William Todd-Jones

Puppet Design

William “Todd” Todd-Jones is a Welsh master puppeteer, creature designer, performer and movement director whose career began more than four decades ago in Jim Henson’s Creature Shop on Labyrinth. Since then, he has brought creatures and characters to life through puppetry, physical performance, animatronics and motion capture. Whatever the technology, Todd believes the real magic happens in the audience’s imagination, the moment when a costume disappears and a character is alive. His screen credits include Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Batman, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, John Carter and His Dark Materials. In live entertainment, he toured internationally as master puppeteer and Manny performer in Ice Age Live! performing on ice to over 2.5 million people. His relationship with MONLOVE continued through The Nut Job Live, for which he established and oversaw the puppet workshop from creature concept to the first performances, and the development of MONLOVE’s remarkably convincing Scooby-Doo. For the BBC/HBO series His Dark Materials, Todd established the creature effects department and served as its head and master puppeteer, overseeing the creation of puppets representing the series’ dæmons and full-size armoured bear rigs. Across his career, he has contributed to productions recognised with Academy Awards, Emmys, and BAFTAs.