swumpy in pickle storm
Swumpy in the Dog show
Swumpy puppeteered by Chris Barlow and Made by Millennium FX and Chris Barlow
Pickle and the Snow gruff
Swumpy and Pickle, played by Kassidy Roberts and Chris Barlow
Swumpy in CBBC Pickle Storm
Swumpy is a central character in the new CBBC comedy show Pickle Storm and is puppeteered and character orignated by Chris Barlow. Pickle is played by Kassidy Roberts. The show is produced by Blackdog television
Creating Swumpy
Swumpy was built by Millennium FX and I was one of the core members of the build team there. Millennium asked me to come in as the puppet specialist and focuse on all the functional fabrication and making the design work as a puppet. Later I returned and assisted with the art finishing. The team at millennium consisted of Gary Pollard (sculpter), myself (fabrication / puppet making), Adam Keenan (mech and animatronics), Lenny Sant (hair work and punching) and Sharna Rothwell(project manager at Millnnium, and did hair work and art finishing).
Furthermore My work on Pickle Storm continued and I went to on to play Swumpy, puppeteering him and originated the role. Consequently the character grew quickly and became a core central role. He is fun, greedy and mischievous and likes to cause havoc….and fart!
After series 1 I returned to play Swumpy in Series 2 which will launch 2025.
Acting as HOD of puppets and responsible for all puppetry, puppet direction, on set wrangling and maintenence along with all of his costumes and props etc. Series 1 launches lat 2024 on CBBC and Iplayer. Series 2 later in 2025.
I also play the Snow Gruff in Episode 2 with the prosthetics made by the amazing team at KM Effects.
About Me:
Chris Barlow Puppets and Creatures is a Ltd Company. I design, illustrate, sculpt and fabricate creating engaging characters for TV, film, theme parks, resorts and theatre. With a performance background as both an actor and puppeteer I develop characters and build puppets and approach the project from the point of view of the performer. Furthermore, I strive to build characters that are engaging and believable, whilst making them a joy to perform. Allowing the puppeteer to get the maximum and most versatile performance out of them.
I have worked in puppets and creature FX for a number of years; spanning TV, Film, theatre and online mediums. Please do take a look through my galleries: puppets, Illustration, sculpture, Design or you can look over my experience to see some of the clients and projects I have worked on over the years. if your interested in any of my work please don’t hesitate to contact me.