Elf: The Musical

Based on the beloved 2003 New Line Cinema hit starring Will Ferrell, ELF is the hilarious tale of Buddy, a young orphan child who mistakenly crawls into Santa’s bag of gifts and is transported back to the North Pole.

Unaware that he is actually human, Buddy’s enormous size and poor toy-making abilities cause him to face the truth. With Santa’s permission, Buddy embarks on a journey to New York City to find his birth father, discover his true identity, and help New York remember the true meaning of Christmas.

“My usually sullen inner child erupted with delight when the giant screen backdrop turned into a glistening forest of candy canes, as hero Buddy the Elf started his long journey.” – Time Out

This new production was produced by Plymouth for a show run in Dublin, and featured a 7mm LED backdrop charting Buddy’s journey from the North Pole to NYC and complementing the traditional flats and trucks onstage.

“It looks a million dollars, as Ian William Galloway’s attractive video designs sweep us from the North Pole, a snow-clad land of candy canes, all the way to New York City.” – Evening Standard

To keep with the ‘christmas-story’ feel, we used digital illustration to hand-draw every element of the backdrop, from New York City skylines to the toy department of Macy’s. We also used the inherent properties of the LED wall to create areas of darkness and blinded areas so facilitate some of the on-stage illusions.

The production transferred to the West End for Christmas 2015 and to Manchester in 2016.

Client:
Michael Rose Productions

Location:
Theatre Royal, Plymouth, 2014
Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Dublin, 2014
Dominion Theatre, London, 2015
Palace Theatre, Manchester, 2016

Services:
Video & Projection Design
Content Creation

Team:
Video Designer: Ian William Galloway
Associate Designer: Dick Straker
Animator: Daniel Denton
Animator: Ana Stefaniak
Animator: Adam Young
Programmer: Ingi Bekk
Programmer: Mollie Tuttle

Production Credits:
Director: Morgan Young
Set and Costume Designer: Tim Goodchild
Lighting Designer: Tim Lutkin

Photos:
© IWG / Mesmer