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A costumed performer or suit performer wears a costume that usually, (but not always) covers the performer's face, typically to represent a non-human character such as a
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...
or
cartoon character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, i ...
. These range from
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
"walk-around" or "meetable" characters, the
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...
s of corporations, schools, or sports teams to novelty act performers. Some costumes cover the performer's face especially those in theme parks. Examples include
sports mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fic ...
s and performances as fantasy characters on
children's television Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...
and in theme parks. Problems in suit performance include intense physical exertion,
claustrophobia Claustrophobia is the fear of confined spaces. It can be triggered by many situations or stimuli, including elevators, especially when crowded to capacity, windowless rooms, and hotel rooms with closed doors and sealed windows. Even bedrooms wit ...
and
hyperthermia Hyperthermia, also known simply as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extrem ...
.


In theme parks, international fairs, and festivals

Costumed performers are a major feature of amusement parks like Walt Disney Parks and Resorts,
Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Parks & Resorts, also known as Universal Studios Theme Parks or solely Universal Theme Parks, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme par ...
, Sesame Place,
Legoland Legoland (, trademark in uppercase as LEGOLAND) is a chain of family theme parks focusing on the construction toy system Lego. They are not fully owned by The Lego Group itself; rather, they are owned and operated by the British theme park co ...
,
SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment (one park will be ...
,
Hershey Park Hersheypark (known as Hershey Park until 1970) is a family theme park located in Hershey, Pennsylvania, about east of Harrisburg, and west of Philadelphia. The park was founded in 1906 by Milton S. Hershey as a leisure park for the employees o ...
,
Six Flags Six Flags Entertainment Corporation is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined of any a ...
, and Nickelodeon Universe, as well as many other large or small theme parks and fairs. Costumed performers are intended to add to the fantasy experience by enabling visitors to encounter and interact with fictional characters, such as
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as ...
s for a company or organization. The characters are portrayed by employees in costume. Some of the costumes merely consist of clothing and makeup, while those for non-human characters generally conceal the performer entirely and include a full bodysuit, a head, and sometimes accessories or clothing on top of that. A longstanding policy in most well known theme parks is that the first category of characters, where the performer's face remains visible (usually "face" characters) are allowed to speak (usually on the basis of scripts carefully prepared in advance), while the second category of characters, where the face is covered (sometimes called "fur" characters) are not allowed to speak, although are allowed to make noises, and tend to communicate through
pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speakin ...
. A common occurrence, often involving "fur" characters, is that young children can feel particularly intimidated by the size of the costume. They can also be intimidated by the quick movements of more energetic characters, or by the character approaching them directly, so performers frequently slow down or kneel down when interacting with smaller children to let the child approach them. For human characters based on a well-known
media franchise A media franchise, also known as a multimedia franchise, is a collection of related media in which several derivative works have been produced from an original creative work of fiction, such as a film, a work of literature, a television program ...
that speak with visitors, theme park operators may prepare detailed scripts covering a variety of questions regularly asked by visitors, especially young children who have difficulty distinguishing between reality and fantasy. Performers cast in those roles are required to memorize and rehearse those scripts as part of their training, so they can learn their characters' backstories by heart and consistently respond in character to visitors. At theme parks, particularly at busier ones, popular costumed performers are usually accompanied by one or more assistants (also called "handlers" or "spotters") in regular park uniforms, who handle
customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those people who buy or use its products or services. Each industry requires different levels of customer service, but in the end, the idea of a well-performed service is that ...
,
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
, and
crowd control Crowd control is a public security practice in which large crowds are managed in order to prevent the outbreak of crowd crushes, affray, fights involving drunk and disorderly people or riots. Crowd crushes in particular can cause many hundre ...
. This minimizes the necessity for performers to break character to deal with those kinds of issues. When a performer needs a
break Break or Breaks or The Break may refer to: Time off from duties * Recess (break), time in which a group of people is temporarily dismissed from its duties * Break (work), time off during a shift/recess ** Coffee break, a short mid-morning rest ...
, they simply give a prearranged signal, and their handler may then assure patrons the character will be back momentarily, before guiding them back to a lounge or rest area for them to recuperate. All theme park operators that present costumed performers enforce strict character performance regulations so that performers are never seen out of character by visitors. In the case of more elaborate costumes, they are never seen "with their head off". A related rule is that performers costumed as the same character (often so that the character in question is never absent for too long) are supposed to avoid being seen side by side by the public.


