Kotua Place has a new resident, and he’s hoping to see some locals who are keen to pose for a photo with him.
Stuart the three-metre-tall Minion, has spent his previous life as a bright red boiler somewhere in Nelson Tasman. When Norwest discovered the boiler, the team thought it would make a great Minion, and with the upcoming release of Despicable Me 4 ahead of the school holidays, they decided to bring Stuart to life.
“We were just looking at it and thought, ‘that could be a Minion’,” says general manager, Grant Kerr.
“We thought ‘let’s get this done in time for the movie release and holidays’.”
Grant says they would love for any Minion-mad kids (or adults) to come along to their Kotua Place site and have their photo taken with Stuart.
Stuart’s creator Jack McIntyre says he enjoys the job, which sees them come across things they haven’t seen before.
He spent four days planning Stuart’s design and then spent three to four days putting him together and finishing the artwork, right down to his watch and pipe.
“We had to repaint the eye because it was done with water-based paint and after a rain shower it looked like he had been [having too many beverages],” Grant laughs.
Stuart will stay in prime spot, welcoming visitors to Norwest and Grant says to keep an eye out for any new additions to the family.
