Interview with Rodney Fong



MJ: Rodney Fong, thank you for joining us today.

RF: You're welcome. Thanks for having us.



MJ: Well, here we are at the Movieland Wax Museum.  What exactly do you do

here?

RF: I am in charge of all the marketing and advertising for the museum

here, and oversee the operations within the museum. 



MJ: Tell us about this set we're on right now.

RF: We're on the set of "Ben Hur," with Charlton Heston. This is one of the

first sets in Movieland that was built, in 1963. And as you can see, it's a

full scale set. There must be about 15 people in her with us, and four

horses. 



MJ: Now, did he come himself, to see his wax figure?

RF: I believe he wasn't here for the unveiling, but he has visited the

museum, and has given his approval.



MJ: What about these horses. Tell us about these.

RF: These are original horses that were built for the set, and brought in.

As you can see, they all resemble each other, they could be  brothers and

sisters. 



MJ: So these are real.

RF: These are real horses.



MJ: Tell us what your day to day activities are. What exactly do you do

with this museum, and the other one that you have?

RF: Most of the day is spent with working on getting tour groups, and some

individuals, and bus groups into the museum,  selling prepackaged type

tours. And I work personally with the operations and accounting

departments, and make sure that with the maintenance part that this show is

at show quality a hundred percent of the time.



MJ: And you have two locations?

RF: Right.  Here in Buena Park, and in San Francisco, at Fisherman's Wharf.



MJ: How many wax figures do you have here at this location?

RF: There area about 300 wax figures here. And San Francisco has about 275

wax figures.



MJ: And are they mainly actors, or politicians, or what  do you have?

RF: Well, Movieland really specializes in movies. We have all the classics

from Humphrey Bogart to Marilyn Monroe. And there's a little bit of

television, but mostly movies, and the museum in San Francisco is sort of a

scrap book of world history. It has political leaders, a religious section,

a King Tut section. So it's really... wax museums sort of are time capsules

of history. 



MJ: And how do you decided who to make a wax figure of? Is there a

committee that meets, or a popular vote, or what happens?

RF: Yeah, we take suggestions from our guests, we have meetings monthly

within our crew here, to decide who's popular, and who we think has

longevity, as far as immortalizing themselves in wax.

MJ: So, can you take us through the process of, let's say, once you decide

on somebody, for instance,  let's say Sylvester Stallone, and you decide

you want to do that. What happens next?



RF: Ok, we try to set up a meeting with the star. The initial meeting is

actually for photographing and taking measurements. They take very

intricate measurements, from let's say  the width of your head, to the

depth of your nose, and far apart you ears are apart, and what color eyes

you have, and from those photos and measurements, they'll go back to the

wax room, and start to sculpt, in the form of clay. Once that clay is done,

then they cast that in plaster, which creates a negative form of that. And

then they pour wax in the plaster mold. So it's kind of a three step,

positive, negative, positive, process. And once the wax is completed, then

eyes can be inserted, teeth can be inserted, and each hair individually has

to be implanted. So it's a painstaking task, but well worth it for the

final product.



MJ: How long does it take from the time you decide to start, to its

completion?

RF: About three months. Three months lead time.



MJ: And then after it's completed, do you have the star come out and unveil

it?

RF: We like to. And probably 75 percent of the time... Stars are very busy,

but 75 percent of the time they do find time to come out and do this. We

had Michael Jackson here, Gloria Estefan, Dick Clark, who hosts American

Bandstand out here.



MJ: I heard that Michael Jackson came in the middle of the night.

RF: Yeah, that's correct. He chose to come at about midnight, with his

crew, and wanted to personally take a look at the figure. In fact, we made

a second copy of the figure, for himself personally. For his own home, or

home use. 

MJ: So he has a wax figure that you made, in his home.

RF: Correct.



MJ: What did he think about it?

RF: Oh, he loved it. In fact, the costume, the outfit that we have on the

figure, he donated. So he brought that in.



MJ: So that's his real costume.

RF: That's right.



MJ: Any others that you can think of, that came by?

RF:  Toshiro Mifune came by. That's his actual wardrobe, that he brought,

and it was a fairly large ceremony here, and he was able to come in, and

dress the figure himself, properly.



MJ: Now, how many visitors do you see in an average year?

RF: In Movieland here, we see about 200,000 people. The bulk of that is

during the summer months. But, there's about 200,000.



MJ: And of those visitors, how would you break it down. Are a lot of them

here on vacation, or are they local, or are they foreigners, or what do you

think?

RF: Probably half are foreigners; international travelers. Of that half,

most of, or half of them come from tour groups, on vacation, summer

vacation. There are a lot of Japanese businessmen who come here for

technical tours of Orange County, and so they find time during the evening

or afternoon to come by and see us.



