The Minions on CBS stans pics Photos by keywestnight.com Minions Video 2014 The theme for the Minions float 2014 was "Moulin Rouge and the Green Fairy of Absinth'ation". Color scheme was red with gold trim, and green. Riders were Can Can dancers, and walkers were Gents in tuxedo and tails costumes with no pants - ridiculous boxer shorts only. Dress code 2014 The idea being that everything on the float was "animated" with a moving windmill, gears, levers, stars, trapeze, a crescent moon, similar to a jewel-box ballerina, dancers that are wound up by a manual crank that brings the dancers to life. Early plans called for the gents to wear tear-away pants (with silly boxer shorts underneath) that could be removed (to the sound of a "drum roll and Ta Daaa") at the media and judges stand. We also entertained the idea of doing a Full Monty at the judges stand with no intention of actually doing a Full Monty, but leaking the rumor anyway, and wear fig leaves as a secondary "Ta Daaa" double whammy. This began as an idea we had back in 2009 for the Bridget Marquardt float, the Green Fairy being a type of vixen who as legend has it, tries to steal the souls of Men. A seductive green fairy sitting in a giant Absinth glass with a red windmill and Absinth bottle. We started by leveling off the rear slope of the trailer. This gave us an additional 40 square feet of surface area to work with. Windmill is 6 feet high with 8 foot diameter revolving blades, constructed with 3 two by fours connecting 2 semi circular plywood sheets. Panels are cut from foam core and fastened to the frame with wood screws and washers. Diamond shaped windows are cut out and entire piece is covered with metallic red floral sheeting. Colored cellophane is spray glued over the windows and windmill is lit from inside with an orange clamp light. Axel is 1 inch steel pipe secured to top of the frame with metal U-brackets. *Home Depot sells a retractable utility knife with a 0.5 x 5 inch blade that is perfect for cutting intricate shapes out of foam core. Fan blades are 1x1/4" slats sandwiched between two 9 inch diameter plywood plates. Battery operated white LED lights are "carefully" staple gunned to blades to give it the iconic "Moulin Rouge" look. Because of its size and weight, blades were over engineered to prevent pitch or yaw that could interfere with its movement. We found that even a 1.25 inch X 3 foot PVC tube was not rigid enough, and produced a slight wobble in rotation. It was replaced with a steel pipe which worked perfectly. The result was a precise rotation with just a slight touch. Frame is built upside down, then flipped and secured to trailer floor. Bed sheets are dyed red and trimmed with metallic gold twist. These were staple gunned to the frame. 88 feet of rope lights are zip tied around entire frame. We had intended to add a giant crescent moon for the Green Fairy to sit on, surrounded by stars hanging from the frame with clear wire. Unfortunately we lost 4 days of work due to rain and were not able to complete the float as planned. However because we started planning well in advance, everything we –were- able to achieve worked perfectly and fell into place literally 20 minutes before the start of the parade. As an added touch of bling, all the girls on the float received a set of heart shaped "Moulin Rouge" beads, imported directly from Paris. Well, imported directly from Paris China (which is a little known suburb just north of Beijing. :-) These beads lit up and flashed and looked very Moulin Rouge-ish. Walkers and Riders did a great job of interpreting and embellishing the dress code and everyone looked great. This was one of the best Fantasy Fests ever, and everything was about as close to perfect as it gets. More... Zombie Ride For the Zombie Ride, instead of regular Zombies, we came up with the idea of being "Brains". Pink packaging peanuts were ordered in 18 gallon bags from a seller on eBay. Peanuts were poured into extra strength plastic garbage bags (with the corners tied in a knot) and fastened to bike helmets with clear fishing line. Costumes are black jump suits with a giant sticker on the back that says "Brains". This costume went over better than expected I think because it hasn't been done before and people immediately started calling out "Brains" and reciting just about every brains joke you could imagine. Bikes are decorated with battery powered multi colored Christmas lights from Walgreen’s for $5 dollars. Bruce and Karen were "moss zombies". We were able to locate Bruce and Karen in the pack by the trail of moss clippings left in their wake. Headdress Ball For the Headdress Ball Rochelle was the 3 eyed crow from the TV series Game of Thrones. This was made from a 24" diameter styrofoam globe mail ordered from www.softfoam.com. Feathers, beak and glow in the dark eyes are hot glued and wired to globe. Globe is then attached to a bike helmet. Also included wings and "Needle" the warrior's sword. Rochelle on YouTube The winner of the Headdress Ball this year was Virginia wearing one of her signature spinning headpieces. Virginia has been a participant for many years and this year was her turn to take home the grand prize. Congratulations Virginia! Masquerade March For the first time ever, we did the Mask March this year. Costumes were "Mendl's" from the movie The Grand Budapest Hotel. Hats are regular painter's caps from Home Depot, spray painted light blue. Mendl's font had to be made from scratch in Photoshop, printed on card stock and spray glued to crown. Jackets are light blue disposable lab coats from www.zorotools.com for 2 dollars each. (We made 3 sets in case one got flubbed). Matching white pants and shoes are from Kmart, for about 25 dollars. Pink gift boxes were ordered from eBay. Mendl's logo is printed on regular paper stock and spray glued to boxes. Boy with apple was printed on four sheets of 8.5 X 14 inch paper stock and spray glued onto construction board. This was one of my most favorite costumes we've ever made, mainly because it's a matching set, it had not been done before (believe me I Googled it) and it wasn't made with recycled parts. (It wasn't a re-run) Everything was brand new, fresh off the assembly line, made just for this one occasion and had a very original and unique patina to it. Second favorite costume in the march this year was definitely Mr. Creosote. We offered him a Courtesan Au Chocolate, but he said he was already stuffed. Even more... After Party An After Party was held at the Atlantis House, hosted by Steve and Kayla. Atlantis House won the Fantasy Fest 1st place award for Best Façade. The decorations looked amazing. A wonderful spread and great people. They even served Absinth! If this season could be summed up in a single word, it would be "perfect". Everything went off without a hitch. Everyone pulled together and performed with remarkable dedication and enthusiasm. And to top it off the girls broke into a spontaneous Chorus Line dance at the Media Stand. No one told them to do that, they just did it. It was perfect. A little rain did not deter the Moulin Rouge. It only confirmed our resolve which is evident by the fantastic job done by everyone on the crew. Thanks so much and Happy Fantasy Fest 2014. Special thanks to Brad and Deon Tow vehicle, trailer and generator. Bruce Lead carpenter and the best Madness Monitor ever. Bill Assistant carpenter and use of power tools. Stan and Marlynn Photography Alex Beads and Tuxedo canes (which I didn't think we'd need, but turned out to be excellent props after all). Ruth Yummy craft service All the Gents For their style and panache All the Gals For their color and excitement Special thanks to Eliot & Marilou The Green Fairy of Absinth