Just following up on my recent post about the giant Mayflower marionette commercial, above is the Australian TV spot that I referred to that features a giant marionette made by John Cox’s Creature Workshop.
Although John Cox’s shop produced the giant marionette over the course of a two month build, it was actually commissioned by John Lam and Jason Ross at the ad agency JWT Sydney, who openly admitted that they stole the idea from Royal de Luxe in a recent article (they don’t reference Royal de Luxe by name, just simply refer to their $2 million “French puppet”).
If, as they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then France’s Royal de Luxe should feel extremely flattered. Giant marionettes that are suspiciously similar to theirs have been turning up all over! Here are two more examples – a giant girl and a Terracotta Warrior – from a play called The Warrior and The Girl that was staged at the China Millennium Monument in Beijing in 2008:
Slightly different – and quite possibly unrelated to Royal de Luxe’s work – is this giant marionette that was built as an art installation not long ago at a mall in Osaka, Japan:
One of the more original takes on the “giant marionette” concept is from way back in 2006, the giant marionette in Reykjavik hoax/viral ad, which didn’t actually involve a giant marionette at all.
Special thanks to Frank for pointing out several of the videos embedded above!