MJ: Do you end particular exhibits? Or for instance, if a movie came out in

1975 or something, and people have forgotten about it, do you quietly get

rid of certain figures?

RF: Right. We are actually constantly changing exhibits. We find ways to

reuse figures and kind of distort them and change them into something else

for background people or guests in the scene.



MJ: Can you give an idea of some maybe that are not around anymore?

RF: Well, in fact, right around the corner, is Johnny Carson, on the

Spartacus set, and he has been turned into a spectator there.



MJ: Rodney, what are some of your favorite exhibits here, maybe some of the

favorites of your customers?

RF: The most popular exhibits are probably Marilyn Monroe, Gene Kelly in

"Singing in the Rain." One of our most recent and most popular figures is

Tom Selleck. Superman, with a fantastic set. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance

Kid. These are all classic movies that people just love to see over and

over.



MJ: Now, are people allowed to take photographs?

RF: Sure. Yeah. Video and photographs are allowed, and when you come in,

you have an opportunity to take a photograph with George Burns, which is

processed here, and available when you exit the tour.



MJ: Tell us how  you got involved in this business, because you're

obviously very young to be, you know,  vice-president in charge of  two

museums. How did you get involved?

RF: This is actually a family owned operation. My grandfather in 1963

opened the wax museum in Fisherman's Wharf. And we purchased Movieland

about 15 years ago. So this is, I'm the third generation in this business,

and sort of grew up in the business, and were running around the sets,

working on them.



MJ: As a kid.

RF: As a kid, yeah.



MJ: What do you like about it? What do you like about this job that you

have?

RF: What I like about it is, we are really in the show business, we're in

the entertainment business. And it's like working in the back side of a

theater, and you prepare to present something, and to see if the public is

pleased and has a good time with it is really, that's the gratification.

It's like working behind the scenes.



MJ: So your grandfather, and your father, and now you, all were in the same

business.

RF: Right. 



MJ: Did your grandfather begin in San Francisco?

RF: Yeah.



MJ: And then you moved down here.

RF: Right.



MJ: What do you think his goals or his dreams were  when he began this?

RF: Probably similar to mine, in that pleasing the public was..., and

presenting a show that was entertaining and something for the whole family,

it wasn't strictly for adults, or strictly for children. And at Movieland,

it's very nostalgic. People can step back into their past, and relive the

moments of when they first saw a scene like this one on t.v.



MJ: What do you notice, when you see people coming in and leaving?

Reactions, comments, what are people thinking when they come through?

RF: It's very interesting. With wax figures, part of the fun is people

critiquing the figures, and really whether they feel the figure looks like

the actual star or not, is still the fun, so even if they feel it doesn't

look like them, it's still entertaining for them to personally critique it.



MJ: Tell us the truth, Rodney, are there some that look really good, and

are there some that don't quite look like the star.

RF: Yeah, that's true. There're some tens, and some sixes.



MJ: Can you give us a couple of tens, and a couple of sixes?

RF: The Superman Christopher Reeves, I think is a ten. From the "King and

I" set, Yul Brenner is a ten. I won't mention the sixes.



MJ: But there are some that didn't come out  quite like you wanted.

RF: Right, yeah. And we're always able to rework them, if we feel it's not

really a ten.



MJ: Talk about the people who are making these wax figures. They're here on

the location?

RF: Right. We have one person here, in Buena Park, who does wax sculpting,

and we have two other people who do sculpting.



MJ: And they do this full time?

RF: Correct

MJ: So, for instance, right now, how many are these three people working

on? How many wax figures?

RF: Well, we have about six figures in the works right now. So they sort of

rotate, and are able to work at them.



MJ: Are there any we would know, that they're working on?

RF: Little Richard is in the works. Oprah Winfrey. Let's see, Geena Davis,

and Pierce Brosnan, 007, is in the works. We're also doing a wax figure of

Jim Carrey, and for our San Francisco show... Microsoft...



MJ: Bill Gates?

RF: Bill Gates.



MJ: Well, Bill Gates isn't exactly a movie... an actor.

RF: No, but for San Francisco, he's going to become a historical figure in

the world, I believe.



MJ: Now, why did you decide to make a figure of Toshiro Mifune the Japanese

actor?

RF: Well, he's probably one of the most popular Japanese actors, and his

popularity in America is really quite surprising.



MJ: Really. Now, do you have people commenting on that one, coming through?

RF: Yeah, I think most people have... are familiar with him. First of all,

his wardrobe is gorgeous, and people appreciate that.



