Playful And Prickly: Two-Story Porcupine Puppet Named Percy Unveiled At Griffith Park
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — A giant porcupine was let loose on Griffith Park Tuesday, and children could not have been more delighted.
The two-story puppet named Percy was unveiled Tuesday morning at Griffith Park. Percy was built by the Jim Henson Creature shop and is the world's largest puppet, with certification pending from Guinness World Records.
It took 1,000 hours to create Percy, who was built with 2,000 foam quills and has stripes created with 10 gallons of paint – about the same amount used to paint a house. Percy has a circumference of nearly 40 feet and weighs in at over a ton.
Percy will eventually make its way to the San Diego Zoo to celebrate the opening of the Wildlife Explorers Base Camp. But until then, the giant porcupine is going to hang out in LA for hundreds of children to enjoy.
"This is a wonderful collaboration with the Jim Henson workshop," San Diego Zoo Wildlife Ambassador Marco Wendt said. "It's about a wonderful two-story, Brazilian porcupine to inspire the youth about the beauties of wildlife, and connect it, because we couldn't bring all the animals from the San Diego Zoo here."
Percy will be at Griffith Park's Elysian Fields until next week, when the prickly puppet is moved to the San Diego Zoo.