Oliphants

So, back to what I was talking about the other day when I mentioned one of the more amazing things I've ever seen. In London over the last four days, from Thursday to Sunday, a giant piece of street theatre took place called The Sultan's Elephant, and it tells the tale of a little girl and a Sultan on a time-travelling elephant. I'm sure you are all saying "wow, neat", right about now, but let me assure you that if you are, you are only making yourself look like insufferable jackasses. And if you are Gregg, you are talking about the Illuminati and the United Nations being part of all this, but that is beside the point. The point is that the entire story is told using puppets and animatronics, all to fantastic effect, and it sprawls across central London. Everything- and I mean everything- that this girl does, like taking off her shoes and changing into her bedclothes at night, or taking a morning shower before going for a walk in the park, is performed by the puppet herself. She even rides a scooter around town.

I first heard about this last week in the Sunday paper, but sort of forgot about it during the crush of finals weeks, but went with a few people on a rainy and cold Saturday afternoon to Trafalgar Square to see what it was all about. Upon arrival, we saw thousands of people gathered around a puppet of a girl and an elephant. The girl was laying down, apparently sleeping, and then woke her up and she walked about for a bit. I was a tad surprised at how big she was. How big? Well, her hobby is sewing, and she is sufficiently large to wreck cars by stitching them into the pavement (click for the full-size pictures):

Just to give you an idea of how big this puppet is, here she is next to some of her operators:

Recall that I said she does everything a normal person would. This girl is entirely life-like, despite the fact she is obviously a giant puppet. She moves like a person, taking careful steps while she walks. She looks around at what is happening around her and reactes accordingly. It is actually kind of heart-warming to see this puppet, because you really feel like you are looking at a little girl. Here are some pictures of her sightseeing on a double-decker bus, taking a shower, having a snack, and sleeping.



But back to my first afternoon seeing her. After she walked around the square for a few minutes, the elephant started to stir a bit. Because of the crowd, I was about 50 yards away from it, and it was facing directly towards me. Given how big the girl was, the elephant look quite big, by comparison.

Then it stood up.

It turns out this elephant had been lying down sleeping, and, holy god, was only now reaching its full height. Looking at how big that girl is, try to imagine a mechanical elephant big enough for her to get a ride on its trunk. And I do mean ride. The girl and the elephant walk all over downtown London, taking in the sights. Having a bit of difficulty picturing it? Here...



Yes, those specks on its back are people. And yes, it really is as big as a building. For scale, look at the people not in the foreground, but at its feet. It reminded me of nothing short of the Oliphants from Lord of the Rings. It was colossal in stature, and my attention was utterly transfixed on it. I stood in one spot for over two hours on both Saturday and Sunday to make sure I had a clear view of the parts of the show I wanted. It weighs over 40 tons, and every part of this is articulated. Its trunk, lips, tongue, tail, ears, all of it. It all moves an in an amazing mimcry of life. It blows water out of its trunk for when the girl showers, or even when it simply wants to douse the crowd. It just isn't wheeled around (although, of course, it is), but its feet actually touch the ground to complete the illusion. When it sleeps it continues to breath all night long, as does the girl, who opens and closes her mouth in time with her breaths. And at the end of Sunday, the last day, the little girl climbed back into her pod and left us, all of us, breathless. It was beyond good, beyond amazing. It was beyond my imagination.

If Royal de Luxe, the company that ever puts these shows on, comes anywhere near you, I urge you to see it. Fantastic.

If you want any more information, the BBC has a page for it here, and you should also be able to click on the pictures here to see them in larger size.