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Monday, January 13, 2025
Photos: WICKED Float Comes to Pasadena's Rose Parade
www.broadwayworld.com: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment recently partnered with the Pasadena Tournament of Roses to bring the magic of Wicked to the 136th Rose Parade. The annual parade aired Wednesday, Jan. 1 from 8-10 a.m. PT on NBC.
The 136th Rose Parade’s Wicked float looks interesting! I wish this article included even a snippet as to how it was made. I wonder if certain model-making skills could be utilized in such a large context. Certain parts of the float appear to be carved out of foam or made of some sort of ‘skin’ layer over wire, which I’m sure is efficient for weight concerns. The photos show the handmade-esque details of the float from different angles, focusing on the larger than life characters and their environments. The characters’ (Elphaba and Glina) appearances, I find to be a bit off-putting due to their bold features, but I suppose they make sense, given a wide audience with low visibility. This article prompted me to realize that I know very little about the ‘parade float making’ industries and businesses that exist within that realm. Some of my fondest Thanksgiving Day memories are watching the Macy’s Day Parade as a kid. I was able to search more about how the structures of many floats are made, but was unable to find anything specific on the Wicked float.
Floats are always fun, and I think that a world like Oz is perfectly suited for such an adaptation. I love watching parades and have been endlessly fascinated with the process of how such big creations get made, and the image of the giant Elphaba sculpture surrounded by scaffolding was very fun to see. I am however curious about the materials used to create such large sculptures, especially with the added stress of having to hold up while being dragged through a street. On top of that, the use of flowers throughout the sculpture must be difficult to pull off at a large scale. Also, as someone who has done a bit of wig work, the mass of hair on Galinda must have been a pain to work with, and I wonder how long it took to style all of that. I get frustrated when it's a human-sized head of hair, let alone a multi-story tall mop!
2 comments:
The 136th Rose Parade’s Wicked float looks interesting! I wish this article included even a snippet as to how it was made. I wonder if certain model-making skills could be utilized in such a large context. Certain parts of the float appear to be carved out of foam or made of some sort of ‘skin’ layer over wire, which I’m sure is efficient for weight concerns. The photos show the handmade-esque details of the float from different angles, focusing on the larger than life characters and their environments. The characters’ (Elphaba and Glina) appearances, I find to be a bit off-putting due to their bold features, but I suppose they make sense, given a wide audience with low visibility. This article prompted me to realize that I know very little about the ‘parade float making’ industries and businesses that exist within that realm. Some of my fondest Thanksgiving Day memories are watching the Macy’s Day Parade as a kid. I was able to search more about how the structures of many floats are made, but was unable to find anything specific on the Wicked float.
Floats are always fun, and I think that a world like Oz is perfectly suited for such an adaptation. I love watching parades and have been endlessly fascinated with the process of how such big creations get made, and the image of the giant Elphaba sculpture surrounded by scaffolding was very fun to see. I am however curious about the materials used to create such large sculptures, especially with the added stress of having to hold up while being dragged through a street. On top of that, the use of flowers throughout the sculpture must be difficult to pull off at a large scale. Also, as someone who has done a bit of wig work, the mass of hair on Galinda must have been a pain to work with, and I wonder how long it took to style all of that. I get frustrated when it's a human-sized head of hair, let alone a multi-story tall mop!
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