The talented and imaginative Zoe Bingham has seen a LEGO model unveiled based on her original creature creation at LEGOLAND Windsor Resort, after the nine-year-old won a contest to add a beast to the theme park’s new MYTHICA: World of Mythical Creatures land.
Zoe sketched out an illustration for Beauty Beast, which was chosen as the winning entry through a public vote, before the LEGOLAND Windsor model makers got to work turning the hybrid peacock-giraffe-swan into a full sized model to be part of LEGO MYTHICA. The build uses 41,664 LEGO bricks and was presented to Zoe and her family at a special unveiling.
Like every creature that’s part of LEGO MYTHICA, the model combines different animals blended together, featuring giraffe legs, peacock feathers, a swan head, plus mythical phoenix wings. It weighs 108kg and took 230 production hours to build – the equivalent of seven working days.
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‘I can’t believe my eyes. It is so exciting to see my Beauty Beast mythical creature made into an actual LEGO model. My sister Emma and I love building and creating imaginary worlds out of LEGO,’ says Zoe. ‘I never thought in a million years that my design would win the competition and I can’t wait for all my friends and family to see Beauty Beast stood next to all the other amazing LEGO MYTHICA creatures in the park. I hope everyone will like it just as much as I do.’
Zoe’s 42-year-old LEGO loving Uncle, Richard Bingham from East Sussex, sadly died of bowel cancer in August last year. They spent a special day together at LEGOLAND before the coronavirus pandemic hit, sharing their mutual love of the LEGO brick.
‘We’re extremely proud of Zoe’s achievements and seeing her Beauty Beast drawing built into an amazing mythical creature and unveiled at LEGO MYTHICA for thousands of guests to enjoy is beyond our family’s wildest imaginations,’ says Zoe’s mother, Liz. ‘The competition was a great activity one afternoon during lockdown, and the girls loved getting into the idea of a blended, magical creature and the idea that all LEGO creations live in MYTHICA. Zoe was really close to her uncle who encouraged her model making and I’m sure he would have been so proud and told everyone he knew. He would have called her “my clever niece”.’
‘Zoe and her family have been eagerly anticipating seeing her mythical creature design transformed into a life-size model and we were thrilled to share the moment Beauty Beast was unveiled for the first time,’ adds Head Model Maker Paula Laughton. ‘The Create a Creature competition gave home schooling families during lockdown a chance to be creative and provide a fun alternative for parents. Zoe’s design not only impressed us with its colour and thoughtful detail but also the purposeful story behind it. Our model making team have done a wonderful job at bringing the model to life and our guests will be able to enjoy seeing Zoe’s model alongside our other LEGO MYTHICA models.’
LEGO MYTHICA: World of Mythical Creatures is open now at LEGOLAND Windsor Resort.