The Enchanted Village - part 3

This is my final post about our visit to The Enchanted Village. The theme this time is music. The first picture shows teddy bears in the music store. I forgot to mention in my other posts that many of the scenes had mechanical animation. For instance, in this scene, the bear playing the piano was moving his hands and arms. It wasn't up to Hollywood standards but it surprised me how just a little bit of movement added so much to the scene. I find this in a lot of things. I remember seeing The Civil War documentary by Ken Burns for the first time. They had interviews with Civil War experts, pictures from battlefield parks, maps and still pictures taken at the time of the conflict. By simply panning around the pictures, they were able to simulate movement to the point where they could be describing a battle with added sounds effects and it almost seemed like you were watching video of the actual battle.

The next scene shows some carolers outside one of the buildings. The boy on the right seems to have either given up trying to read the music or has everything memorized. I don't know if the people who set up these displays had complete freedom in moving the figure or if they were fixed in their body positions (it would have helped this scene if the boy's elbows could have been bent). I would like to find a behind-the-scenes write-up of these displays. If I ever do, I'll post it in this blog. Another interesting things about this scene is the girl in the dark blue coat. When we were first coming up to this display, she seemed to be looking right at me and I was shocked to think that some child had climbed into the display to try to be part of it. Only after she didn't move for a while did I realize that she wasn't alive. She had a more direct gaze than any of the other figures. There's a Twilight Zone story in there somewhere.

The next picture shows a small children's band. I don't know if they are accompanying the carolers or not. That scene was pretty far from the band. Now they've got me acting like this is all real! When I saw this little band, it reminded me of a scene in the Mr. Bean TV series. It's part of the "Merry Christmas, Mr. Bean" episode. Here is the link. You'll have to watch a short commercial before Mr. Bean does his thing.

The final picture shows a couple dancing in a small gazebo. Again, this was mechanically animated with the couple slowly rotating. It added so much to the scene and made it easier to see their faces. We didn't all have to be on one side. With them actually moving, the expressions on their faces took on more meaning. They seem so happy and carefree. We know nothing about their lives but for this moment, they don't have any worries and have nothing to think about but each other. We all need a little distraction from time to time to let us leave our responsibilities and troubles behind - for a while.

My other posts about The Enchanted Village can be found here (part 1) and here (part 2) and, as always, just click on the pictures to see an enlarged view.