Original Yoda looks great. That puppet from TPM has too much hair, has its eyes too wide open, is lit poorly… it’s just a laundry list of how not to use a practical effect.
That picture is a great example of how to light a puppet. Overhead diffused lighting gives the hair an airiness that makes it feel like an aura around the puppet head. TPM is diffused side lighting like they are lighting a person, but it highlights the differences that make it not a person. Plus the puppet is ugly and only tangentially like Yoda.
To be fair, they added way too much hair to that puppet. It does look better than the dated CGI though.
Original Yoda looks great. That puppet from TPM has too much hair, has its eyes too wide open, is lit poorly… it’s just a laundry list of how not to use a practical effect.
That picture is a great example of how to light a puppet. Overhead diffused lighting gives the hair an airiness that makes it feel like an aura around the puppet head. TPM is diffused side lighting like they are lighting a person, but it highlights the differences that make it not a person. Plus the puppet is ugly and only tangentially like Yoda.