Halloween  "How to make (more like how WE made) a homemade Wall-e Costume"
(Update 10/31/2008: Scroll to bottom of this page to see the finished costume and video!)

OK. Along with all the music and business stuff, here's a personal note.  My son is a big fan of Wall-e and way in advance of Halloween, convinced us he wanted a Wall-e Costume.  After he convinced us and that he wasn't going to switch on us at the last minute, We looked for a Wall-e costume in the store with no luck, and when we finally found one on-line, they were sold out.  I was committed to making him one. 

The creative process started by going to the garage and saying, "does THAT box look like Wall-e?"...."Does THIS box look like Wall-e?"...  We finally started with a Costco-sized Egg-o frozen waffle box with arm-holes cut out, but eventually evolved into a Fellows shredder box.  The rest of the structure is done with tape, bag ties, paper towel tubes, styrofoam board, spray paint, paperplates, etc, and some silvery-looking cloth we found at the material store....and of course, duct tape. From the start, the rules were it had to be light weight and easy to get into and out-of, and it had to have tracks.  My son helped supervise the project all along the way. 

Here you can see the arms ("Twin hydrolic arm shovels"). These are gloves made from a paper towel tubes and a cardboard packing box for computer components. Covered with silver material and foam.  Yes, the fingers move.


The head is designed kind of like a baseball hat, worn on top of the head.  The arms and "shovel pinchers" are pretty much like big gloves, so my son can move them as he wants and "grab" things. 

Below: The back of the cap.


Below: The underside of the cap. Actually quite comfortable and light weight. Adjustable with velcro strap.




Below: Arms and head next to our mini- Wall-e toy that travels everywhere with us.




Below: Front view of the work-in-progress. Tracks/treads not attached yet.



Below: another angle of the work-in-progress.



Below: Here's my son next to the costume. Yes, he fits inside, but the legs (treads/tracks) aren't yet attached.  I"m trying to figure that out still.  I'll post the kid-inside-the costume picture once I figure it all out.  Wish me luck. Halloween is fast approaching, and Wall-e is wearing me out.     No wonder I'm so slow in getting new songs recorded for the next album. 



Below: Wall-e in resting/compressed position. (Yes, my son is inside)


Below: "Wall-e" visiting with little sister.





Below: Sister having fun with her brother "Wall-e" (real brother is inside the costume, with head retracted inside).


Below: Here's how you get in and out quickly.



Below: This is why I do these challenging projects


Finally, after deciding the costume was structurally sound enough to last for 5 minutes without losing a tread, we moved to the final touches; yellow paper, black trim, digital audio recording/playback unit (just for pretend. Geesh!)  and Wall-e Label.    I won't tell you how late we we stayed up the night before our deadline due to unexpected complications.

Below: My son wearing the finished Wall-e costume in it's first public appearance at the school costume parade.

Ta da!  A happy boy with home-made Wall-e costume.

Featuring:

• Two-position all terrain modular treads ("Papa, this is the most important thing.")
• Twin Hydrolic arm shovel gloves ("Papa, this is the most important thing.")
• Digital audio recording/playback module for those with a good imagination ("Papa, this is the most important thing.")
• Wall-e Label (Papa, that's the most important thing)
• Hinged back door for non-panic entry and exit to and from the unit
• Comfortable baseball cap-style Wall-e head.
• Super-happy kid.
• (Head-mounted lazer not included)