Fred Flintstone awaits. So do Rhett Butler, Wonder Woman, King Kong,
Hulk Hogan and Marilyn Monroe. They're standing around a wondrous
warehouse filled with Mardi Gras floats, giant disembodied heads and
larger-than-life creatures such as Medusa and Poseidon.
Coming upon them at Blaine Kern's Mardi Gras World is like walking into
a giant toy box of doll parts. The place would seem macabre if it weren't
so fascinating. What visitors are actually seeing are bits and pieces of
Mardi Gras floats (and some complete ones), movie-set pieces and sculpted
characters made for Walt Disney World attractions and other festive
occasions.
The Kern family, which creates most of the floats in New Orleans'
famous Mardi Gras celebration, has literally opened up its studio for
visitors to see.
"Besides Mardi Gras, we create floats for 40 parades throughout New
Orleans leading up to Mardi Gras. Plus, we make them for parades at
Universal Studios in Orlando, in Philadelphia, Galveston, Texas, and other
places," says Brian Kern, who followed his grandfather, father and brother
into the business.
On tours, visitors may see an artist putting finishing touches on a
dragon float, carving a plastic foam head of Orville Wright, or repairing
a damaged papier-mâché' siren.
Heads and figures are made in one of two ways. Some are sculpted in
clay, then are used as molds and filled with fiberglass or papier-mâché'.
Others are sculpted in foam, then painted. Floats are created with wood
and cloth and are mounted on steel chassis on rubber tires.
Kern says the studio, in a 75,000 square foot building across the
Mississippi River from Downtown New Orleans, was a great place to grow up.
He remembers playing hide-and-go-seek among the floats with his brother,
Barry, head of the Kern Sculpture Company, a company that creates
sculptured props and figures for Walt Disney World, as well as for
casinos, amusement parks and building facades all over the world.
Their grandfather, Roy Kern, became involved in the float-making
business in the 1930's. Their dad, Blaine, known in New Orleans as "Mr.
Mardi Gras," started the company Blaine Kern Artists in 1947 and opened
Mardi Gras World to the public in 1984. Now, 150,000 people tour the
studio every year. The free, 15-minute ferry ride across the murky waters
of the Mississippi to Mardi Gras World sets the stage for the amazing
array of characters. The trip alone makes the outing an adventure.
A van driver picks visitors up at the ferry dock in Algiers and drives
them through neighborhoods of restored shotgun-style houses to Mardi Gras
World, nestled close to the levee. Tours start with a video of old footage
of Mardi Gras parades, of celebrities who have attended Mardi Gras and of
New Orleans native Harry Connick, Jr. reminiscing about the annual
celebration.
After sampling authentic cinnamon-flavored purple, green and gold Mardi
Gras cake, visitors are guided through rooms of the giant warehouse. Two
huge rooms are filled mostly with Mardi Gras floats, many lighted by tiny
fiber optic lights. One of the most elaborate is a 240-foot-long riverboat
that would look right at home on the mighty Mississippi.
Another room is filled with floats depicting mythological themes.
Medusa is here, along with a siren, Apollo, Hercules and Hades. The
largest room is a hodgepodge of fish, cowboys, the Wright Brothers,
angels, musicians, championship wrestlers and Mardi Gras masks.
Giant heads of Salvador Dali, Mick Jagger--or is it Harry Connick,
Jr.?--Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Tina Turner and dozens of others
peer down on visitors from a shelf lining one large room.
Even those who never plan to go to the real Mardi Gras would probably
like visiting Mardi Gras World. After all, how often do you get to see
Spiderman, Marilyn, Scarlet and Rhett all in the same room?
At
Kern's, each day is a parade
