King Kong on Stage<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

At one time marionettes were relegated to shadow theatre and children\u2019s pantomime but Australia\u2019s\u00a0Global Creatures Technologies\u00a0<\/a>and producer Carmen Pavlovic have taken puppetry to newer heights. Their animatronic uber-puppet King Kong is as tall as a house, requires 16 people to manipulate him and is so heavy (he tips the scales at 1,100 kilograms) that he needs to be tethered to a crane to move him about the stage. Kong is the central character in an upcoming stage musical about the beauty and the simian beast.<\/p>\n

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“I see him as a sculpture,” says creature designer Sonny Tilders, the man who designed the creation and supervised its construction. Tilders’ sculpture is made of aluminium and latex. A layer of inflatable balloon bags is stretched over the armature – they simulate contracting and expanding muscles – which flex and contort with the aid of 16 microprocessors wrapped inside\u00a0the torso. The head alone is packed with 15 industrial servo motors and two hydraulic cylinders which gives the off-stage operator precise control over the eyebrows, eyelids, nose, mouth and jaw.<\/p>\n

Check out the Promo Video of King Kong on Stage:<\/p>\n