Supermarionation "Thunderbirds", who closely resembled Sylvia Anderson, and Captain Blue in "Captain Scarlet", who looked like Ed Bishop (the similarity was reportedly coincidental). Other characters were based on well-known film actors: Troy Tempest of "Stingray" was based on James Garner, Scott Tracy of "Thunderbirds" on Sean Connery and Captain Scarlet on Cary Grant. "Stingray" also featured the only non-speaking Supermarionation puppet: the water-breathing woman Marina. Occasionally, close-ups of a live actor's hand would be inserted to show actions such as turning keys and pressing buttons. This was affectionately parodied in the 2004 live-action feature film "Thunderbirds", with a brief shot of
Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe Puppetry Festival in the city of Iida, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The Troupe also performed for a segment on the NBC television comedy series, "Animal Practice", in which one of the characters visits the traditional puppet theater in Japan in a flashback scene. The Troupe also offers workshops on traditional Japanese puppetry and demonstrations of puppetry techniques. In October 2009, Bunraku Bay Puppet Troupe completed a US tour jointly with members of the Imada Puppet Theater, with performances at Willamette University in Oregon, the University of Colorado in Boulder, the University of Missouri in Columbia, and at Princeton University in New