How do they move puppets inside the car?

Question

In Team America: World Police, there is a scene that took place inside a car.

I know puppets' movements are managed by strings through the whole movie:

Then how is this scene inside the car was shot? I didn't see any strings attached.

Answer 1

Well, there might not be a ceiling.

Generally just like in puppet shows, there are no ceilings because it can make difficult to pass the strings to control movements of puppets.

For eg.

The effect of darkness like in second image can easily be achieved by paint and VFX.

Removal of string can easily be achieved in different ways. They can use VFX to remove strings or use the color similar to surrounding.

Though I couldn't find any definitive source about how they filmed it in this show.

Answer 2

A possibility is that you do not need strings in that scene. I did not see this episode, so it boils down to the question "Did these characters need to move around while in the car"? It looks like they did not; so on that assumption:

The characters were moved by the puppeteers, from behind the car's seat. All the puppeteers need is a way to reach the characters so that they, and their limbs, can be moved around. If the puppet needs to walk and move in the scene, then you have to use strings from above or sticks from below (or something like that). But if the characters stay stationary, it's possible to eliminate seeing the strings/sticks by hiding them (or by having the puppeteer directly manipulating them with his hands). In this case, it would be "through" the car's seat.

Answer 3

Most likely that's not a car at all, and is just a prop/set on a green/blue screen (so they can perform a chroma key if the outside environment needs to move as in driving). In which case it's just like any conventional marionette-puppeteering stage where the operator is above the puppets.