A Dunedin nurse says he is waiting for a call from Wētā Workshop after creating a ‘‘wee bit of magic’’ at Wakari Hospital.
Registered nurse and Dunedin artist Frank Gordon has built an intricate diorama, about a metre tall, celebrating the festive season.
It was based on the opening lines of the poem The Night Before Christmas and Mr Gordon had imagined what the mice might be up to on Christmas Eve.
‘‘You know ... not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
‘‘But I thought, ‘No, the mice are going to party’.’’
‘‘This is the story of the mice ... partying hard out on their magical Christmas tree.’’
Mr Gordon had created the scene in about two weeks and joked he was ‘‘just waiting for a call’’ from Wētā Workshop or Pixie Town.
‘‘Once I get going with that glue gun, I'm away.’’
A touch of Christmas magic went a long way at the hospital, he said.
‘‘This is a place where people come because they're not flash, they're not great, they're on some sort of recovery journey.
‘‘So to have something like this, a wee bit of magic in your corner ... people get a little smile on their face.’’
The mice — made of tinfoil and cardboard covered in air-dry clay and laden with food, drink and instruments — had been the most challenging part of construction.
‘‘The whole thing, if I was to pick that up and shake it, nothing would fall off.
‘‘They're all stuck in place ... apart from at night time, of course, when they all come alive,’’ Mr Gordon said.
The diorama was the South Community Mental Health Team’s entry in the highly competitive, annual contest between hospital wards across Dunedin for the title of best Christmas artwork.
This year’s theme was traditional red, green and gold — Mr Gordon admitted his creation might be ‘‘a wee bit extra’’.
