Comments on: Massive marionnettes

Massive marionnettes

mildred-pitt — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:31:55 -0800

in Nantes, France.

By: Balisong

Balisong — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 12:57:03 -0800

Damn. Those ARE big. *paging John Malcovitch*

By: Eekacat

Eekacat — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:05:59 -0800

That is weirdly cool. Nice post!

By: Balisong

Balisong — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:12:12 -0800

And I was just thinking of the havoc I could cause with a giant robotic elephant, too.

By: lilnemo

lilnemo — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:12:23 -0800

These marionnettes were constructed to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Jules Verne's death. The characters and scenes are taken directly from his stories.

By: lilnemo

lilnemo — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:14:31 -0800

More info can be found here.

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:14:38 -0800

Incredible. From what I can tell the "story" actually starts here on Thursday, May 19 -- with the crash landing of a space rocket -- and progresses through the city of Nantes, ending on Sunday, May 22 with the "girl" taking off in the rocket. It is a reenactment in honor of the centennnial of Jules Verne's death.

By: benzo8

benzo8 — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:14:41 -0800

Cool - impressive stuff. And I thought our gigantes were impressive!

By: ericb

ericb — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:14:59 -0800

Uh, what lilnemo said.

By: lilnemo

lilnemo — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:20:03 -0800

And here is the press kit (warning:pdf). Apparently there will be various exhibitions running through October '06.

By: _sirmissalot_

_sirmissalot_ — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:21:07 -0800

More info can also be found here.

By: longsleeves

longsleeves — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:27:45 -0800

Thanks lilnemo, I have always wanted furtinure that urinates continuously I just didn't realize!!

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:32:17 -0800

I love these--i wish we did stuff like this. And I thought our gigantes were impressive! Yours are (i caught a Sta Eulalia thing with them ages ago there)

By: glider

glider — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 13:54:01 -0800

Video mix [wmv] of the event; from the videos on the page.

By: parallax7d

parallax7d — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:02:13 -0800

I love the part in the video when the girl marionette was rubbing her face with the giant lollypop in a "licking" motion. It would have been sweeter if she started backhanding spectators with it though...

By: Balisong

Balisong — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:05:41 -0800

It would have been sweeter if she started backhanding spectators with it though... Ala. Sauron in the opening of LOTR? That would be a show to remember!

By: hifiparasol

hifiparasol — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 14:07:33 -0800

I for one welcome our new marionette overlords.

By: elgilito

elgilito — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:09:40 -0800

In 1986, I came upon a bunch of actors who were giving a free public performance in my street. They were playing some sort of 19th century melodrama, with heavy makeup, a lot of screaming and over-the-top acting. It was fun but nothing remarkable, until things started to get rough. To the amazement of the spectators, blood started flowing, body parts started flying, characters got dismembered and killed in increasingly gruesome ways. The quaint melodrama had turned into a bloodbath and Grand Guignol had met the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in a nice little sunny, peaceful street of Toulouse in front of a delighted, though a little bit shaken, audience. Only years later did I learn the name of the company, Royal de Luxe, once they had become successful with their giant-based 360° performances.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:19:11 -0800

Where's The Teacher?

By: O9scar

O9scar — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:26:19 -0800

Discussed here previously.

By: George_Spiggott

George_Spiggott — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 15:28:28 -0800

It must nice to live in a country where they do things like this, and do it without naming it after a sponsor and slapping logos and advertising on every vertical surface in sight.

By: nyc stories

nyc stories — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 16:38:49 -0800

This reminds me of the Vermont group Bread and Puppet. I miss their Domestic Resurrection Circus and Pageant that used to be held in Vermont every year. If you don't know their work, you should check out their pagentry that includes both human size and giant puppets. They still perform, they just no longer have their giant annual event in Vermont.

By: soiled cowboy

soiled cowboy — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 16:44:42 -0800

George_Spiggott, I'm not sure if you live in the US or not, but you may have heard of The Gates. That very public art experience had no sponsors slapping their logos on every vertical surface in sight.

By: loquacious

loquacious — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 16:52:30 -0800

Dangit, I was hoping that this was an update or new Royal de Luxe event. Tease.

By: joelf

joelf — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:53:53 -0800

it's like Being John Malkovich

By: jonson

jonson — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 20:00:06 -0800

joelf, yes, it is.

By: shoepal

shoepal — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 20:34:27 -0800

benzo8, I was totally thinking the same thing. The BCN gigantes are awesome. Hell, BCN is awesome. Such a great city. nyc stories, there's no more B&P?! Crazy. I went in '93 and had a blast. I had no idea it ended in '98. How sad. Thanks for the link/update.

By: mildred-pitt

mildred-pitt — Sun, 31 Jul 2005 23:31:39 -0800

It's so inspiring! Good lord I love it! Sorry if it was referenced before. I REALLY like it!