No Strings International. This charity uses the expertise of puppeteers like Ron Binion to spread meaningful messages through puppet film and live performances. He has worked among other puppeteers through this organization such as Michael Frith, Kathy Mullen, Johnie McGlade, Heather Asch, and Lisa Buckley. Binion is behind the lead roles of the No Strings films Tales of Disasters, Two Gardens, and Kibing!. In addition to his contributions to No Strings films, Binion has led workshops in countries such as Kenya to perform in front of live audiences to start discussions on AIDS/HIV and natural disaster situations. Binion has also traveled to Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines; all while teaching workshops to spread important lessons to children internationally.

Binion’s passion for spreading the joy of puppetry extends outside of his career and No Strings International, by teaching puppetry workshops. One such event took place in Eureka, in which he taught a week-long workshop on making a show from scratch using puppets, to Blue Ox Community School students. He was later invited back to Blue Ox Community School as a new twelve week puppetry program began, and a puppet theatre building was constructed. The objective was to include puppetry in the school’s curriculum as a way to have students work collaboratively on a creative project.

References

1. Faulkner, Jessie, and Tri-City Weekly. “Puppeteer Stresses the Lessons to Be Learned through the Craft.” Times, Times-Standard, 30 July 2018, www.times-standard.com/2010/02/16/puppeteer-stresses-the-lessons-to-be-learned-through-the-craft/.

2. Greenson, Thadeus, and The Times-Standard. “A Life with Puppets: Eureka Native Follows His Passion, Gives Back.” Times, Times-Standard, 30 July 2018, www.times-standard.com/2010/02/07/a-life-with-puppets-eureka-native-follows-his-passion-gives-back/.

3. “Ron Binion.” No Strings, www.nostrings.org.uk/puppet/ron-binion/.

4. Ronald Binion, www.ronbinion.com/.

5. “Ronald Binion.” IMDb, IMDb.com, www.imdb.com/name/nm0083012/.

6. “Ronald Binion.” Muppet Wiki, muppet.fandom.com/wiki/Ronald_Binion.

7. “Ronald Binion.” Ronald Binion - LazyTown Wiki, www.getlazy.net/wiki/index.php?title=Ronald_Binion.