We want the 30-foot robot elephant
It's official. We are
completely over the death of Aibo. If, that
is, we can get our hands on this 30-foot robot elephant. The beast was apparently built to commemorate the 100th
anniversary of the death of Jules Verne, and was paraded through the streets of Nantes, France. Our question: where is
it now, and how can we get our hands on it?
[Via the Red Ferret]
[Via the Red Ferret]




















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
drenei @ Jan 26th 2006 11:42PM
you'll have to beat me to it... ;P
good luck with the new year!
Scott Stevenson @ Jan 26th 2006 11:42PM
That would be Th?re Royal de Luxe's robot elephant. They are out of Nantes... you can see some high quality photos here:
http://www.pbase.com/ericdeparis/royal_de_luxe_a_amiens
Here's how to find my photos, etc.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&client=safari&rls=en&q=%22Royal+de+Luxe%22+theatre&btnG=Search
Here's a model they did of Jules Vernes' low-tech "bullet powered" rocket ship that has 'landed' in Nantes:
http://www.nantes.fr/ext/royal_de_luxe_2005/index.asp
Here's some Flickr joy of the Nantes event:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ggtr1138/sets/359838/
And MORE VIDEO of the event featuring a massive walking marionette they did:
http://www.dailymotion.com/tag/nantes/video/26039
More photos high quality photos:
http://jwz.livejournal.com/488113.html
and more Elephant video:
http://www.lean.to/albums/royaldeluxe/211_1163_mvi.avi
http://www.lean.to/albums/royaldeluxe/211_1185_mvi.avi
http://www.lean.to/albums/royaldeluxe/211_1194_mvi.avi
found here:
http://www.lean.to/gallery/royaldeluxe?page=1
Very very cool!
-Scott Stevenson
Paris, France
starpause @ Jan 26th 2006 11:42PM
i'm only interested if it provides the same therapeutic benefit as a live one.
Scott Stevenson @ Jan 26th 2006 11:55PM
Not sure what happened to some of the links I posted above but here they are again.
www.pbase.com/ericdeparis/royal_de_luxe_a_amiens
www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&client=safari&rls=en&q=%22Royal+de+Luxe%22+theatre&btnG=Search
www.nantes.fr/ext/royal_de_luxe_2005/index.asp
Oh and I didn't mean to type 'my photos' but "more photos" in my post above.
-Scott
Dave @ Jan 27th 2006 1:24AM
I was there. I didn't even know it was going to happen (I was in Nantes for work), but it was one of the most brilliant pieces of theater and technical wizardry I've ever seen.
The whole elephant is operated manually, via pneumatic levers. There were two people inside the body of the elephant (one just to control the fully articulated trunk - it even ate hay!), and a trailer being towed behind it to power it. All built of salvaged heavy machinery parts. Incredible.
Si @ Jan 27th 2006 2:20AM
http://homepage.mac.com/sibuckmaster/royaldeluxe/
Some more photos.
Si @ Jan 27th 2006 2:23AM
http://homepage.mac.com/sibuckmaster/royaldeluxe
Jean @ Jan 27th 2006 7:49AM
Some pictures I took during the Nantes event
http://jbblog.typepad.com/photos/a_royal_deluxe/index.html
anonymous @ Jan 27th 2006 9:34AM
The Royal De Luxe show is due to come over to London sometime in May. It will move slowly acroos most of central London - imagine the traffic chaos. :)
Galto @ Jan 27th 2006 11:21AM
a la Bart Simpson...
Where's my Elephant???
Where's my Elephant???
Where's my Elephant???
Road Tester @ Jan 28th 2006 8:38AM
From the first picture, I was wondering if this was a joke, and someone had just photographed a real elephant in very bad quality.
But this is terrific. A very nice idea to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of Jules Verne.
Grimm @ Jan 28th 2006 6:39PM
Some video of the elephant...
http://www.youtube.com/?v=sYbaIla2hB0
Some video of the giant marionette...
http://www.youtube.com/?v=AMt8ncAkI38