Giants

So I got this clip in an email this morning:  [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBXr15K2uSc&rel=1]Isn't it amazing?  Apparently its part of a larger play "The Sultan's Elephant" done by the group Royal de Luxe, who, described by wikipedia, are a "French mechanical marionette street theatre company."  I absolutely love it. Why haven't they come here?  I haven't watched footage of the whole performance yet, but from what I've seen of the pictures it just looks extraordinary.  It reminds me a bit of one of my favorite films, Alice, by Jan Svankmajer.  --The story of Alice in Wonderland told through a combination of live action and stop-motion animation.  

 

It too, is beautiful and intricate, with this lovely sinister side. (My favorite scene is when Alice is in some sort of storage closet.  A carton of eggs breaks and little bird skeletons scramble out.  Its delicious.)  I guess this feels the same to me.  

  

I love the little girl. How sweet and gentle she seems despite her size.  Did you see the part with the children swinging on her arms?   Hmm she looks like these sketches of this little girl I've been working on, doesn't she?