Yoda puppet help

hello. I am working on a fanfilm trilogy, False Alliance. In the film, the script calls for Yoda for about 4 or so scenes. We dont have acsess to buying stuff online, and we have a pretty low budget, so what is the best way to construct a puppet yoda. Any help is most appreciated. All we really have access to is home depot/lowes and Joann fabrics, and wallmart. Thanks. And also, how tall is Yoda.
Bruce

 

http://www.starwars.com/databank/character/yoda/index.html

Yoda Height: .66 meter

 

I can do a great Yoda Impression and I too have looked for a way to make a decent Yoda Puppet to use. At C4 I bought one of those Yoda backpacks. They were going to ship it to me so I have yet to get it. I was just going to use this as my puppet for now.
The same place I bought the backpack from had a stuffed Yoda doll. This was more life size and looked very much like Yoda. I was going to buy this and convert it into a puppet. The only thing that stopped me was the cost. I think it was around $100? At the time I just wasn't 100% sure it would work exactly the way I wanted it too. The people at this both told me they don't have a webpage and they just manufacture these things and sell them at events like C4. I really wish I took pictures of the Yoda Doll. Hopefully I can find it somewhere else so I can buy it and convert it into a puppet.

Hope this helps.

 

Um, I've made a life-sized Yoda 'muppet' and while the materials were not much, it's not simple. The body started as a wooden stick-man with the arms and legs wired together at the joints for flexibility. Foam and batting were used to form the body itself and it was covered with Yoda-colored green material. The cloth are made from some stuff called Sculpture-mold and wired to the ends of the wood ends of the arms and legs and the hands and feet formed over those. The head is mostly carved from foam and attached to the rest with the fabric and foam. There is space in the head for my hand to move his mouth and sticks in his ears to move those, but I usually don't since moving his mouth keeps my hand busy.

The clothes are made from just cloth that matches Yoda's clothes. I did not do his lightsaber since he was originally TESB Yoda. There are hole in the back of his tunics for me to put my hand.

But most of him has to be hand sewn, especially the head so he looks like Yoda. That's pretty time-consuming and requires a little practice. And in the end, he does still look like a 'cloth' Yoda. That's why I call him a 'muppet', since I did not intend for him to have realistic skin.

For a low budget, can you do scenes with a Yoda shadow? Where Yoda is only seen in profile with a light behind him or his shadow is falling over the person he's talking to? With those big ears, he's pretty easy to spot. You would only need a Yoda cut-out for that.