Tik Tok from Return To Oz

PJgearhead

PJgearhead

New Member
Gday you lot.

I have been planning on making a Tik Tok replica for quite a while now and thought that this was as good a time as any to start. Of course everyones assistance will be greatfully appreciated as I have never attempted anything like this before.

As most of you would know, he is from the movie Return To Oz; a movie that scared the hell outta me as a kid.


I will try to make him as accurate as possible to when Dorothy first meets him inside the saferoom. This means he is in tip top shape but wethered, almost as he sits at Skywalker Ranch.

Props_TikTok.jpg

This is Tik Tok, sitting lonely in a garden bed somewhere in Skywalker Ranch.


Electricalparade.jpg

This is the Electrical Parade Tik Tok. Not exactly accurate to the movie but an ok reference.
 
I guess the best place to start would be dimensions. I plan on making him 1:1 since he is pretty small anyway.

According to the Return To Oz fansite it mentions that Tik Tok stands around four feet tall.
The performer who climbed inside the spherical torso to do the operating was Michael Suddin, an acrobat and a former member of the stage show Cats. The task required both stamina and courage. “Michael’s about five five,” Conoway commented, “and Tik-Tok’s about four foot. So Michael had to bend with his head between his legs, bolted in, and he did the actual walking around in the thing – backwards.
Click to expand...

Doing my own calculations and using a screengrab, I guestimate Tik Tok as being around 1300mm tall, or 51", or 4.25foot(we work in metric here down under), with a 700mm rotund girth and a 370mm wide head. This is calculated from the very talented Fairuza Balk being a current 1600mm tall. She was 11 at the time of filming and is currently 39 years old, so I reckon she would have been around 1500mm tall at 11 years of age. So by measuring the computer screen...

height.png
 
sounds very interesting.
I look forward to seeing this progress.
your off to a great start with referencing and planning.

good luck


cheers
 
I've thought about making a scale model of Tik Tok from those acrylic craft spheres, but you're planning a 1:1 version? Way to go!

Will it be able to walk/be worn? Or just a statue?

Alex
 
DocNewborn said:
I've thought about making a scale model of Tik Tok from those acrylic craft spheres, but you're planning a 1:1 version? Way to go!

Will it be able to walk/be worn? Or just a statue?

Alex
Click to expand...

I plan on making it fully functional and walking; without a midget inside. I have a few ideas on how to do this but I have a feeling it will be a mighty challenge.

I don't think I will ever get it truly walking, but maybe cheat a little by using a driven wheel inside each foot which lifts each leg about 50mm then drives the foot forward.

So to get him moving forward, one foot will lift and roll forward around 200mm then drop, then the other leg will do the same. This gets not only forward motion, but also hopefully the swinging gait that is Tik Tok walking.

As for balancing when moving, I'm thinking something along the lines of a gyro sensor inside his belly which moves a weight back and fourth to compensate. If inertia is an issue with moving an actual weight, then maybe some kind of fluid transfer system to move the water 'weight' between two tanks; one near his back and the other near his front.

On a side note, just bought some fibreglass matting, some polyester resin, gelcoat and wax mould release today. Tomorrow I'll go and get one of those pilates balls that you inflate to use as a mould, then use some MDF to flange it. Never fibreglassed before and everything I have watched on youtube has been using epoxy not polyester.
 
I seem to recall some good Tik Tok build photos in the Cinefex Return to Oz issue...

Dalroi.
 
Hey guys

Tic Tok has always been one of my favorites. As a kid and even now as an adult, if I could have any prop, it would be him. Don't know if anyone has proceeded with any models or costumes. But found a great link (hopefully acceptable to post) with great photos and measurements from when many of the costumes were on display at Disney studios in 1985. If anyone ever goes forward with any projects, I'd love to see it!

http://miehana.blogspot.com/2013/12/return-to-oz-tik-tok.html
 
Hi guys
Well I must say that I have been thinking of making a Tick Tock ever since the films release, but storage space is always a problem
Now there were a number of the suits made and the one at Lucas Film was given to George as he was an adviser on the movie.
It is the one that spins around very fast to fend off the Wheelies (a bearing at the seam of the two domes) and is not a suit.
They were all painted to give the metal finish and only one suit used in the throne room scene at the end of the film was actually plated (that is the one that is put on display now) I have a photo of myself with Tick Tock in the Lucas Archives which I will upload later when I find it.
The body was made from two Perspex domes and the details were resin and fiberglass add-ons, the head was all radio controlled.
The hat was removable, the eyes could blink and seemed to be cast in a translucent green resin with a light at the rear, and the moustache looked to be vac-formed and geared to one servo. The arms had limited control, by the performer inside or sometimes by R.C.
On his back were two or three (I am going from memories) windup keys and a compliance plate (cast resin)
I look forward to seeing how this project turns out
good luck
Gary
 
Last edited by a moderator:
That is a hell of a find Kudalambda, exactly what I need to get at least the scale right.
Unfortunately this project has currently fallen by the wayside due to both car and house needing a lot of money on repairs, but I hope to get around to it again one day.
 
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