MJ: And he donated his own wardrobe, is that  right?

RF: Correct. And he was here to dress the wax figure himself, and fix the

hair.



MJ: What do you think this tells us about our culture, that Americans love

to, you know, almost worship these wax figures?

RF: Yeah. I think for America, wax figures and movie stars are almost like

royalty. And so we treat them like that. And when someone becomes

immortalized in wax, it really says something, it really says you've made

it to a certain level of status, and you're worthy of being immortalized in

our museum.



MJ: And are people coming here, you know, to worship their figures, or are

they just coming to take a look at them. I mean, do you see... What do you

see?

RF: Well, there are quite a lot of people who are great fans of, say,

Elvis, who want to come in and just see Elvis, and they will spend most of

their time at that one set.



MJ: Is that right?

RF: They come through the rest of the museum, but they... there are some

very loyal fans who come.



MJ: Why did you guys choose this location for a museum?

RF: Well, we're in, right in Buena Park, which is next to Anaheim. It's

about five minutes away from Disneyland. As you know, Disneyland is a

destination for the world. We're here in Buena Park on the entertainment

corridor, which is Beach Boulevard. And Knott's Berry Farm is right down

the street, Medieval Times, and Wild Bill's, so it's really a destination

for entertainment.



MJ: Do you have plans to take this, you know, concept, or this museum into

other countries?

RF: Right. We just last summer did kind of a testing, and set up a

temporary museum in Manila. And so there was a tremendous response there in

the Phillipines, and we are looking at sites in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, and

are looking at maybe doing some sort of world tour with these figures.



MJ: And you said that you have had some experience in Japan?

RF: Right. We set up a temporary show for about three months in a

department store in Tokyo. This was about three years ago. So it was very

successful.



MJ: But no plans for a big museum.

RF: Not yet. Not yet.



MJ: You mentioned you have a sort of a way of making a decision on who to

bring in. Do you take into account for instance, if a star has had a

scandal, or does that effect... I mean, would you possibly remove a figure

some day if somebody were to be part of a large scandal?

RF: It works both ways for us. A scandal also makes a figure more popular.

We had O.J. Simpson in the museum during his whole trial, and so, we

eventually took him out, but O.J. was here, and people were pleased and

displeased with seeing him.



MJ: So you had comments from people?

RF: Yeah.



MJ: Also, it seems... when a star passes away, do you have crews and people

that come when that happens?

RF: Yeah, in fact, Gene Kelly just passed away, and we had a news crew that

was out here, and wanted to get a segment of him. We always pay our

respects to the family, and put some sort of notice in the set during  the

time of his death.



MJ: Have you ever had a star who said, "Now way. I don't  want to

participate. I want to have nothing to do with this?"

RF: No, and if someone does say that, we honor them, and we don't make

their wax figure. But for the most part, they're very cooperative. 



MJ: How do they have to cooperate? What kind of cooperation do you need

from them?

RF: If they can sit down with us, and do a measurement session, and if they

would like to come out and actually unveil the figure. It works very well

with movie stars promoting a new movie that's coming out. And they come

out, and are able to have the press here with them.



MJ: So, I noticed a figure of President Clinton. Does that mean that you

measured President Clinton?



RF: That was strictly from photographs, unfortunately.

MJ: So you had to reconstruct what he looked like.



RF: We'd be willing to have Mr. Clinton out here.

MJ: Have you heard anything from him about his figure? Has he commented on

it?

RF: I don't believe... I know we sent him some photos, but I haven't heard

anything back from him personally.



MJ: What are your future plans? I mean, obviously, eventually you will be,

obviously,  full owner here. What are your ideas and dreams and plans of

where you want to take this?

RF: Well, we are always looking at expanding here, and we have more space

within the building, that we're looking at setting up new exhibits,

possibly some hall of fame type exhibits. So, we're always constantly

changing the sets here and figures here.



MJ: So, can we expect your son to some day to be in charge?

RF: Hopefully so.



MJ: You also have a store here. What exactly do you sell in that store?

RF: We have two gift shops here that sell souvenirs and memorabilia of

Movieland and movie related items, so it's within the complex itself.



MJ: This is a strange question, but you have to update, like figures, for

instance, let's say, there's one of Julia Roberts. 

RF: Right.



MJ: What's going to happen in thirty years when she's a little bit older?

RF: We're able to update it, and bring them up to date, as far as reworking

hair and wax. We do change hairstyles and clothing in some cases.



MJ: What about the case of Michael Jackson?

RF: Michael Jackson... We have followed Michael Jackson's evolution, and

this is actually our fourth figure of him, and has he changes his image, we

follow along with him and update him.



