Found prop piece!! (Joe Versus The Volcano)

msisaac

Active Member
Not too many people care about Joe Versus The Volcano, but this movie has always been one of my favorites. One of the props was Joe's island-themed musical motion lamp.

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The shade of the lamp turned and had scenes from the movie painted on it. The base of the lamp is a dancing hula girl. From what I have read, the lamp shade was custom-made for the movie. I always assumed that the base was custom sculpted as well, since the dancer is wearing the same outfit that Meg Ryan wears at the end of the movie.

Even though I thought the base was custom sculpted, I kept looking. Years and years of looking off-and-on for the lamp or a similar dancing girl lamp that could be converted turned out to be fruitless. Until I stumbled across THE girl! I found her!

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It's a Treasure Craft figurine from the 1950s. I'm guessing the lamp itself was just a simple flat base, the figurine was glued to the base, and the lamp shade was slapped on top. I doubt the original prop had a true musical feature. The music was probably added in post, but I'd love to actually have a custom music feature added to the finished replica.

And not only did I find the piece, but they come up on eBay fairly regularly from what I can see. I just won one so as soon as I can find someone to replicate the lamp shade, this will be my favorite piece!
 
Re: Found prop piece!!

Never seen the film , though , there is a real sadisfaction in finding a found piece that youve been hunting for agess ,
congrats!
 
Re: Found prop piece!!

Awesome! I have always wanted that lamp. Found the full soundtrack, which was recorded and made available on a limited ($$$) release CD. If you manage to find someone to redo the shade, I'd help with costs in return for one.
 
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Well done on the find ! Oh, I know that feeling of the find all too well ! Nothing quite like it :thumbsup

( Actually, I can relate a little more than others to this particular piece / find of yours .... check out the link in my sig, "Space Cowboys Hula Girl" :lol )
 
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Congrats on the find. Haven't seen the movie in years but loved it. I think I need to track down a copy of it.
 
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I've always been a fan of this film, & had often wondered about the lamp. Awesome find! :thumbsup
 
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I think that's Amazing!!! I too have been looking for almost 2yrs now for someone to make any kind of a replica of this lamp!! It would make the perfect gift for someone I know! If you are ever able to make duplicates I would be Very interested in buying one!!! my email address is: cindylou120@gmail.com

Please keep me posted! Even if it comes out a cheap version of the original...good luck and congrats on the search! :)
 
Re: Found prop piece!!

Rock On! This is my favorite love story of all time and to see the lamp getting done is awesome. The lamp shade should be easy (relatively that is once a painting is done) to reproduce. If the art is finished it could be printed on a translucent material/plastic that could be rolled on a shade frame and fringe added. Might be able to make a run of them for the junk yard. :thumbsup

Hardest thing would be to make the shade rotate, but with a slow moving motor and some RC car gears from a hobby shop that might not even be that difficult.:cheers



Avolow.
 
Re: Found prop piece!!

loved that wee film
Movies like that are soo under rated.
like the Princess Bride...... yes a bit corny, but an enjoyable "switch off" for 90 minutes
 
Re: Found prop piece!!

Is it an original prop or is it a piece thats an actual lamp?

It's an assembled prop with original artwork for the shade. The base of the lamp is the statue that I posted in my first post. I don't know how the statue was mounted to the lamp portion. Judging from the motion of the lamp shade in the movie, I'm guessing it was driven by a motor and not by the heat of the lamp, as a typical motion lamp is. The motion of the lamp shade in the movie started and stopped immediately when the lamp was turned on or off. If it was driven by heat, the lamp would have slowly started spinning when first turned on, and then slowly wound down to a stop when turned off.

The artwork was painted for the movie, so that part is original.
 
Re: Found prop piece!!

Wow, almost 3 years to the day since I made my first post about finding this hula girl statue! And what better way to celebrate this almost-3-year anniversary than to receive in the mail my copy of the original lampshade!! Yes, shortly after making my original post, I was able to track down and make contact with the owner of the original lampshade and the original painting used to produce the shade! I contacted him and he was awesome. He sent great pictures of the lamp shade from all angles and of the painting. He also said that a few friends had recently asked him about the lamp shade as well, so he decided to make a few full copies of the entire lamp, including the hula girl base! We went back and forth through emails over the past few years, and finally this year he got around to actually working on them. And just today, I received this beauty.

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Before anyone asks, I'm trying to get permission from the owner to post the full pictures of the original that he sent to me. I'm working on it.

This isn't the finished lamp, but this gives an idea of what it'll look like when I receive the hula girl base. I'll still need to add in the motion lamp capabilities, music, and the round, cloudy white plastic cover to the lamp that can be seen when Joe points the lamp at Mr. Waturi.

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Now I just need to track down Tom Hanks to get him to sign the replica and I can officially tell my loved ones to bury me with this lamp when I die!
 
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Just searched Treasure Craft Hula Dancer on eBay and found several of this figurine there.
But a completed lamp would be super cool.
 
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That is amazing that you were able to get a replica of the lampshade! I have been searching the past 13 years, off and on, myself. The first time I saw this movie was the first night I met my husband, which I picked not knowing was his favorite movie of all time. It is now my favorite as well. It became the inspiration for our wedding/honeymoon that we had in the South Pacific - Rarontonga, Cook Islands. We even celebrated with orange soda from the island, got married on a now-extinct volcano by a local Maori minister, had ukelele music played by a local band, and re-created the wedding scene between Patricia and Joe! It would be fantastic to get a hold of a similar lampshade for my husband's upcoming 40th birthday! Is there any way you can put me in touch with the man who got you the one you recently received? I would be so incredibly grateful!!!
 
Found prop piece!!

You are a lucky person! I would love (and am ready now!) to purchase one...been a fan since it hit the theaters. I would like to contact the POC for a completed lamp. Also LOVE to see a high resolution image of the original painting. Be great to have a copy for my Man Cave wall! :D
 
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