What's up with the puppets?

Firstly, the puppets are a very common resource used in kid’s entertainment shows. LazyTown is not the exception. Why they decided to use puppets instead of little children?
I really don’t know. However, I can imagine it (remembering the JRM’s enrollment history in LazyTown).

1. LazyTown was/is an international kids show, so a perfect and neutral english pronunciation was a vital requirement to cover the largest markets of english language (USA, UK,
Canada, Australia, and so on), and I think it’s easier to dub a puppet than a real person (with the obvious exception of MS, JRM and SK) and this fact, could make less expensive and faster
the episode’s post production. In the other hand when you think in other markets with different languages, this fact becomes more important.

2. LazyTown is filmed entirely in Iceland and maybe this location makes difficult to deal with many kids (specially if they were foreign).

Secondly, I think you’re unfair. All the puppets are really funny. They aren't neither ugly neither sick. They weren't designed for adult people. They were designed for children’s entertainment
(and the children in fact enjoy them very much!).

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Agreed, for me the puppets kill the show. The voices also, not so much poor voice acting but the voices don't seem to suit and i do think sound kinda retarded

I imagine the puppets are to avoid the "Nellie Oleson" effect.

When Little House on the Prairie was in production, Alison Arngrim faced a great deal of hostility from children in general because of the malevolent character she portrayed, and their inability to separate the character from the actress.

The stigma that comes with a negative character is a well known phenomenon.

It therefore makes sense that no actual actors would portray the children, as their negative personas would likely harm the real life of the actors who play them.

It's of note that even Robbie, who, for obvious reasons--the sheer physical demand of the role--must be played by an actual human, has extensive prosthetics and makeup applied to him... it's not so much a recognizable person as it is a person-sized puppet.

The positive characters, that the audience is supposed to identify with, have only the slightest bit of surreal addition, mainly to make them fit within their heavily plastic environment. In this way, it's easier for people to identify with them, and there's no stigma to worry about, as they're the heroes of the show.

As odd as puppets may make the performance to some people, not having some poor child actor hated in every modern nation of the world seems well worth the mild discomfort someone may have with a puppet actor.

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