Nadya Vessey and Weta Workshop: A Mermaid Tale


Left: Weta’s design. Right: Vessey swimming with a fully functional prosthetic tail. (Photo by Steve Unwin.)

As if we didn’t already have a bounty of reasons to love Weta Workshop, this just in via the Dominion Post in New Zealand:

Nadya Vessey lost her legs as a child but now she swims like a mermaid.

Ms Vessey’s mermaid tail was created by Wellington-based film industry wizards Weta Workshop after the Auckland woman wrote to them two years ago asking if they could make her a prosthetic tail. She was astounded when they agreed.

She lost both legs below the knee from a medical condition when she was a child and told Close Up last night her long-held dream had come true… [Read more]

Some mornings are much easier to wake up to than others, eh? Other Coilhouse posts of possible interest:

9 Responses to “Nadya Vessey and Weta Workshop: A Mermaid Tale”

  1. 我( ‵o′)凸…this 月电费 broken » Blog Archive » Profile: Nadya Vessey Says:

    […] to love Weta Workshop, this just in via the Dominion Post in New Zealand:. Nadya Vessey lost her Read More|||Nadya Vessey was a child when her legs were amputated due to an illness. When asked about them, […]

  2. R. Says:

    Weta is an amazing company and that was great of them to do something like this. Now I want a mermaid tail.

  3. Jessica Says:

    Amazing! Such a beautiful gesture, and what a lovely tail!

  4. Andy Says:

    Jupp.. that tail is amazing, it actually works:) For my part I’d rather have a functioning pair of wings that I could strap on but we aren’t quite there yet are we?

  5. Jerem Morrow Says:

    Viva la WETA! Teared up showing my daughter this, and in turn, she got weepy. What mush, we are.

  6. Tequila Says:

    Beautiful. Really beautiful.

    Now lemme get this straight…it took a visual effects house to figure out how to make this happen? Not some MIT student bored one summer? or say an offshoot of the billions tossed into the Military?

    Wow. No wonder we don’t have jet packs yet. Get on it WETA! Don’t let this Steampunk thing going on distract you from the REAL needs of humanity.

    They do make nice fake ray guns though.

    Bet the ILM guys are REALLY jealous of this…at least they should be.

  7. Mer Says:

    “They do make nice fake ray guns though.”

    They sure do! NEEERRRRRRD UUUUUP:

    They’re also some of the kindest and sweetest folks I’ve ever met. Must be something in the water down there… ILM’s got nothin’ on ’em. :D Wasn’t a bit surprised to hear they’d decided to take on Nadya’s request pro bono. It’s totally something Richard Taylor and crew would do.

  8. Tequila Says:

    :D

    That’s my new favorite pic of you!

  9. Mer Says:

    Heh. Thanks. (I’m such a dork.)