In Japan

The Japanese name for costumed performers is . The name comes from the Japanese verb and noun . Japan's
kawaii ''Kawaii'' is the culture of cuteness in Japan. It can refer to items, humans and non-humans that are charming, vulnerable, shy and childlike.Kerr, Hui-Ying (23 November 2016)"What is kawaii – and why did the world fall for the ‘cult of c ...
aesthetic means that mascots are commonly used for promotional purposes. These mascots are often constructed with an appearance that is more
chibi Chibi most often refers to: * Chibi (style), a super-deformed style of Japanese-influenced caricature *Chibi, Hubei (赤壁 lit. Red Cliff), a county-level city in southeastern Hubei, China. Chibi may also refer to: Places * Chibi Subdistrict, ...
than Western mascots, with a massive head that encompasses the performer's entire upper body and the arms low on the body. Other mascots more greatly resemble
anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...
characters.


''Animegao''

''Animegao'' is a type of ''kigurumi'' used to portray anime or cartoon characters. The face of the performer is fully covered with a stylized
mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...
, and clothing similar to the character's typical attire is used. ''Animegao'' costumes are used both in professional stage shows and by
cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture ...
ers, sometimes called "dollers", who make custom masks of various characters. It is still a very minor part of the cosplay scene in Japan, though throughout the mid 2000s, it began attracting attention in other countries, including the United States,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, and various European states.


On television

Current shows featuring a costumed performer puppet include Big Bird of ''
Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000 ...
'', Barney from ''
Barney & Friends ''Barney & Friends'' is an American children's television series targeted at young children aged 2–7, created by Sheryl Leach. The series premiered on PBS on April 6, 1992. The series features the title character Barney, a purple anthropomo ...
'', and Bear of ''
Bear in the Big Blue House ''Bear in the Big Blue House'' is an American children's television series created by Mitchell Kriegman and produced by Jim Henson Television for Disney Channel's Playhouse Disney preschool television block. Debuting on October 20, 1997, it aire ...
''. Less complicated costumed characters include ''
Hip Hop Harry ''Hip Hop Harry'' is an American children's television series that aired on Discovery Kids and TLC as part of the Ready Set Learn block from 2006 to 2008. Similar to PBS Kids series such as ''Barney & Friends'' (the setting of the show bears res ...
'', '' Yo Gabba Gabba!'', and ''
Mack & Moxy ''Mack & Moxy'' is a computer-animated children's television series. Each episode teaches children lifelong lessons of charity and compassion, while celebrating the joy of helping others. Created by Brahm Wenger and Alan Green, the show combines ...
''. Older examples include '' New Zoo Revue'', '' H.R. Pufnstuf'', '' Banana Splits'', and British series '' Gophers!''.


Unauthorized costume characters

In recent years, amateur performers wearing unauthorized,
counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...
costumes of various pop-culture characters have appeared in popular tourist destinations such as
Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
and
Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
. They usually pose for photos and collect (or, often,
extort Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, al ...
) tips from tourists. The 2007 documentary film '' Confessions of a Superhero'' focuses on costumed "superheroes" on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
. Because they are not regulated or authorized, there have been many controversies and arrests involving costumed performers in Times Square.


Industry

The mascot industry is estimated at $5-million a year.
Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
, is one of the hubs in the industry, with six major firms headquartered out of the city. Knock-off costumes are commonly fabricated in
Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...
, where they're called ''botargas'',Semple, Kirk
"Spider-Man Unmasked! Elmo and Minnie, Too: The Lives Behind Times Square Cartoon Characters,"
''New York Times'' (AUG. 2, 2014).
as well as other South American countries and certain East Asian countries.


See also

*
Cosplay Cosplay, a portmanteau of "costume play", is an activity and performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character. Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture, ...
*
Creature suit Creature suits are realistic costumes used to disguise a performer as an animal, monster, or other being. They are used in film, television, or as costumed characters in live events. Unlike mascots, they are often made with a high degree of reali ...
*
Fursuit Fursuits are custom-made animal costumes owned and worn by cosplayers and members of the furry fandom, commonly known as "furries"; a furry who wears a fursuit is called a fursuiter. The term is believed to have been coined in 1993 by Robert Kin ...
*
Mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...


References

{{Reflist costume Children's entertainment Cosplay Puppetry