Madame Tussauds creates Star Wars scenes to celebrate new film

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/may/13/madame-tussauds-star-wars-force-awakens

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Recreating the exact facial features of public figures of the day can be a task fraught with problems for the waxwork artists of Madame Tussauds. In a new exhibition about Star Wars, they faced the further problem of where to build a replica of a repulsive slug-like alien gangster.

“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,” general manager Ben Sweet said.

Fans of the film series can experience classic scenes at a new interactive exhibition at the London wax museum after teams of artists created models of Anakin Skywalker amid the lava of Mustafar and Han Solo in the Millennium Falcon alongside his Wookiee co-pilot Chewbacca.

The 180 sculptors, hair artists, colourists, set designers and prop makers took more than a year to recreate 11 famous Star Wars scenes, including the one when Darth Vader reveals he is Luke Skywalker’s father.

Related: What makes Madame Tussauds' wax work?

The new exhibition, complete with Star Wars features such as lightsaber sounds and space visual effects, comes before the next instalment Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, which is scheduled for release in December.

The museum said it had worked closely with Walt Disney Co and 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,” Sweet said.

Jabba is the largest figure on display, at 2.9metres long, 1.5metres high and weighing 220kg. The smallest is his court jester, Salacious B. Crumb, measuring 41.2cm tall. Alongside Jabba is Princess Leia in a costume which has become synonymous with the series.

“In the case of Princess Leia, obviously there is this famous bikini. It is one of the most famous costumes in film history. We were given access to the Skywalker ranch where the original is so we had a fittings team go and measure it,” principal sculptor Stephen Mansfield said.

Chewbacca took nearly 1,000 hours to make by 10 hair inserters, who used yak hair. Madame Tussauds said the figures cost around £2.5m.

Fans were invited for a preview on Tuesday, ahead of the official opening on 16 May.

“I’m just over the fourth moon of Endor about it, this is just fantastic,” fan Richard Bennett said. “It’s like being in the movies, it’s like being up close and personal.”