Awesome Homemade Zoltar Costume

The movie “Big” has always been a favorite of mine. As I was pondering what to be this year, and, more especially, what would go with the new beard I’d been fostering, it came to me: ZOLTAR. Zoltar is the machine that was asked by Tom Hanks to make him “big” and, of course, Hanks got his wish. The Zoltar machine is also quite a popular arcade attraction.

Now, I am a dancer and most of the parties I attend are of a dancing nature, so a stationary box caricature would just not do. I have to be free to dance, walk around and sit. I decided to buy a ready-made sultan outfit but added a few touches here and there.

I built the Zoltar box in approximately a month out of 6 sheets of 3/16 foam core and lined the windows with 1/2 balsa wood to create the illusion of a thicker wood. Because it was a box, it was very strong. The only wood in the construction is the cove molding on the top. The box is suspended by a light weight tubular back- pack frame. I sewed one of my nice dress vests into a shape befitting a Zoltar and placed it over the backpack harness to conceal it.

Most the time was spent decorating this: drapes, lighting effects, felt in the bottom, and of course countless doodads such as coins and jewels hot-glued in front of Zoltar. Don’t forget the Tarot cards.

This was a very fun project to build and, boy, what a reaction I got when I walked in the door.

Related costumes:

Leave a Comment Cancel reply