Polar Bear Roams London
An 8 ft long, fully animated ‘adult male polar bear’ was unleashed on the freezing streets of London this morning.
The ‘creature’ came face to face with with early-morning commuters at Charing Cross, before wandering across Hampstead Heath and even heading along the South Bank.
The massive male bear’s trip was to mark the launch of Sky Atlantic’s new crime drama, Fortitude, the Evening Standard reports.
Polar bear walking over millennium bridge, standard Tuesday #polarbear pic.twitter.com/O4oSMPPADM
— Gemma Crawley (@GemmaCrawley) January 27, 2015
The highly sophisticated prop uses internal monitors linked to hidden cameras, allowing the two performers inside to see.
The puppeteers, who spent three years working together as ‘Joey’ in the award-winning West End production of War Horse, studied footage of real polar bears before spending five days rehearsing in order to get the gait and other movements right.
