Sat May 26, 2012 8:55 am
#63680
I recently went to Madame Tussauds in New York City. I had been there about 10 years ago, but a lot of the wax figures were new, and many of existing ones have had their styling and location revamped.
The celebrity likenesses are uncanny on most of these statues. Even right up close, they look almost real. I can appreciate the artistry that goes into it.
As a photography maniac, I took hundreds of photos that day, but I'll just share a few that might apply to the Halloween crowd here.
Right near the start of the self-guided walk through, you encounter a big King Kong, and can pose with yourself in the grip of his mighty hand. But the staff takes this photo and charges you for it (not sure the price). I knew there would be plenty of great photo opportunities inside, which I could take myself for free. So I said no thanks, and just took this picture from the side.
Ozzy with a blank, clueless stare... which some may say is true to life.
As evidenced by the many Johnny Depp pumpkin patterns on this site, we know this guy has been in plenty of horror and fantasy films. Heck, his first movie was A Nightmare on Elm Street. This wax Johnny was cool, but would have been even better if he were dressed as one of his quirky characters like Edward Scissorhands.
Twilight fans, here's your Robert Pattinson. I didn't examine too closely, but I'm assuming he was pretty sparkly, due to all the glitter left behind from the multitudes of teen girls that have shamelessly groped the R Patz statue for photos.
They show a "4D" movie at the museum which is a 10 minute 3D movie in a theater equipped with interactive effects like smoke, strobing lights, bubbles, wind, splashes of water, and vibrating seats. The current film showing there is a CG animated fight scene with Marvel Comics characters.
Outside the theater they assembled statues of the Avengers, like Thor and Iron Man, to promote the summer blockbuster. Here I am hanging with Captain America.
Hulk was massive. And unlike the King Kong statue, there's no fee to take this photo yourself. Hulk smash!
But as a fan of classic horror and Halloween, you know the next trio of icons were my favorite. Starting with Boris Karloff as the Monster (incorrectly identified as "Frankenstein" on the sign behind him, if you want to be a nitpicky dork like me).
Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Gotta love the hand pose on the Count.
And Karloff again, as Imhotep the Mummy. Such detail on this rotting Egyptian.
Also worth mentioning for you horror heads - Madame Tussauds now has a haunted attraction as part of their tour, which is called SCREAM.
It's worth mentioning only as a warning - if you're an experienced fan of such haunts, please don't take a special trip to NYC just for this feature. Besides being very small, there were very few props to look at, and I think most of the scare actors must have been on break when I walked through. The experience for me was basically walking 30 paces down a dark hallway, where only 2 actors (barely in any costume) jumped out at me.
It's a shame that the SCREAM zone isn't better, because it replaced a chamber of horrors area that previously featured some historical gore from the old days of torture. These are a couple photos I took in 2002 of that.
All in all, it was a fun place to check out. Once you've seen the attraction, it's not the sort of thing you'd need to rush to do again. But it's a good tourist spot to check off your list. You're bound to find a favorite celebrity to pose with, from the ancient Mummy to the young Justin Bieber (now that's scary).
The celebrity likenesses are uncanny on most of these statues. Even right up close, they look almost real. I can appreciate the artistry that goes into it.
As a photography maniac, I took hundreds of photos that day, but I'll just share a few that might apply to the Halloween crowd here.
Right near the start of the self-guided walk through, you encounter a big King Kong, and can pose with yourself in the grip of his mighty hand. But the staff takes this photo and charges you for it (not sure the price). I knew there would be plenty of great photo opportunities inside, which I could take myself for free. So I said no thanks, and just took this picture from the side.
Ozzy with a blank, clueless stare... which some may say is true to life.
As evidenced by the many Johnny Depp pumpkin patterns on this site, we know this guy has been in plenty of horror and fantasy films. Heck, his first movie was A Nightmare on Elm Street. This wax Johnny was cool, but would have been even better if he were dressed as one of his quirky characters like Edward Scissorhands.
Twilight fans, here's your Robert Pattinson. I didn't examine too closely, but I'm assuming he was pretty sparkly, due to all the glitter left behind from the multitudes of teen girls that have shamelessly groped the R Patz statue for photos.
They show a "4D" movie at the museum which is a 10 minute 3D movie in a theater equipped with interactive effects like smoke, strobing lights, bubbles, wind, splashes of water, and vibrating seats. The current film showing there is a CG animated fight scene with Marvel Comics characters.
Outside the theater they assembled statues of the Avengers, like Thor and Iron Man, to promote the summer blockbuster. Here I am hanging with Captain America.
Hulk was massive. And unlike the King Kong statue, there's no fee to take this photo yourself. Hulk smash!
But as a fan of classic horror and Halloween, you know the next trio of icons were my favorite. Starting with Boris Karloff as the Monster (incorrectly identified as "Frankenstein" on the sign behind him, if you want to be a nitpicky dork like me).
Bela Lugosi as Dracula. Gotta love the hand pose on the Count.
And Karloff again, as Imhotep the Mummy. Such detail on this rotting Egyptian.
Also worth mentioning for you horror heads - Madame Tussauds now has a haunted attraction as part of their tour, which is called SCREAM.
It's worth mentioning only as a warning - if you're an experienced fan of such haunts, please don't take a special trip to NYC just for this feature. Besides being very small, there were very few props to look at, and I think most of the scare actors must have been on break when I walked through. The experience for me was basically walking 30 paces down a dark hallway, where only 2 actors (barely in any costume) jumped out at me.
It's a shame that the SCREAM zone isn't better, because it replaced a chamber of horrors area that previously featured some historical gore from the old days of torture. These are a couple photos I took in 2002 of that.
All in all, it was a fun place to check out. Once you've seen the attraction, it's not the sort of thing you'd need to rush to do again. But it's a good tourist spot to check off your list. You're bound to find a favorite celebrity to pose with, from the ancient Mummy to the young Justin Bieber (now that's scary).