Madame Tussauds Hong Kong


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. 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. 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 in the Asia-Pacific region. When the "Madame Tussaud's Touring Attraction" ran in 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.
Madame Tussauds Hong Kong opened 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 on 18 May 2006, adding a further of exhibition space on three floors and five themed areas. 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.
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. 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 for adults and HK$70 for children aged between 3 and 11 years old.

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. 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.
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 and cost about HK$1 million each.

Unique figures

The list of featured celebrities sorted according to on-site themes are:

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
  20. Janice Vidal
  21. Angelina Jolie
  22. Donnie Yen
  23. Jet Li
  24. Kim Woo-bin
  25. Pia Wurtzbach
  26. Jackson Wang

    The Champions

  27. David Beckham
  28. Lee Lai Shan
  29. Muhammad Ali
  30. Yao Ming
  31. Chiyonofuji Mitsugu
  32. Liu Xiang
  33. Tiger Woods
  34. Ronaldinho
  35. Stephen Curry

    Historical figures and national heroes

  36. Leslie Cheung
  37. Diana, Princess of Wales
  38. Luciano Pavarotti
  39. Mahatma Gandhi
  40. Nelson Mandela
  41. Bill Clinton
  42. George W. Bush
  43. Barack Obama
  44. Mikhail Gorbachev
  45. Saddam Hussein
  46. The Duke of Edinburgh
  47. Elizabeth II
  48. The Prince of Wales
  49. The Princess Royal
  50. The Duke of Cambridge
  51. Adolf Hitler
  52. Sir Winston Churchill
  53. Rembrandt van Rijn
  54. Pablo Picasso
  55. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
  56. Deng Xiaoping
  57. Jiang Zemin
  58. Li Ka Shing
  59. Lee Kuan Yew
  60. Shigeru Yoshida
  61. Hu Jintao
  62. Albert Einstein
  63. John Howard
  64. Marie Tussaud
  65. Sun Yat-sen
  66. Mao Zedong
  67. Yang Liwei
  68. Donald Tsang
  69. Narendra Modi
  70. Sukarno
  71. Joko Widodo
  72. William Shakespeare
  73. Donald Trump

    World premiere

  74. Elizabeth Taylor
  75. Benny Hill
  76. Pierce Brosnan
  77. Andy Lau
  78. Leon Lai
  79. Anthony Hopkins
  80. Jodie Foster
  81. Harrison Ford
  82. Humphrey Bogart
  83. Macaulay Culkin
  84. Marilyn Monroe
  85. Alfred Hitchcock
  86. Bae Yong-joon
  87. Connie Chan
  88. Amitabh Bachchan
  89. Bruce Lee
  90. Lee Jong-suk
  91. Suzy
  92. Benedict Cumberbatch

    Music icons

  93. Anita Mui
  94. Elvis Presley
  95. Freddie Mercury
  96. Lady Gaga
  97. Madonna
  98. Michael Jackson
  99. Mick Jagger
  100. Miriam Yeung
  101. Teresa Teng
  102. The Beatles
  103. Tina Turner
  104. Twins
  105. Joey Yung
  106. G.E.M.
  107. TVXQ

    Madame Tussauds Shanghai

The second Asian outlet is located in the Chinese city of Shanghai. Attracted by Shanghai's growing reputation and tourism volume in East Asia, the Tussauds Group approached Shanghai authorities to discuss the possibility of opening its second Asian location in early 2004. The Shanghai authorities agreed with the proposal and Madame Tussauds Shanghai was opened on 1 May 2006 on the 10th floor of the New World Department Store at West Nanjing Road.
The Shanghai outlet houses nearly 75 wax figures of local and internationally known celebrities to date, and will add more in its second and third phases. The museum opens all year round from 10 am to 10 pm daily and it is divided up into seven themed sections: Glamour, Behind the Scenes, History and Heroes, Music, Film, Speed and Sport. Admission fee is RMB 135 for adults and RMB 100 for students. Madame Tussauds Shanghai is the Tussauds Group's sixth waxwork museum after London, Amsterdam, Las Vegas, New York City and Hong Kong.