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So what's Christmas-time like in The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? Given that holiday magic is kind of different from the sort of magic that they practice up at Hogwarts, Christmas in Hogsmeade is a somewhat understated affair. There's a wreath on the door at Zonko's and some garland around the top of that shop's windows.
Photo by Jim Hill
And the same sort of thing is going on at Honeydukes.
But beyond a few small seasonal touches on some food ...
... and merch carts ...
... it's pretty much business as usual at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Except -- of course -- for that ginormous construction crane which is now looming over this side of Islands of Adventure.
According the signs on the temporary construction wall that's just been erected outside of Hogsmeade Village, "Great Things Are On The Way."
Well, I don't know about you folks. But when I'm trying to EXPRESS myself, giant pieces of construction equipment ...
... tend to disrupt my TRAIN of thought.
Okay. Moving on from the less-than-subtle hints ... Let's move on from Hogsmeade's wonderfully understated holiday decoration to Suess Landing's completely-over-the-top Christmas celebration.
You gotta give the Whos some credit. Because they really go all out this time of year.
I mean, even the Truffala trees were done up in snoof & fuzzle, tringlers & trappings
Of course, you can't blame the Whos for being excited. After all, Grinchmas gets underway tomorrow.
Mind you, the highlight of this month-long celebration at Universal's Islands of Adventure (which -- to be specific here -- runs from December 1st through January 1st) is the Grinchmas Wholiday Spectacular. And yesterday ... Well, the nice folks at Universal Orlando were kind enough to pull back the curtain a little bit. Reveal some of the behind-the-scenes effort that goes into presenting this live stage show.
So have you ever wondered what it takes to transform a live performer into a Who? Well, it's a 45 minute-long process that involves a lot of this stuff.
But -- of course -- before you can get started, you first have to pick your nose.
A foam appliance nose, to be exact. One modeled after the Who noses that make-up legend Rick Baker created while he was supervising all of the character make-ups for that 2000 Universal Pictures release, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."
Copyright 2000 Universal Pictures. All rights reserved
First the make-up artist applies some spirit gum to the inside of this foam appliance.
Then a similar amount of spirit gum is applied to the performer's face.
Then that foam Who nose is carefully lowered into place.
From here on in, it's all about blending different shades of make-up ...
... and then applying them to both the performer's face as well as the foam appliance ...
... in an effort to make them seamlessly blend together. Mind you, in order to make that foam Who nose look like it's a real piece of flesh on this performer's face, some specialized tools -- like an airbrush -- have to be used during the final stages of make-up application.
And -- of course -- it would be at this delicate point in the operation that the Grinch himself would show up ...
... determined to do whatever he could to distract this make-up artist & performer ...
... from completing their delicate task.
But in the end, the Grinch didn't win. After some last minute touches around this performer's mouth area ...
... this Who was ready to hit the stage ...
... and then join a talented group of performers as they -- with the help of some music from Mannheim Steamroller -- retold this classic Dr. Seuss tale.
Mind you, if you're a big Who fan, the Whos won't just be performing inside of Soundstage 20. Inbetween performances of "Grinchmas," the Who will be out & about in Seuss Landing, singing Who carols and interacting with Islands of Adventure visitors.
Copyright Universal Orlando. All rights reserved
Even the Grinch will be making himself available inbetween his live performances of this seasonal stage show. Though I can't say that I expect the Mean One to actually behave himself ...
... once he starts interacting with Universal Orlando visitors.
Grinchmas gets underway tomorrow at Universal's Islands of Adventure. For further information on this Wholiday Spectacular (which runs through January 1, 2013), please click on this link.
Great photos Jim, good seeing you there yesterday. My favorite touch at the media event was the "Outer Toons" band playing The Who's "Who Are You" (aka the CSI theme) in full Whoo makeup!
I would have paid good money to see Jim made up as a Who... oh well, there is always next year.