August 10, 2010

Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Paper Theater

Toy Paper Theater Bastelbogen
Late last year I was approached by a theater in the Netherlands to produce a paper theater for their gift shop. But alas, the project never became a reality and I was left with an unfulfilled desire to design a paper theater. I finally got inspired enough to follow through on my desire a couple months ago after watching the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. The movie is directed by former Monty Python member Terry Gilliam and features the final on-screen performance of actor Heath Ledger. The plot of the movie involves a troupe of traveling actors whose portable stage looks much like a life size paper theater. At the end of the movie Doctor Parnassus, the leader of the troupe, is shown on the street selling toy theaters which resemble his own theater. This papercraft is my attempt at recreating the toy theater seen at the end of the movie. Information for the template is as follows:


Scale: 1:2 (estimated)

Finished size: 7" W(17.8 cm) x 7" H (17.8 cm) x 4" D (10.2 cm)
Number of pages: 7
Number of parts: 23
Difficulty: 3/5

Download


The photo shown above doesn't do justice to the 3D effect of the theater which is similar to 3D decoupage. I hope you enjoy the theater. It was a lot of fun to design and build. Oh, I forgot to mention the model comes with a "curtain" and there are slots in the top so that it may be used as a functional toy theater and not just as a prop for a book shelf.

27 comments:

  1. Congratulations for this very beautiful theater. And thanks for sharing it !

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  2. Thanks for making your work available .I like to collect papermodels of theatres and yours is on par with the beautiful ones made in the Victorian era.

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  3. Thank you so much for your kind words. To have my work compared with Victorian paper theaters is a complement indeed!

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  4. It´s really lovely, thank you for sharing it!

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  5. I've been looking for a replica of the theater toy in the end scene and I'm so glad I found this. It's amazing and I can't wait to put it together.

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  6. I hope building the theater is enjoyable for you Korina. Thanks for writing!

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  7. Fantastic!
    This is wonderful and thanks for sharing!
    I was searching online for inspirations for my Toy theater Top hat and came across your repro of his theater...
    Cheers!
    Professor Barron Scott

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  8. Thank you SO MUCH!

    I absolutely fell in love with the toy theater in the movie, so I can't tell you how excited I was to find this. Your work is GORGEOUS!

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  9. which is the password to open the file?

    pleaseeeee

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  10. No password is required to open the template. I am not exactly sure what type of problem you are having. Please give me more information.

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  11. THANK YOU FOR SHARING SUCH A MARVELOUS WORK, MU DAUGHTER WILL BE MAD WITH IT!!

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  12. You are welcome! Have fun building.

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  13. I really love this theatre, but am wondering one thing - I would like to build it on a larger scale - would you happen to have higher resolution images available?

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  14. @Trish,
    Unfortunately, I do not have higher resolution images. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

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  15. Muchas gracias. Maravilloso.

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  16. This is wonderful! What a great addition to your many, many excellent models.

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  17. the theater is AMAZINGLY beautiful!! thank you so much for creating it :D

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  18. Love this! Was wondering if you could design the wagon as well? Check this guy out! https://www.flickr.com/photos/80258188@N08/ Love his designs but haven't been able to get in contact with him to see his templates. But would love to complete the project as a shelf piece for my living room. Also, would you be able to make a Tony or Mr. Nick character template? Thanks so much!

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    1. Hey, thanks for sharing. That Flickr guy's wagon is amazing! Unfortunately, I don't think I can take my theater beyond the point it is now. There are just not enough reference materials available.

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  19. too bad the wagon is missing !but the theater is fabulous! i love it!amazing! your work deserved to be known

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