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An endangered body double - a Yellow Eyed Penguin
About the story:
The films are adaptations from the bestselling US novel writer Emilie Richards. The episode "Out of Ashes" is set in Dunedin and Akaroa: Julia, a marine biologist who runs away from a violent marriage, starts a new life in New Zealand where she gets the opportunity to work with the endangered yellow eyed penguins. On the day of her arrival, she finds an injured bird on the beach. It has a wound and a broken flipper caused by a collision with a boat.
Julia examines the animal and realises that it has a bad infection and is undernourished, as the injury prevented it from hunting. Julia brings the bird to the Marine Wildlife Centre, where rangers and scientists fight to prevent the extinction of this endangered species. In the Cmentres penguin hospital, it gets treatment and his life is saved.
Since January 2009, the German production company Polyphon International has been working on a new programme for the German network ZDF. Starting with two episodes this year, the network plans a New Zealand series for their popular Sunday night primetime slot.
Weta got the opportunity to contribute to the project by creating a very life-like Yellow Eyed Penguin double. The NZ Yellow Eyed penguin is an endangered species, so it was definitely not an option to use a real bird. Even if you could find one.
Several people worked hard on the penguin, Frances Hawker and Pietro Marson did much of the construction and the finishing. Greg Tozer sculpted, Shaun Foote moulded and Sourisak Chanpaseuth added colour.
The anatomy of a Weta penguin
Foam latex skin on a fibreglass core was crowned by a vac-form (hard shell) head housing the servos and other animatronic components.
The neck is posable (bends and stays bent) and the wings and feet are also articulated.
The penguin "breathes" thanks to inflatable bladders fed by a tube. All the internal components are accessed via a very convenient and totally invisible "service flap" under the penguin's belly.
Keeping up appearances
The plumage is artificial fur, carefully painted to achieve a realistic look. The team spent many hours getting the colour gradations and hues just right. A penguin isn't just black and white you know... as you can see in the pictures.
Finally the bird was adorned with real feathers. Not from another endangered Yellow Eyed Penguin, we hasten to add, but with feathers voluntarily discarded by other birds and re-purposed for the penguin.
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