We know you didn’t plan on developing a new and completely irrational fear of giant puppets roaming the land and yet, here we are.
For the past few decades, French mechanical marionette street theater company (because sure, that’s a thing) Royal de Luxe has been bringing joy to the world with their humongous walking nightmares puppets. Performing at events around the globe for various commemorations, festivals and general art installations, the creations are quite impressive.
The video above (from Liverpool’s 2014 World War I centenary commemorations) featured the Oma Reus (Grandma Giant) and Kleine Reus (Little Giant). The up-scaling of marionette puppetry is decidedly cooler than one would think. Ropes, pulleys, and a drive system that features a full band is pretty damn badass. A few years earlier — and for whatever reason commemorating another sad occasion in Liverpool — Royal de Luxe literally pulled their Diver puppet from the water and walked it around town.
If these giant humanoid puppets haven’t done their job of creeping you out while simultaneously catching every bit of your attention we present to you:
That gigantic, steam-punk Kaiju-sized arachnid is called…wait for it…”La Princesse.” Designed and operated by La Machine, La Princesse also spent time in Liverpool but back in 2008. Liverpool, real talk. Once “Give the world The Beatles” was scratched off your list did you just panic and claim this was your next endeavor? It’s cool but an oddly specific thing to keep bringing to your city. Does the mayor – you guys have mayors, right? – have a cousin who works in the “giant puppet district?”
What do you think of these behemoths? Are you ever sleeping again? Let us know in the comments below!
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IMAGES: Royal de Luxe / Paul Kershaw / Wikimedia
