It’s the greatest show on Earth – with a few strings attached.

Inside the Bob Baker Marionette Theater, circus music blares and a horse gallops across the stage. Then a giraffe peeks its head from behind the curtain. Next come the camels.

“Clap along, sing along if you know the songs,” lead puppeteer Ginger Duncan encourages the audience as the rollicking show kicks off one Sunday morning.

Why We Wrote This

It can be hard to dazzle tech-savvy children growing up in the age of animation. A puppet theater founded in 1963 pulls the right strings so that adults marvel at the magic, too.

Though inanimate, marionettes are the stars here at the longest-running live puppet theater in the United States. But the show wouldn’t go on without the puppeteers guiding the animals’ movements from nearly invisible strings overhead. Dressed in red to fade into the background, the puppeteers twist and turn their arms and fingers, bringing the marionettes to life.

Over the course of an hour, roughly 150 marionettes grace the stage, dazzling even the most tech-savvy child growing up in the age of animation. The cabaret-style performance means puppets might pay giggling guests a visit, especially if they’re sitting in the front row.

“It’s really easy to get [kids] to connect,” says Ms. Duncan, who doubles as the theater’s marketing coordinator.

Adults marvel at the magic, too.

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Taryn Kehler, an Orlando, Florida, resident who grew up visiting theme parks, squeals as she bends down to meet Penelope, a shy elephant puppet. “I love my life right now,” she says.

Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff Melanie Stetson Freeman/Staff

For more visual storytelling that captures communities, traditions, and cultures around the globe, visit The World in Pictures.

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