Wellington Blown Away sign

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"Wellington Blown Away" sign near Wellington Airport Wellington blown away sign.jpg
"Wellington Blown Away" sign near Wellington Airport

The Wellington Blown Away sign is a landmark of Wellington, New Zealand.

Contents

Wellywood

Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington. The name—a portmanteau of Wellington and Hollywood—was coined in the 1990s and is a reference to the film production business established in the city by The Lord of the Rings film director Sir Peter Jackson, and Wellington-based special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital. [1] The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.

History

In March 2010, the Wellington Airport company announced plans to erect a Hollywood-style sign saying WELLYWOOD on a hillside next to the Miramar cutting. [2] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the original Hollywood sign, threatened legal action over concerns about breach of copyright. [3] After the airport considered a range of alternatives, it was announced in May 2011 that the Wellywood sign would be going ahead. [4] However this was met with enormous criticism, [5] and on 1 June 2011 the airport announced that a panel would be convened to consider alternative sign options. [6] [7] The panel ran a binding public poll on The Dominion Post website with the Wellington Blown Away design being chosen. [8] The sign spells WELLINGTON, with the last letters being "blown" upwards. It was designed by Matt Sellars and Ray McKay from Auckland-based company Saatchi & Saatchi. [9] The sign was erected on 27 July 2012, and cost $80,000. [10] [9]

In 2014 the sign was changed twice. The W in the sign was replaced with a red V to spell VELLINGTON, promoting a local vampire comedy movie called What We Do in the Shadows . [11] Later in 2014 the sign was changed to WOWINGTON to promote the World of Wearable Art fashion show. [12] In May 2022 somebody painted the sign in a patchwork of pastel colours and it remained that way for months. [13] In June 2023 the sign was repainted white and the O in the sign was temporarily replaced with a 3.6-metre-diameter (12 ft) football to promote the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. [11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Wellywood on its way". Dominion Post . 27 August 1998. ProQuest   315008996.
  2. ↑ Burgess, Dave (10 March 2010). "Public split on Wellywood". The Dominion Post . Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  3. ↑ "Wellywood sign investigated by US trademark owners". Radio New Zealand . 10 March 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  4. ↑ Burgess, Dave (21 May 2011). "Wellywood sign to go ahead". The Dominion Post . Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. ↑ "Hundreds protest Wellywood sign". Stuff . 23 May 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ↑ McKewen, Tamar (22 May 2011). "Wellywood sign rage on Facebook page". Stuff . New Zealand Press Association . Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. ↑ "Wellingtonians rejoice at Wellywood U-turn". One News . 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  8. ↑ Burgess, Dave (21 November 2011). "Voters blow Wellywood away". The Dominion Post .
  9. 1 2 Stewart, Matt (10 November 2015). "Divisive airport sign makes its mark". Dominion Post. ProQuest   1731815271.
  10. ↑ Dastgheib, Shabnam (7 July 2012). "Finally, Wellington gets the sign". The Dominion Post.
  11. 1 2 Hunt, Tom (26 June 2023). "O dear: The curious case of the missing vowel above Wellington". Stuff . Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. ↑ "First Vellington, now WOWington..." The New Zealand Herald . 27 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. ↑ Marshall, Jack (11 October 2022). "The Wellington sign is covered in graffiti and nobody seems to have noticed". The Spinoff . Retrieved 26 June 2023.

41°18′54″S174°48′40″E / 41.31508°S 174.81120°E / -41.31508; 174.81120

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