1. History

2. Wax figure making process

3. Unique figures

4. Featured personalities
     Hong Kong Glamour   The Champions  Historical and national heroes  World premiere  Music icons 

5. Madame Tussauds Shanghai

6. See also

7. References

8. External links

Madame Tussauds Hong Kong, is part of the renowned chain of wax museums founded by Marie Tussaud of France, is located at the Peak Tower on Hong Kong Island in Hong Kong. It is the first Madame Tussauds museums in Asia, the other being the Shanghai branch, which opened in 2006 and the third branch at Bangkok which opened in 2010.^[1] The Hong Kong branch houses nearly 100 wax figures of internationally known personalities, with Asian figures taking up more than a third of the total, of which sixteen were Hong Kongers.^[2][3] The wax figures are featured in a range of themed settings such as Hong Kong Glamour, Music Icons, Historical and National Heroes, The Champions and World Premiere.

History

In the late 1990s, Madame Tussauds had outlets spanning worldwide in major cities such as London, Amsterdam and Las Vegas, but none was in the Asia-Pacific region. When the "Madame Tussaud's Touring Attraction" ran in Asian cities of Singapore and Australia, proving to be highly popular, the Tussauds Group decided to open a permanent outlet in Asia to cater to such demand, and Hong Kong was chosen for its proximity to the Asian markets.^[1]

Madame Tussauds Hong Kong opens at The Peak in 2000, and features nearly 100 wax figures of internationally known personalities and local celebrities to date – with Asian figures taking up more than a third of the total, of which sixteen were Hong Kongers. Asian celebrities and superstars have often graced the unveiling of their wax likenesses with sizeable groups of their fans tagging along. In September 2005, it began its renovation in its effort to bring an interactive and immersive entertainment experience to visitors. It re-opened at a cost of HK$20 million (US$2.6 million) on 18 May 2006, adding a further {{convert|700|m2|sqft}} of exhibition space on three floors and five themed areas.^[4] Visitors can journey through the attraction, stopping to mingle with the 'stars' in a range of themed settings including Hong Kong Glamour, Music Icons, Historical and National Heroes, The Champions and World Premiere.^[1]

As of 2008, the museum is headed by Bret Pidgeon, who is currently the general manager of Madame Tussauds Hong Kong and Shanghai. He has worked for eight years for Madame Tussauds in New York previously.^[5] The museum is accessible from Central via minibus, taxi or Peak Tram and opens all year round from 10 am to 10 pm daily. Admission fee is HK$140 (US$18) for adults and HK$70 for children aged between 3 and 11 years old.^[6]

Wax figure making process

In over one or more sittings, a highly skilled sculptor from Madame Tussauds Studios who is given direct access to the celebrity will record the colours of the hair and eyes, and over 500 precise body measurements are referenced.^[7] Most important is to capture the look of the celebrity to reflect the personality of each unique individual. The next task is to make a clay model of the head and body which is used to create a mould. Wax cast of the head and hands are made from the mould, and the eyes are inserted. Each eye is hand-painted to achieve a perfect match of the original. Real human hair is then inserted painstakingly strand by strand.^[7]

The head and hands are coloured using a blend of oil, water and acrylic colour. From the mould, the body is cast in fibreglass, and the head and hands are fitted to the fiberglass body and dressed in clothes that are often donated by the celebrity. The pose, clothes and expression on the face all contribute to making the figure as realistic as possible. The whole process usually takes up to six months by a team of 20 people to create^[7] and cost about HK$1 million each.^[8]

Unique figures

• The figure of Miriam Yeung, unveiled on November 2006, is the first in the world designed to giggle via in-built sensors. Miriam is well known for her fun-loving and bubbly personality, and Madame Tussauds want to capture that essence in her figure.^[9]
• The figure of Connie Chan, unveiled on August 2006, was the first figure to appear in full Chinese regalia. The model's costume was inspired by the musical Only You, set in the Yuan Dynasty, in which Chan formerly starred.^[10]
• The figure of Bae Yong-joon, unveiled on May 2006, is the first Korean star to be included in a Madame Tussauds exhibition.^[11]
• The figure of Andy Lau, unveiled on April 2005, was the outlet first animatronic model that was crafted out of silicone rather than wax. Lau's animatronic heartbeat was modelled on a similar system installed in a replica of Brad Pitt at Madame Tussauds Amsterdam.^[8]

Featured personalities

The list of featured celebrities sorted according to on-site themes are:^[2]

{{Col-begin}}{{Col-break}}

Hong Kong Glamour

1. Jackie Chan
2. Jay Chou
3. Bruce Lee
4. Michelle Yeoh
5. Ayumi Hamasaki
6. Brad Pitt
7. Cher
8. Eddie Murphy
9. Elle Macpherson
10. Gérard Depardieu
11. Hugh Grant
12. Joanna Lumley
13. Kelly Chen
14. Mel Gibson
15. Meryl Streep
16. Naomi Campbell
17. Cecilia Cheung
18. Aaron Kwok
19. Leo Ku (added on 4 April 2007)^&91;12&93;
20. Janice Vidal (added on 18 July 2007)^&91;13&93;
21. Angelina Jolie (added on 27 Sep 2007)^&91;14&93;
22. Donnie Yen (added on 30 April 2010)^&91;15&93;
23. Jet Li (added on 28 Sep 2010)^&91;16&93;
24. Kim Woo-bin (He became the first Korean actor to join the list on 22 Sep 2018)

The Champions

1. David Beckham
2. Lee Lai Shan
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Yao Ming
5. Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
6. Liu Xiang
7. Tiger Woods
8. Ronaldinho (added in December 2007)^&91;17&93;

Historical and national heroes

1. Leslie Cheung
2. Diana, Princess of Wales
3. Luciano Pavarotti
4. Mahatma Gandhi
5. Nelson Mandela
6. Bill Clinton
7. George W. Bush
8. Barack Obama (added on 20 Jan 2009)^&91;18&93;
9. Mikhail Gorbachev
10. Saddam Hussein
11. The Duke of Edinburgh
12. Elizabeth II
13. The Prince of Wales
14. The Princess Royal
15. The Duke of Cambridge (added on 7 Aug 2007)^&91;19&93;
16. Adolf Hitler
17. Sir Winston Churchill
18. Rembrandt van Rijn
19. Pablo Picasso
20. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
21. Deng Xiaoping
22. Jiang Zemin
23. Li Ka Shing
24. Lee Kuan Yew
25. Shigeru Yoshida
26. Hu Jintao
27. Albert Einstein
28. John Howard
29. Marie Tussaud
30. Sun Yat-sen (added in July 2007)^&91;13&93;
31. Mao Zedong (added in July 2007)^&91;13&93;
32. Yang Liwei (added in July 2007)^&91;13&93;
33. Donald Tsang (added on 7 April 2008)^&91;20&93;
34. Narendra Modi^&91;21&93;
35. Sukarno (became the second statue of Sukarno, the first statue of Sukarno was in Madame Tussauds Bangkok, added on 5 June 2014)^&91;22&93;
36. Joko Widodo (He became the fourth Indonesian wax figure on added in 1 May 2017)
37. William Shakespeare ^&91;23&93;

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