New York Daily Photo Analytics

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Fantastic Windows


On a recent second excursion to the Upper East Side to see more holiday windows, my travels took me back to 5th Avenue, across the street from Bergdorf Goodman's main store, where their men's store is located. These window displays were drawing the attention of passersby, virtually all of whom were compelled to stop and look with focused and studied attention. And for a good reason. Twelve windows are being used to feature these meticulously crafted, very detailed figures, which were used in the film The Fantastic Mr. Fox, adapted from the work of Roald Dahl. See my gallery of photos here.

The windows were a collaboration between 20th Century Fox and the Bergdorf design team. From the press release:

The holiday windows at Bergdorf Goodman, one of New York City's premier seasonal delights, will feature the sets from Wes Anderson's film, "Fantastic Mr. Fox," based on the children's classic by Roald Dahl. The windows will debut on the evening of November 10th. David Hoey, Bergdorf Goodman's Senior Director of Visual Presentation partnered with the film’s production team to adapt sets from the stop motion animation film for the windows. They will include the character puppets made by the UK’s acclaimed puppet makers, Ian MacKinnon and Peter Saunders. This collaboration marks Bergdorf Goodman’s first-ever partnership with a major film production for its holiday windows. The twelve windows of Bergdorf Goodman Men's Store located on Fifth Avenue and along 58th Street will feature the "Fantastic Mr. Fox" sets through January 4, 2010...

Mackinnon and Saunders was founded in 1992 and has since been responsible for some of the finest stop-motion puppets in the world - see their website here. Their award-winning work has been used in film and television, with the likes of Tim Burton on Corpse Bride.

Peter Saunders worked as a puppet maker on Jim Henson’s live action movie The Dark Crystal. Subsequently, he learned to adapt and miniaturize animatronic techniques, which enabled him to create highly sophisticated stop-motion puppets.

The display will be up until January 4. There is still time to view these Fantastic Windows :)

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't see another place where I could leave a msg, so am doing it here. Great pics - stumbleupon it and I like the photos very much - great work.

Anonymous said...

It's great to see that these amazing works of art didn't just end up somewhere in a warehouse left to rot.
A very special holiday treat.
Happy Holidays BTW.
Looking forward to more of New York from these Daily Photo pages in Twenty-Ten. :)

Fashion Schlub said...

a beautiful shot! doesn't even look like a window, looks like you're in the set!

Kris McCracken said...

It’s that time of year again! I’m doing the rounds and apologising for my complete failure to more regularly offer comment on everybody’s incredible efforts for the year. I know how hard it can be to keep up with the daily grind of everyday posting, and want to thank you for your efforts.

I especially want to wish festive greetings for all from down here at [nearly] the end of the world, the bottom of Tasmania.

So, if you could delete whatever is not applicable, I’d like to wish you a very pleasant/merry/happy/wonderful/safe Amaterasu; Ashurall; Beiwe; Choimus; Christmas; Dazh Boh; Dongzhi; Goru; Hanukkah; Hogmanay; Junkanoo; Karachun; Koleda; Lenæa; Meán Geimhridh; Modranicht; New Years; Ras as-Sana; Rozhanitsa Feast; Şeva Zistanê; shōgatsu; Summer Solstice [if you're in the Southern Hemisphere]; Sviatki; Vánoce; Winter solstice [if you're in the Northern Hemisphere]; Yalda; Yule-tide; Ziemassvētki; and Коляда!

With a hearty three cheers from Kris, Jen, Henry and Ezra!

Jim said...

This is brilliant. I featured some Christmas Carols windows on my blog this week from a department store in Sydney.
Sydney - City and Suburbs

An Honest Man said...

Superb photo Brian.

Unknown said...

Brian--You've got some amazing readers! --along with your amazing postings!