Lou Bunin; Puppeteer and Filmmaker

Lou Bunin, 89, puppeteer and filmmaker whose “Alice in Wonderland” was a special-effects classic. When Bunin’s 1950 film was re-released in 1985, Times film writer Michael Wilmington noted that the film, “released the same year as Disney’s and consequently buried, is probably the ‘Alice’ most faithful to Lewis Carroll’s spirit.” It involved mixing live action with animated puppets and stop-action filming. Throughout his career, the puppeteer invented film techniques to make animated puppet productions for children, television commercials and educational films. His work was shown at the 1939-40 World’s Fair in New York and at the 1985 Los Angeles International Animation Celebration. His puppets are displayed in New York’s Museum of Modern Art. On Feb. 17 in Englewood, N.J.