"The children now sat down on each side of him. They now saw that he had very long legs and arms so that although his body was not much bigger than a dwarf's, he would be taller than most men when he stood up."

If your going to give Lewis' description justice , you need to use CGI. So I voted for Actor with CGI enhancement because an actor would not only make it easier for the people on set, but also for the people Post-Production . But BBC did very well with just Tom Baker.

I immediately think of Mr. Tumnus where he was human from the waist up but with CG legs. I'd do the same thing with Puddleglum.

Either CGI or even makeup on a real live human. You need someone who is lanky however, all arms & legs, with big hands & feet, not someone who looks like they trained for Mr Universe. Tom Baker did a good job with the BBC Silver Chair, with makeup, some sort of green goo on the backs of his webbed hands and stringy looking hair.

My perfect scenario would be to have Robert Carlyle from Once Upon A Time, with digital enhancement to make him look a little more like a marshwiggle.

Wow, Robert Carlyle. I never would have thought of that, but I LOVE the idea of him playing Puddleglum. He definitely has the right look! I've only seen him in a couple things... Eragon (though I don't remember him at all in there) and Stargate Universe's pilot episode. My husband has watched a couple episodes of Once and I've walked by when he was on. I can't really judge him on his acting cause I haven't seen him in much but....

I like this idea! I can only picture him in villainous roles, but I am definitely open to the thought.

I think Robert Carlyle would make a good Puddleglum. He's got the looks and his voice seems well suited to marshwiggle-isms.

As for how Puddleglum should be portrayed on screen, I lean toward CGI enhancements--though as Wagga pointed out, makeup and a good actor could be fabulous too.

I agree with you guys, i think some CGI enhancement is necessary. And Robert Carlyle, although I don't remember him from Trainspotting, looks like a great Puddleglum. Viggo Mortensen might also be a good fit. I think Sam Rockwell could also be good in the role.

I agree with the majority vote for an actor with CGI approach. I also agree that Robert Carlyle has the right look for Puddleglum. He is a little short (5'8" (1.73 m)) according to his IMDB bio. But I am sure that can be overcome in these days of making the unreal appear real.

There are other actors too who are already tall including Bruce Spence who is 6' 6¼" (1.99 m). He played Lord Rhoop in VDT and has been mentioned in past discussions about Puddleglum.

Doug Jones as the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth would be my main point of reference for Puddleglum - A naturally tall and slender actor in Doug Jones to play him, some creative use of prosthetics and practical vfx to make him appear otherworldly, plus a small amount of green screening on the legs to give him the unnatural physique required.

Even with an unlimited budget i'd still be inclined to go in this direction rather than full VFX, but given the likely limited budget I think its a no-brainer.

And Robert Carlyle, although I don't remember him from Trainspotting.

Wait.... he was that guy???

In filmmaking height is not an issue. A director can make an actor look any height they want. While I do think Robert Carlyle looks the part, I mostly thought of him because based on what I've seen of him, I'm certain he could pull of the marshwiggle quite convincingly.

I actually really love the idea of Robert Carlyle, but it might be too similar to his character as Rumpelstiltskin, who is often compare to looking like a crocodile. I know he would look the part extremely well, but I wouldn't want people to make the comparison all the time.
The most important thing isn't his arm/body/leg proportion, it's his webbed hands and feet. That's what makes him distinctly a marshwiggle, not a human. If there was a CG character that was basically a person with abnormally long arms and legs, it would look really awkward and kind of freaky. I'm concerned less with those and more with his hands, feet, hair, and complexion. They need to get that right for the arms and legs to work.

I was rather torn for a while, but in the end I opeted for actor with CGI enhancements. I think it won't do to completely do away with CGI because there are things about Puddleglum that will only look right if you animante them. I mean, makeup can only go so far (at least in my opinion) like in LWW when Mr. Tumnus was an actor with CGI, I think that would be great for Puddleglum as well. I actually always had a hard time imagining him when I read the book. I sort of pictured the long arms and legs, but could never give the character a face