Success is getting what you want; happiness is liking what you get

Wednesday, 14 January 2009

The Weta Cave

The highlight of our day out on Sunday was a visit to the Weta Cave in Miramar, Wellington. Not just any old dank, dark cave with those horrible creepy crawly wetas just waiting to pounce on unsuspecting visitors. No, this was the showcase of those very talented pair of Kiwis, Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor. Peter Jackson is known world-wide as the director of the epic Lord of he Rings trilogy, and King Kong. Richard Taylor is the head of the team who brought the film characters to life with make-up and prosthesis. The creative genius of the staff at Weta Workshops also produce film miniatures and digital film effects.

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The Weta Cave

The Weta Cave has a tiny movie theatre. Fires glowed and the walls were adorned with masks and skulls. The film related how the co-founders met up, and the start of the company up to the present day. We saw “behind the scenes” footage of the artists breathing life into the many interesting characters.

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Gollum – from Lord of the Rings

As we wandered around the museum we came face to face with Gollum, that horrible skulking hairless creature whose one aim in life was to own “My Precious”, the gold ring whose power can change the world. And there by the door was one of those monsters ready to smote us in two. Everywhere we looked there were characters and artefacts fromPeter Jackson's movies.

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Weta, the multi Academy Award winning company can be justifiably proud of this new attraction in Wellington, and attendance is free. We found it extremely interesting and very well done. Congratulations, Weta!!

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