Sally Animatronics in church

I know this sounds unrealistic and rediculous, but I went to this mega-church in Oklahoma City today called Life Church OKC campus. I accidentally walked into the kids enterance on the other side of the building. To my suprise, I was welcomed with major Dr. Seuss at IOA looking themeing. It was amazing! There had to have been at least a million or so in this inside building they've converted into "Toon Town." As I walked along the paths of styro made scenery and faux cartoon bulding fronts, I came upon something that made me freeze. In front of me, inside a church, was a 20 ft. animated tree w/ animated owl and squrrel. I have never seen anything like this before outside a theme park. I wasn't sure at first if it was Really Sally's work or not, but after asking some of the church staff, it was confirmed. Does Sally do this type of outside theme park work often? Is there even a market for that kind of work outside of a theme park?

*** Edited 8/2/2004 1:56:38 AM UTC by one sided soldier***

Actually there IS a big market for that in churches. My cousin Michael lives in Florida, and he works for a company that does anamatronics, puppetry, and backdrops for churches and small films. I can't remember the name of the company to save my life though.

This sort of stuff scares the crap out of me. Churches used to be the central focus of cities and architectural wonders. Now, they're theme parks of God.

Maybe I just have a different idea of sacrilege than the nice folks in Oklahoma City.

I'll bite my tongue.

Shaggy

I remember A quote but I can not remember who said it

"Get them young and you will keep them for life"

kevin,
I believe the exact quote is from the Catholic church,
"Give us a child until they are six and we will have them for life"

As for the company name, kenmei, is it Bruce Barry's Wacky World studios? They do quite a bit of this kind of thing.

As for its validity, I think the whole thing is a bit creepy but hey, if it engages the kids then I'd be a hippocrite to say it's wrong considering what I do for a living. God doesn't change, but culture does and I don't think it's wrong to change how you present God as long as you're not trying to change him.

Themeing has always been a topic in churches - different times had different methods of dealing with it. In medieval times, churches supposedly were only sparsely decorated, but renaissance and baroque made the decoration and themeing go crazy. Animatronics were not used at that time, but there is a record of very intricate and lifelike depictions of the stable in which Jesus was supposedly born on Christmas, sometimes including moving lightning effects.
The puritan and protestant tradition rose up against overbearing and cheesy decorations in churches, so most of this is found in churches of a more catholic or likewise tradition.
The craziest religious kitsch can be found in Italy.
I am not really surprised about the use of animatronics in churches in the U.S.
When I was in Salt Lake City visiting temple square, one of the main presentations of the visit was a talking Jesus statue - ok, it didn't move, it was a 4 m high plaster statue, but still it spoke to through loudspeakers and was surrounded by a backdrop worthy of sci-fi film use with space and planets in shades of blue and lilac.

The border of good taste and bad taste are fluent everywhere, also in religion.
If you believe strongly, you sometimes overlook that other people who are not that much into a religion may see strong parallels between religious depictions and themepark decorations.

One of the free health clinics here in Louisville struggles to stay afloat. However a local mega-church with a membership of 50,000 is in the midst of a 40 Million dollar expansion project.... a recreational facility and health club.

Priority?

Shaggy

Sounds like a call for Evangelicman. I'm not saying churhces need to stay small and give out everything they have, but how does Christ speak to people through a health spa?

"I met Jesus in the sauna"

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ThemeDesigner said:
I believe the exact quote is from the Catholic church,
"Give us a child until they are six and we will have them for life"

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That is one of the most disturbing lines I've ever read.

It also explains why after 8 years, I still haven't totally deprogrammed my wife. :)

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Lord Gonchar said:
It also explains why after 8 years, I still haven't totally deprogrammed my wife. :)

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Was she an animatronic figure too?