The opening scene of Lion King Kids has a procession of animals and I had joked with the director about building a full-sized elephant. When I mentioned that to a friend of mine who helps me, he didn’t even blink. “Sounds good.” We laughed it off, but as time went by, I decided I wanted that elephant. It ended up being about ten feet tall and certainly was talked about throughout the school system.
I knew we couldn’t make a realistic elephant, so we leaned into a stylized “arts and crafts” kind of look. The base was a rolling wood frame to carry the weight. The legs (wooden flats with semi-circle discs of two inch rigid foam) dangled from that frame with the body (bent PEX tubing and chicken wire) simply rested on top. The head was a separate piece which mounted to a pivot (the original plan was to have a kid riding inside to move the head). The ears were a giant headband that sat on top and the trunk clipped into some eye bolts beneath the head. This modular build made it easier to transport and store the elephant.
Elephant base with legs in the back of a full-sized pickup truck. I’m sure we got a few looks during the drive.
The body framework of PEX tubing and chicken wire. The head would eventually clip into the boxy pivot in the front and nestle into the circular plywood ring behind it.
A canvas painter’s dropcloth, dyed grey. Draping the fabric over the frame just didn’t look right, so I changed direction.
This patchwork of different grey fabrics were hand-stitched onto the chicken wire. They were later trimmed to get rid of the square corners.
The framed head with the eyes and tusks in place. The eyes were black security camera domes and the tusks were chicken wire wrapped in fabric and then tied up with rough twine.
Close-up of one of the eyes. I was really happy with how the eyelid folds turned out.
Finished head, less the trunk. The ears were a giant headband that just draped over the top of the head. The fabric was attached in a way that covered the headband and seams.
The trunk, hanging from the ceiling, was made of layers of two inch rigid foam alternating between small diameter spacers and the full-diameter trunk pieces. It could bend a bit, but that ability didn’t end up being used during the show.
The completed elephant on the stage. Note the elaborate lattice that was hand-cut by my friend Mike to give the base some style. For reference, the ladder in the background is six feet tall.
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