Hands In Art, Inc. is a character development and fabrication company with over 20 years of experience in film, television, and live productions. From puppet building workshops for families to creating and performing animatronic creatures for feature films, the company's scope of abilities is far reaching in the entertainment business.

1. Hands In Art
Creatures
Built By
John Kennedy

2. Betty the Cat

4. Bunnicula

5. John Kennedy
Bio
At age three, John started building puppets in his hometown of Plainfield, Indiana. His
audiences at local libraries cheered him on when he was thirteen and led John to consider
puppetry as a possible career choice.
By the time he had graduated high school; John had honed his skills in music, dance,
drama, and art in an effort to improve his puppetry, and landed a job at the Indianapolis
Union Station Festival Marketplace. Performing there as a singing, dancing, banjo-playing
puppeteer, while also working on a bachelors degree in theater at Indiana University
Purdue University at Indianapolis (IUPUI), John built up his confidence to write the Jim
Henson Company. As a result, he was invited to several performer workshops in New York
City.
Coincidentally, in 1990, John auditioned in Indianapolis as a dancer in a Muppet revue for
Walt Disney World. He got the job, was relocated to Orlando, Florida, and in a few weeks
was working beside Jim Henson himself. John has now been working in film and television
for more than 18 years. Some of his many credits include Dinosaurs, Sesame Street, Telling
Stories with Tomie DePaola, Jack's Big Music Show, The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss,
Muppets Tonight, Muppets From Space, and The Country Bears. His most recent puppeteer
coordinator and performing credits are as Miles the Raccoon for Disney's DVD series
Einstein Pals and Apollo the Dog for Jim Henson’s Pajanimals.
John's career in puppetry blossomed with the release of his two puppet making books
Puppet Mania! and Puppet Planet. Published by North Light Books, they feature original
puppet projects with patterns and performing tips that Kennedy developed as a young
puppeteer. Being an author has helped John land appearances on the HGTV crafters series
The Carol Duvall Show, the PBS series FETCH with Ruff Ruffman, and the Comcast on
demand network Activity TV.

6. John Kennedy
Resume
Film
The Muppets Wizard of Oz (ABC prime time movie)
Assistant coordinator and principal performer of many Muppet characters for this feature length TV movie.
A Very Muppet Christmas (NBC prime time movie)
Performed Muppet characters for this feature length holiday movie.
The Country Bears (Disney feature)
Puppeteered the animatronic bear Zeb Zoober.
Kermit's Swamp Years (Jim Henson Home Entertainment)
Principal puppeteer of Blotch the Bullfrog and puppet captain.
Muppets From Space (Sony feature)
Assisted all main characters. Performed animatronic Gonzos.
Television
Pajanimals (PBS Sprout)
Performed Apollo the Dog and was Puppeteer Coordinator.
Einstein Pals (Disney DVD Series)
Performed Miles the Raccoon and was Puppeteer Coordinator.
Dinosaurs (ABC Sitcom)
Performed the animatronic expressions of Baby Sinclair, Sid, and Spike on
the Henson Performance Control System. Also radio control for many others.
Coordinated performances with body performers to create each character.
Jack's Big Music Show (Noggin)
Performed Mel the Dog, Royal Messenger Marvin, Sheldon the Grumpy Squirrel, Earl the Squirrel, and the team of
Squirrel and Bologna Sandwich.
Animal Jam (The Learning Channel)
Puppet captain and performer of DJ One, the Disc Jockey Panda.
Telling Stories with Tomie DePaola
Coordinator in charge of casting puppeteers and choreographing each puppet
segment. Also performer and voice talent for Gabe the Squirrel, Big Anthony,
and Lungs the Racoon.
Aliens in the Family (ABC Sitcom)
Performed the animatronic expressions of Bobut.
Brats of the Lost Nebula (Fox Kids)
Responsible for performing the character Rile and performing and voicing episodic characters that involved radio, servo,
and rod techniques.
The Wubbulous World of Dr. Seuss (Nickelodeon)
Principal performer for Horton the Elephant, Sam-I-Am, Norval the Fish, and
more than 30 others. Coordinator of performers and mechanical rigs.