Royal de Luxe

Royal de Luxe is a French mechanical marionette street theatre company which specialises in giant puppets. They were founded in 1979 in Aix-en-Provence[1] by Jean-Luc Courcoult. After some years based in Toulouse, the company moved to Nantes in 1989. The company has performed in France, Belgium, England, Germany, Iceland, Chile, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Ireland.

Royal de Luxe, Amiens from 2005

Giants spectacular
TitleCityCountryDateEventSpectators
number[2]
The Giant who fell from the skyLe HavreFranceSeptember 1993
CalaisFranceJune 1994Channel Tunnel's opening
NîmesFranceJuly 1994
NantesFranceAugust 1994
BayonneFranceSeptember 1994
The Giant who fell from the sky, last voyageLe HavreFranceOctober 1994
The Giant who fell from the sky in BarcelonaBarcelonaSpainJuly 1997
RhinocerosArlesFranceJuly 1997Arles International Photography Festival
LisbonPortugalMay 1998 to September 19981998 Lisbon World Exposition
Return from AfricaLe HavreFranceJune 1998
NantesFranceJune 1998
CalaisFranceJuly 1998
AntwerpBelgiumAugust 1998Zomer van Antwerpen
Giraffes HunterNantesFranceSeptember 2000
Le HavreFranceOctober 2000
CalaisFranceOctober 2000
The Sultan of the Indies visit on his time travelling ElephantNantesFranceMay 2005Jules Verne Death Centenary150,000
AmiensFranceJune 2005Jules Verne Death Centenary
LondonEnglandMay 20061 million
AntwerpBelgiumJuly 2006Zomer van Antwerpen650,000
CalaisFranceSeptember 2006
Le HavreFranceOctober 2006300,000
The Giant : visits the pont du GardVers-Pont-du-GardFranceAugust 2006
The Hidden RhinocerosSantiagoChileJanuary 2007Santiago a Mil International Theater Festival2 million
The geyser of ReykjavikReykjavikIcelandMay 2007Reykjavík Arts Festival50,000[3]
The fabulous story of the warrior buried alive of Santa MariaSanta Maria da FeiraPortugalMay 2008International Theatre Festival of Santa Maria da Feira
The Giantess of the Titanic and the deep-sea diverNantes
Saint-Nazaire		FranceJune 2009Biennial contemporain art opening 'Estuaire' 2009350,000
The Berlin appointmentBerlinGermanyOctober 200920th Anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall1.5 million
The Invitation ChileSantiagoChileJanuary 2010Celebrations of the Bicentennial of Chile3 million
The deep-sea diver, his hand, and the Little Girl-GiantAntwerpBelgiumAugust 2010Zomer van Antwerpen800,000
The Giant of GuadalajaraGuadalajaraMexicoNovember 2010Bicentennial celebrations of the Mexican War of Independence
Mexican Revolution Centenary		3.5 million
The wall fallen from the sky in GuadalajaraGuadalajaraMexicoNovember 2010Fresco painted in the style of Mexican artist Diego Rivera-
El XoloNantesFranceMay 2011600,000
The wall fallen from the sky in NantesNantesFranceMay 2011Fresco painted in the style of Mexican artist Diego Rivera-
Sea OdysseyLiverpoolEnglandApril 2012Centenary of the sinking of the Titanic800,000
Planck's wallNantesFranceJune 2014500,000
Memories of August 1914LiverpoolEnglandJuly 2014Liverpool's World War I centenary commemorations1 million
The Grandmother fallen from the galaxy into a field in MunsterLimerickIrelandSeptember 2014National City of Culture 2014250,000[4]
The Incredible and Phenomenal Journey of the Giants to the Streets of PerthPerthAustraliaFebruary 2015Perth International Arts Festival
Anzac Centenary		1.4 million[5]
The Giants[6]AntwerpBelgiumJune 2015Zomer van Antwerpen900,000[7]
Les Géants - La grande invitation[8]MontrealCanadaMay 2017Montreal's 375th birthday[9]
The Knight of the Lost Time (Le chevalier du temps perdu)[10]GenevaSwitzerlandSeptember–October 2017850,000[11]
Big skate in de ice/Fight against the waterLeeuwardenNetherlandsAugust 2018European Capital of Culture 2018425,000/450,000
Liverpool's Dream LiverpoolEnglandOctober 2018

The End

 10 Year Anniversary of Liverpool's European Capital of CultureEstimated 1.3 Million

This theater has been performed 44 times.

Bull Machin de Villeurbanne Villeurbanne France September, 2022 At the invitation of the Theatre Carouge and the city of Geneva 300,000

Technical data

Sources: Portraits des géants on the Nantes website.

NameDate of CreationHeightLengthWeightShoe sizeNumber of operatorsNotes
The Big Giant19939.50m-2.20m23732Structure of 14m high 8.50m width
Le Rhinocéros19972.50m5.00m--17
Le Petit Géant noir19985.50-1 t-18
La Grande Girafe200012.00m15.30m25t-254 km/h normally but can run up to 10 km/h
La Petite Girafe20005m---25
The Sultan's Elephant200512m21.00m48t-22is moving at 1.5 km/h
La Petite Géante20055.50m-0.8t16618 en 2011
22 en 2009		2.5 km/h by foot 4 km/h with scooter
Le Géant en colère
(the father of the little giant girl)		2007----3[12]Presented in Reykjavik only[13] The head of the great giant
Le Scaphandrier20099.50m-2t23730The big giant in a diving suit
El Xolo20112.80m3.5m0.20t-20Height at withers: 1.80m
Walking speed: 4 km/h
Running speed: 6 km/h.
El Campesino20119.50m-2.50t23732Mexican for "Le grand géant"
La Grand-Mère20147.50m-1.7t27625The first talking giant
Bull Machin20224.40m0.86t-
  • The Sultan's Elephant in London (2006)
    The Sultan's Elephant in London (2006)
  • A Royal de Luxe operator manipulates the Sultan's Elephant head.
    A Royal de Luxe operator manipulates the Sultan's Elephant head.

Other works
  • The true history of France
  • Roman photo tournage
  • The Peplum (with odorama)
  • Revolt of the Mannequins.[14] After Nantes in February 2008 and Antwerp, in July 2008, It was played in Berlin, in November 2008
  • They were also said to have made another giant, more lightweight elephant used in Take That Presents: The Circus Live, atop which the four band members performed "The Garden". This elephant had to be made much more lightweight to be transported between venues.

See also

References
  1. Ash, Lucy (24 December 2012). "Street theatre revives French city" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  2. "The company". Royal de Luxe. Retrieved 2018-09-04.
  3. Total Iceland population in 2007 = 307.672
  4. "Regular festivals 'must be held to draw thousands' to Limerick".
  5. "Giants in Perth: Day three | Perth Now". Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2015-02-15.
  6. "The Giants, Antwerp, 2015".
  7. Torfs, Michael (22 June 2015). "Almost a million to see the Antwerp giants".
  8. "Montréal fête son 375e". www.375mtl.com.
  9. "Montréal fête son 375e". www.375mtl.com.
  10. "La "Saga des géants" débarque le 29 septembre dans les rues de Genève".
  11. "850'000 spectateurs pour la saga des Géants".
  12. Reduced number of operators due to the particular position of the Giant (only the bust is visible)
  13. Giant beheaded at the end of the show: http://lilliputiens.free.fr/viewtopic.php?pid=908, http://3quarksdaily.blogs.com/.shared/image.html?/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/20/beheading_2.gif, the head will be reused in 2008 for The Fabulous Story of the Giant Buried Alive
  14. La Révolte des Mannequins (2008)
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