MJ: So you have a plastic surgeon her for him as well.

RF: A wax surgeon.



MJ: A wax surgeon.

 

MJ: Are there differences in cultures?  For instance, do Asian cultures...

are they less accepting of wax figures in your experience than American

culture?

RF: I think here in America, they readily accept it when they're on

vacation. How a museum would do in Tokyo, I'm not quite sure.  I've heard

that in the Asian culture, if a wax figure is made of yourself, it sort of

takes away your spirit. I don't know if people are nervous about that. But

I don't think that's necessarily the case, or the problem.



MJ: So, in the American culture, there's absolutely no...

RF: Stigma.



MJ: Stigma. People think this is just a wax figure. there's no spiritual

attachment.

RF: But maybe in the Asian culture, they're afraid if...when they pass on,

maybe their spirit, their spirit can't' find, or isn't sure which direction

to go to, the way of the wax figure, or the actual person.



MJ: Do you ever, like when you walk around here like at night, do you ever

hear any ghosts?

RF: I haven't heard any ghosts, but I tell you is a little bit eerie when

you walk around here in the dark. Luckily, I've only had to do it a couple

of times, but if you're not familiar with who is where, someone can startle

you, some wax figure can startle you.



MJ: How long does it take to go through the entire tour, from walking in

the door to the end?

RF: It's about a one hour trip.  That's from the very beginning. Some

people like to really take their time and spend an hour and a half in here.

But you can see it in about an hour.



MJ: And in what sort of ways can the guests interact with the stars? Is

there some way they can get photos together?

RF: You can take photos of the wax figures at the sets. Outside we have

actual star prints, which is hand and foot prints of stars that have been

here. And any star that does come, we try to get their print.



MJ: Do you know how many movies, how many movie sets are here at the

location?

RF: There are over 117 movie sets here. And they're all full size sets. All

lighted as if they were a movie set. So, it's quite a place.



MJ: What's you favorite?

RF: My favorite is probably "The King and I," with Yul Brenner. It's a

fantastic figure, and a very colorful set.



MJ: Well, thanks for joining us today, Rodney.

RF: Thank you.



MJ: Thanks for joining us today, Rodney.

RF: Thank you, Mark. 



WALKAROUNDS



RF: This whole mural was painted, --- all at one time during the set, so we

had a whole scaffolding system set up. In 1963, this was built here. How

they actually got the horse --- I'm not quite sure.





MJ:What about this one, Rodney?

RF:This is one of our newest figures, Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. As you

see, he's there with a box of chocolates.



MJ:He looks very confused.



RF:Yeah.  ----



MJ:When did this come in?

RF:This came in about six months ago.



MJ: Is this very popular?

RF: Yes. It's very popular, a popular movie.



MJ: Now over here is... in the corner there...

RF: Julio Iglesias. And Christine. She's an interviewer on a talk show.



RF: Judy Garland, in "The Wizard of Oz." And there's Toto. The Tin Man,

Scarecrow, the Cowardly Lion. This is a great set. This is very popular

with children.

RF: Here's Elvira. 



MJ: Wow, look at that.

RF: Frankenstein.



MJ: Frankenstein.



RF: This here is Clint Eastwood. "High Steel Plains."



MJ: What year was this?



RF: Probably in the late '70's, this figure was done. Since then he's been

mayor.



MJ:That's a ten, huh?

      An eight





MJ: What do we have here?

RF: Yeah, well, as you can see, we have some of the Dodgers here. Fernando

Valenzuela, Tommy Lasorda, Eric Karros, and were talking with the Dodgers

about making a Nomo figure.



MJ: Really?

RF: Yeah, since he's become such a popular player here in the States, as

well as in Japan.

MJ: When do you think that'll happen?

RF: We were talking with them, and we're going to try to sit down with him

to get some measurements.



MJ: Really? So you're going to measure Nomo, and get all his measurements?

RF: Right, and then we'll actually do a figure of him.



MJ: And then three months later we'll have a figure here.

RF: He'll join his teammates here.



MJ: The Lasorda one, what would that be, a six or a seven? 



RF: Well, I don't really know what he looks like, but I judge them on life

likeness. He looks, I mean, pretty real -------





MJ: You been here before?

MJ: Did you ever have a Rambo?



MJ: Oh, so here's Superman.

RF: We see Superman. Warner Brothers donated this original costume from the

movie. Christopher Reeves as Superman. This is one of the more popular

sets. We're here in the ice castle.



MJ: So this is the original costume?

RF: Correct. This is the original "S."



RF: This here's sort of our Academy Awards Hall of Fame. And we like to

keep a collection of all the past winners, actors and actresses.