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 "Star Wars" fans can come face to face with the heroes and
villains of the sci-fi universe at a new interactive experience
at London wax museum Madame Tussauds, which has recreated scenes
from one of the most popular movie franchises of all time.
A team of 180 sculptors, hair artists, colorists, set designers
and prop makers took more than a year to recreate 11 famous
"Star Wars" scenes, including the iconic one when Darth Vader
reveals he is Luke Skywalker's father.
The new experience, complete with lightsaber sound and space
visual effects, comes ahead of the much-anticipated next
installment "Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens",
scheduled for release in December.
The museum said it had worked closely with Walt Disney Co and
"Star Wars" producer Lucasfilm to bring the sets together.
"We approached Lucas(film) to say we want to create an
experience that's never been done before," Madame Tussauds
London General Manager Ben Sweet said.
"A figure would normally take around four months to make ... the
bigger figures such as the gargantuan Jabba the Hutt took a
little bit longer and we did have to create him in a warehouse."
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Jabba, one of the galaxy's most powerful gangsters, is the largest
figure on display, at 2.9 meters (9.5 feet) long, 1.5 meter high and
weighing 35 stone (490 pounds or 222 kilos).
The smallest is his court jester, Salacious B. Crumb, measuring 41.2
cm (1.4 foot) tall.
Chewbacca took nearly 1,000 hours to make by 10 hair inserters, who
used real yak hair. Madame Tussauds said the figures cost around 2.5
million pounds ($3.91 million).
Fans were invited for a preview on Tuesday, ahead of the official
opening on May 16.
"I'm just over the fourth moon of Endor about it, this is just
fantastic," fan Richard Bennett said, referring to a moon in the
"Star Wars" universe. "It's like being in the movies, it's like
being up close and personal."
(Reporting by Joel Flynn; Writing by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing
by Mark Heinrich)
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