Post by Morgan le Fay on Jan 21, 2019 4:31:24 GMT
In April of 1998, days before the US premiere of Merlin, an extravagant promotional event was held for the mini-series in New York's Rockefeller Center. Geronimo Promotions, the company in charge of The World of Merlin event, states the following on their website:
Geronimo created a concept that, in effect, turned Rockefeller Plaza into a three day medieval Renaissance Fair during the days leading up to the mini-series premiere. Decorations from the movie and men in armor strolled around interacting with pedestrians, and prominently featured and guarded 24/7 was the famous Sword in the Stone. One main sponsor, Kodak, and four secondary sponsors helped fund the event. Named the World of Merlin, each sponsor had a tent that tied into the overall theme. Chrysler had a computer on which you could magically create your own car. Kodak had a green screen picture booth in which consumers could have their picture appear in Merlin’s crystal ball. Prudential sponsored the main stage on which appeared costumed magicians, sword fighters, singers, jugglers and rope-walkers. Lucent Technologies promoted their Merlin phone system with a green screen video in which visitors could appear in a scene from Merlin and walk away with a copy of their screen test. Wizards of the Coast taught visitors how to play the strategy card game Magic using scenarios from Merlin. Hallmark Entertainment sponsored the Merlin Museum displaying costumes and props from the show, along with a trailer showing scenes from the show."
The site claims director Steve Barron and all of Merlin's cast (present in photos and videos are Sam Neill, Isabella Rossellini and Martin Short) attended the event on its opening night. Two children were asked to pull a replica of Excalibur from a stone, and then, as a finale, a fireworks show showered the sky as a massive inflatable began to fill with air, quickly becoming a towering 100-foot-tall Merlin complete with Sam Neill's likeness.
There is additional information on this link to the Geronimo Publicity site, including a video and a few photos.
Geronimo created a concept that, in effect, turned Rockefeller Plaza into a three day medieval Renaissance Fair during the days leading up to the mini-series premiere. Decorations from the movie and men in armor strolled around interacting with pedestrians, and prominently featured and guarded 24/7 was the famous Sword in the Stone. One main sponsor, Kodak, and four secondary sponsors helped fund the event. Named the World of Merlin, each sponsor had a tent that tied into the overall theme. Chrysler had a computer on which you could magically create your own car. Kodak had a green screen picture booth in which consumers could have their picture appear in Merlin’s crystal ball. Prudential sponsored the main stage on which appeared costumed magicians, sword fighters, singers, jugglers and rope-walkers. Lucent Technologies promoted their Merlin phone system with a green screen video in which visitors could appear in a scene from Merlin and walk away with a copy of their screen test. Wizards of the Coast taught visitors how to play the strategy card game Magic using scenarios from Merlin. Hallmark Entertainment sponsored the Merlin Museum displaying costumes and props from the show, along with a trailer showing scenes from the show."
The site claims director Steve Barron and all of Merlin's cast (present in photos and videos are Sam Neill, Isabella Rossellini and Martin Short) attended the event on its opening night. Two children were asked to pull a replica of Excalibur from a stone, and then, as a finale, a fireworks show showered the sky as a massive inflatable began to fill with air, quickly becoming a towering 100-foot-tall Merlin complete with Sam Neill's likeness.
There is additional information on this link to the Geronimo Publicity site, including a video and a few photos.
