Mimir is kind of an interesting character but the trouble he endures and the pain that goes along with it are kind of a repayment for his own lack of caution at times, or so it would appear. It takes a lot of moxy to try and fool a god and despite the fact that Odin wasn’t entirely fooled when he gave up his eye for added knowledge, Mimir was convinced that he’d ingratiated himself with the Allfather right up until it became obvious that Odin had tired of him. The character is one that a lot of people might like or simply ignore but when bringing him to life in this manner it’s impressive to see just how much detail and how much realism was packed into the animatronic head that was crafted for this clip. The actions taken by the head aren’t entirely perfect but the appearance is spot-on and kind of creepy in a way that it follows the look of the character from the game so well. Something about Mimi is just kind of off no matter that he’s a character that many will easily recognize as the adviser to Odin that falls from grace and is then continually asked for information without any chance at freedom.
In the game God of War he’s an even odder character since he tends to warn Kratos and is still someone that needs to be taken with a serious grain of salt when he speaks since for much of his life before meeting Odin, Mimir was a bit of a troublemaker. Chris Plante of Polygon can give more information on the game. The construction of this head though is something that had to have taken a good deal of time and a lot of skill when it came to crafting the appearance and getting it to look just right. Mimir’s eyes alone would take a great deal of patience and skill to replicate since the fact that the story states that he was gifted bifrost crystals and convinced the giants to embed them in his eyes. The level of skill needed to replicate this character and make him actually capable of speech and limited movements is pretty cool to think of but it’s also enough to realize that it had to take a good amount of time to put it all together since it’s not something that a person could just fabricate in a day. The whole of Mimir’s life wouldn’t really need to be known to recreate this character since his appearance is easy to find on the game and his voice is easy to record and replicate given the technology being used. But the appearance and the overall look of the head would be something that could take a good long while depending on the sculptor and those that are charged with crafting the interior of the head so that it can support the outer layer and the added horns that would be fastened on later.
Animatronics have certainly come a long way throughout the years since if anyone remembers the level they were at when we were kids in the 80s and even 90s they still had a long ways to go to even come close to equaling what we see now. Eric Grundhauser of Atlas Obscura can give you more detail on this subject. Anyone remember Pirates of the Caribbean? It’s as good an example as any since it was considered to be one of the greatest attractions in the world at one time. But at one point it was actually one of the more impressive bits of work that anyone had seen. Of course it was supplanted after a while as the animatronic marvel continued to advance and those that were making said leaps and bounds in the industry were coming up with new ways to make their creations move, talk, and perform other functions that were beyond the capabilities of their predecessors at the time. The Hall of Presidents that Disney created was at one time a very simple exhibit but as of today is one of the most impressive displays in the world when it comes to animatronics, as are most of Disney’s exhibits. One has to wonder just how far humanity is going to go with animatronics and their application at some point, but as of now it’s nothing less than impressive since it shows that there are still a lot of wonders to be created.
Like I said before, Mimir is an interesting character and one that comes with a story all his own, but being stuck as a talking head with only one eye as the legends go is kind of a hard way to imagine anyone being forced to exist. But then again if that one person is kind of a troublemaker despite being wise and intelligent it might be best that they’re hindered in some way from causing too much trouble.
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