Labels
Posted by

Yoda Guy Movie Exibit

 One thing about us is that we will find the unique museums wherever we are in the world. This was originally published to Castle & Wand Travel after we visited in March 2021.

The image shows the exterior of the "Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit & Memorabilia" museum in St. Maarten. The building is constructed of rough, sand-colored material, mimicking the architecture of Tatooine from Star Wars. It features dome-like structures, small windows, and an arched entrance. A sign reads "World Renowned Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit & Memorabilia". Above the entrance is a yellow, diamond-shaped sign displaying the text "YodaGuy Movie Museum". Cutouts of Star Wars characters like Yoda and Stormtroopers are visible in the windows and entrance. Two people are standing outside the building, one looking at the museum and one looking at a sign for the museum. The sky is blue with white clouds.

We just returned from a Star Wars Day at Sea Disney Cruise to St Maarten, St Thomas, and Disney's private island, Castaway Cay. (Note: 2021 was the last year Disney Cruise Line had Star Wars Day at Sea, but we hope they bring it back some day!) We have cruised many times with Disney, but this was our first 7 Night cruise, and I STILL felt like we didn't have enough time to get to everything on the ship, or that I got to all the things I wanted to do in each port!

A brightly lit corner of a Star Wars exhibit is shown, featuring life-sized cardboard cutouts of C-3PO and a Stormtrooper. C-3PO is gold and posed with hands on hips, with a speech bubble above stating: 'Excuse me Sir, But R2 says, the probability of finding a STAR WARS exhibit in the Caribbean is one hundred twenty-five thousand, three hundred & sixteen to one!' The Stormtrooper on the right is white and posed with a blaster. Blue walls surround the characters. Along the blue walls are several framed pictures of seascapes and yellow signs highlighting various quotes and articles praising the artist Nick Maley and his Star Wars artwork and his studio as 'that YodaGuy.'

Today I want to tell you about this fantastic little museum in St Maarten that I learned about RIGHT before the cruise, and I'm so happy I did! Nick Maley is a creature effects artist who was part of the team that created Yoda, and many other creatures, for the original Star Wars trilogy. He also worked on on more than 50 other movies. The museum is full of memorabilia from his career, as well as things he collected from other artists, and the gift shop is full of artwork that is for sale. It's an incredible collection to find in the middle of the Caribbean!

Rare Ewok Prop on display at the Yoda Guy Movie Exhibit. A card in the display talks about how creature effects artists had to work around the fact that the Ewok toys had already been manufactured before the movie was made.

This display talks about how the Ewok toys were manufactured BEFORE Return of the Jedi started filming, so the creature effects artists basically had to create the costumes from reinvention of a teddy bear, even matching fabric and other materials. Trying to make the movie creatures look like the toys meant that the suits were very hot and awkward, with extra padding.

The scene consists of Star Wars props. A Yoda puppet, cloaked in beige, stands tall on the left of the image, with his hand resting on the head of a blue and green lizard-like creature. To Yoda's right, a smaller Grogu puppet, similarly cloaked in beige, looks forward. Beside Grogu is a life mask, possibly Mark Hamill, under some branches. The background features a colorful blue, green, and red misty forest scene with the silhouette of a ship. In the lower-left, a film slate indicates "The Empire Strikes Back," with the director's name "Irvin Kershner," the cameraman "Peter Suschitzky" and the number of the scene is indicated as: "37A3" dated "May 1979". The base is covered in dead leaves and branches.

The museum reminded me so much of the old Movie & Magic Hall of Fame (aka Tricks, Flights, and Dummies) in Las Vegas, which is no longer around but inspired my love of homegrown, DIY museums when I was in high school. I just LOVE a private collection assembled with pride. My favorite part of this museum was a display with a little video screen playing Nick's own personal advice for young people, telling to follow their dreams and not to listen to people who say they can't.

The image shows a workshop table covered with movie memorabilia and Yoda maquettes. There are 3 Yoda sculpture maquettes made of a light green clay, two on stands and one lying on its side.

My second favorite part was the thrill of looking right into the scary holes of a Tusken Raider, the stuff of childhood nightmares. *shiver*


A full shot of a Tusken Raider costume on display. To the left is a blurred picture on the wall. The raider is robed in layered, off-white, coarse cloth, wrapped over the head with eye lenses and a mouthpiece constructed from salvaged materials. He holds a long gaderffii stick with a blunted spear end in both hands. A bandolier filled with ammunition-like cylindrical objects run diagonally across his chest. To the right is a small sign and a dark background. The mannequin stands in front of a black wall crisscrossed with vertical fishing line, creating a striped effect.

Something I didn't notice until I moved this blog and was going through original photos from the trip was this display inside the front door. When we went in 2021, Lilly did NOT want to go inside, so she stayed outside with my parents. I feel like Francis and I skimmed through the museum distracted by how long our kid would last outside, and I'm dying to go back to take my time, and to buy a special map!

The image shows a framed, illustrated map of the Caribbean islands displayed on a small wooden easel. The map itself has a parchment-like background with detailed depictions of islands such as Puerto Rico, Antigua, and others in the Leeward and Windward island chains. Several small ships are drawn on the map, with a decorative border. At the bottom left corner of the map, the word "Caribbean" is written in decorative script. Below the map is a white sign that reads "Heard about our cruise Ship map? Nick is renowned for drawing the route of the cruise ship, adding the route of the ship and dedicating it for Honeymoons, Anniversaries, Graduations and Family Cruises." Below that is a blue sign with yellow lettering that reads "Meet a STAR WARS creature builder!...international artist, Nick Maley" with arrows pointing left and right. The map and signs are positioned against a blue wall next to a window.

The museum itself is a nonprofit and was hit hard by COVID. Our cruise was the first Disney ship to return to Sint Maarten, and they really rely on the cruise ship passengers to stay afloat! To learn more, and support Nick's mission, check out the Follow Your Star Foundation on Patreon. Fill out my quote form here if you would like my help finding a future cruise itinerary that includes Sint Maarten!

Email Post
Labels:
Location: 19A Voorstraat, Philipsburg, Sint Maarten

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular Posts