Updated: March 22, 2025

A stop-motion Martian puppet from the production of Tim Burton's sci-fi comedy Mars Attacks!. Based on the Topps trading card series, the film saw Martian invaders terrorizing humanity as they sought to conquer Earth. This puppet was originally obtained from the collection of a crew member. Burton's initial idea was to use stop-motion animation for the Martians' scenes, and several detailed puppets of the aliens were constructed by model makers Ian Mackinnon and Peter Saunders. However, it quickly became apparent that stop-motion was too complex a technique, causing the movie's budget to escalate. Eventually, Burton was convinced to use CGI animation created by ILM instead. The puppets were ultimately scanned and used as primary references for the final computer-generated animation.

This puppet consists of an internal metal armature covered in foam latex skin airbrushed in shades of green and brown. The foam latex has hardened over time, causing minor cracking in places. The puppet has been sympathetically restored and comes presented on a black-painted wooden display stand. It is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from the crew member. Dimensions ( Displayed ): 17 cm x 24 cm x 40 cm ( 6" x 9" x 15" ).

Value: $10,000.