Wellington Blown Away sign

"Wellington Blown Away" sign near Wellington Airport

The Wellington Blown Away sign is a landmark of Wellington, New Zealand.

Wellywood

[edit]

Wellywood is an informal name for the city of Wellington, New Zealand. The name—a conflation of Wellington and Hollywood—was coined in the 1990s and is a reference to the film production business established in the city by The Lord of the Rings film director Sir Peter Jackson, and Wellington-based special effects companies Weta Workshop and Weta Digital.[1] The businesses operate a number of film-related facilities in the Wellington suburb of Miramar.

History

[edit]

In March 2010, the Wellington Airport company announced plans to erect a Hollywood-style sign saying WELLYWOOD on a hillside next to the Miramar cutting.[2] The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which owns the original Hollywood sign, threatened legal action over concerns about breach of copyright.[3] After the airport considered a range of alternatives, it was announced in May 2011 that the Wellywood sign would be going ahead.[4] However this was met with enormous criticism,[5] and on 1 June 2011 the airport announced that a panel would be convened to consider alternative sign options.[6][7] The panel ran a binding public poll on The Dominion Post website with the Wellington Blown Away design being chosen.[8] The sign spells WELLINGTON, with the last letters being "blown" upwards. It was designed by Matt Sellars and Ray McKay from Auckland-based company Saatchi & Saatchi.[9] The sign was erected on 27 July 2012, and cost $80,000.[10][9]

In 2014 the sign was changed twice. The W in the sign was replaced with a red V to spell VELLINGTON, promoting a local vampire comedy movie called What We Do in the Shadows.[11] Later in 2014 the sign was changed to WOWINGTON to promote the World of Wearable Art fashion show.[12] In May 2022 somebody painted the sign in a patchwork of pastel colours and it remained that way for months.[13] In June 2023 the sign was repainted white and the O in the sign was temporarily replaced with a 3.6m diameter football to promote the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[11]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Wellywood on its way". Dominion. 27 August 1998. ProQuest 315008996.
  2. ^ Burgess, Dave (10 March 2010). "Public split on Wellywood". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  3. ^ "Wellywood sign investigated by US trademark owners". RNZ. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  4. ^ Burgess, Dave (21 May 2011). "Wellywood sign to go ahead". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  5. ^ "Hundreds protest Wellywood sign". Stuff. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  6. ^ McKewen, Tamar (22 May 2011). "Wellywood sign rage on Facebook page". Stuff.co.nz. NZPA. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  7. ^ "Wellingtonians rejoice at Wellywood U-turn". One News. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2011.
  8. ^ Burgess, Dave (21 November 2011). "Voters blow Wellywood away". The Dominion Post.
  9. ^ a b Stewart, Matt (10 November 2015). "Divisive airport sign makes its mark". Dominion Post. ProQuest 1731815271.
  10. ^ Dastgheib, Shabnam (7 July 2012). "Finally, Wellington gets the sign". The Dominion Post.
  11. ^ a b Hunt, Tom (26 June 2023). "O dear: The curious case of the missing vowel above Wellington". Stuff. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  12. ^ "First Vellington, now WOWington..." NZ Herald. 27 June 2023. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
  13. ^ Marshall, Jack (11 October 2022). "The Wellington sign is covered in graffiti and nobody seems to have noticed". The Spinoff. Retrieved 26 June 2023.
[edit]

41°18′54″S 174°48′40″E / 41.31508°S 174.81120°E / -41.31508; 174.81120

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wellington_Blown_Away_sign&oldid=1191263598"