WORLD ON A STRING : Hundreds of puppets and marionettes people Alan Cook’s collection. And each figure represents a bit of history. Now some of the global caravan arrives in Brea for an exhibit.

We think of the puppeteer as someone who gives life to inanimate characters. But for more than half a century, Alan Cook’s own life has been shaped by friends made of wood and clay.

Inspired by a puppetry class he took as a second-grader, the sixtysomething Cook has devoted most of his working life and a good chunk of his private life to the art of puppetry. A loquacious man who wears a salt-and-pepper goatee and a slightly bemused expression, he has come across some impressive characters over the years. With little prodding, he’ll spill stories about folks like Jim Henson, Shari Lewis or Gumby creator Art Clokey. But it appears that of the thousands of elbows he’s rubbed in his lifetime, it’s the hinged ones he values the most.

The owner of an estimated 2,000 (he says he’s lost count) puppets and marionettes, the North Hollywood resident has brought more than 150 of his figures to Brea for “International Puppets and Marionettes,” a family-friendly exhibit that continues through March 17 at the Brea Gallery. The gallery is across from the Curtis Theater, where, not coincidently, puppeteer Jim Gamble will present two performances of his “Wonderful World of Puppets” show this Sunday. (Shows are at 1 and 3 p.m.; tickets $6.)

Walking into “International Puppets” is a little like arriving at a United Nations cocktail party or a Hollywood premiere already in full swing. Kimono-clad marionettes gather in cozy knots in one corner, while across the room a pair of Wayang Kulit (shadow puppets) from Java stare fiercely into the distance. Nearby, crimson- and sapphire-coated Cossacks (two of a dozen pieces loaned by Gamble’s company) are frozen in mid-leap, and across the way, an international gathering of circus performers--including a puppet tiger that stretches more than three feet from nose to tail and a pink-sequined aerialist dangling from one knee overhead--seem to acknowledge the cheers of the crowd.

Exotic characters abound. There’s a sultry Egyptian dancer from a 1930s production of “Sinbad” by Tony Sarg, a man Cook considers “the father of the American puppet revival,” as well as a handful of wooden folk puppets from Africa and a trio of turn-of-the-century figures from the Sicillian Opra di Popi, an Italian company that Cook said produced such lengthy stories they could take up to three months to present. Ranging in size from three to four feet in height, the figures are dressed in realistic-looking breastplates and helmets and bear swords and shields. There are 33 countries represented in the show, Cook says.

The way he sees it, the word “puppet” can apply to almost any figure that can be animated with a little human intervention, whether it was once a “little green ball of clay” like Gumby, or the 10-cent orange crates from which he carved his first marionette as a kid in Pasadena, where he grew up watching free puppet shows frequently held in the department stores there. But, as he observes, cheap orange crates and free puppet shows are both pretty hard to come by these days.

Cook, whose resume includes working with Art Clokey as an animator for the 1950s children’s TV show “Davey and Goliath,” says there isn’t any kind of puppet that doesn’t fascinate him.

“Puppets are a part of history. They represent tremendous interchange across borders, even when countries aren’t speaking to each other,” he reasons. And, in countries where the political climate restricts free speech, puppet plays frequently serve as an outlet for personal expression.

“Puppetry has been around right from the beginning” of recorded American history, Cook says. “The Hopi had puppets, many of them associated with secret ceremonies. . . . And in the Pacific Northwest, the Indians sometimes used puppetry to impress people with the wisdom and skill of the shamans.”

One of the more eye-catching pieces in this exhibit is not a puppet at all; it’s a large Polish szopka, or puppet theater. Standing about four feet tall, the stage is built to resemble the facade of an ornate cathedral, its walls and spires glittering with a multicolored coat of foil. According to the gallery card, the stage harks back to medieval times when puppet shows were presented in churches to illustrate Bible stories. In these, the Virgin Mary was a prominent figure, giving rise to the term little Marys, or marionettes.

“No one really knows how far back (puppetry) goes,” Cook says. “You’ll find (references to puppets) from the Middle Ages in Europe. They were designed as religious figures, but they could also be used (to stage) ‘miracles.’ Back then, I don’t think the clergy was above a little chicanery.”

For inanimate objects, Cook’s puppets have been around. As a longstanding member of the Puppeteers of America, he’s curated shows in such sites as Washington, D.C.’s Corcoran gallery and the Beckstrand Gallery in the Palos Verdes Art Center. He also directed a similar show at the Brea Gallery in 1986.

Visitors to “International Puppets” will find many familiar faces including a 1930s “portrait puppet” of FDR, a large Pinocchio marionette that’s a dead ringer for the Disney character, a garish hand puppet of Phyllis Diller and a vintage string puppet of skater Sonia Henie that was featured in a 1940s Frank Paris show at Radio City Music Hall.

And yes, Gumby is there, and his pony pal, Pokey, too.

* What: “International Puppets and Marionettes” exhibit.

* When: Through March 17. Gallery hours: Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, noon to 8 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday.

* Where: Brea Gallery, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea.

* Whereabouts: From the Orange (57) Freeway, exit at Imperial Highway and drive west. Turn right on Randolph Street, right on Birch Street, then make an immediate right into the parking garage.

* Wherewithal: Gallery admission is $1, free to ages 18 and under. Parking is free.

* Where to call: (714) 990-7730.

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