On Nov. 23 a festive crowd gathered at Mic Mac Mall in Dartmouth to awaken Woody the Talking Christmas Tree, a 50-foot tall, interactive Christmas tree housed at Atlantic Canada’s largest mall. Woody, adorned with a face that some have likened to Thomas the Tank Engine and complete with moving lips and blinking eyes, draws mixed reactions because of his unique presence.
Also joining in the celebration, where event-goers were encouraged to come clad in pajamas, was none other than Santa Claus and MOVE 100 radio host Peter Harrison, who led the crowd in songs and chants to wake up the tree. After a chant of “One reindeer, two reindeer, three reindeer!” Woody slowly came to life. His lashed eyes fluttered open, then shut, then took turns opening one at a time, until they both remained agape and even his lips started moving.
“I’m impressed by him every year,” said Lisa Flux, the general manager of Mic Mac Mall. She said that news of Woody has travelled around the world, including to Australia and the UK. However, she’s not blind to the fact that some find him alarming.
“My best friend thinks he’s creepy as hell … I think he’s fantastic,” said Flux.
Woody has even made appearances on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and The Late Late Show with James Corden, which both poked fun at his creepy demeanour.
Woody and the Mic Mac Mall
Woody’s relationship with the mall has been on and off. He was originally introduced in 1983 before being reimagined in the early 2000s. In 2007, he began a fifteen year hiatus, citing safety concerns, before returning to the mall in 2021.
Because of his impressive stature and capabilities, Woody is a year round project for the mall. As soon as Christmas is done, his frame is checked, and he’s painted and cleaned — a “complete audit and refurb,” as Flux describes it. Then, come spring, the team starts planning all things Woody for the upcoming season, as they determine how to make the festivities go as smoothly as possible. Over the past year, while Woody was disassembled, parts of him were stored in the mall’s Winners, which was being redeveloped.
Tara Gibson and her daughter were among the attendees. Gibson, who is from Ontario, said she found Woody a bit shocking when she first encountered him a few years ago.
“We walked into the mall, and we saw this beautiful tree, and as we kept walking we saw the face and we were like, ‘What is going on,’” said Gibson.
Since then, she’s learned to embrace him.
“It’s Woody the Talking Christmas Tree. It is what it is. We’re learning to love Woody; my daughter especially really loves Woody.”
Christina Frazier was also there to see Woody with her husband and two young children. She said the festivities remind her of Christmas when she was a kid. Though she can understand why some might find Woody off-putting, she noted that her children don’t find him creepy at all.
“They’re very intrigued,” said Frazier.
Operation Woody
Setting up Woody’s interactive features requires an elaborate setup. Flux said there are cameras inside of Woody, as well as cameras looking at Woody from two different positions. There are also microphones stealthily embedded within Woody to make conversation possible. Though the person impersonating Woody is on-site, Flux said that because of the technology, they could be anywhere.
“When you’re talking to a 50-foot tall Christmas tree, it still comes across as ultimately intimate, because it is a one-on-one conversation,” said Flux.
The Woody phenomenon goes beyond the physical tree itself. Woody has multiple accounts on X, formerly Twitter — one official and one less so.
He recently posted, “I’m back, birches.”
There is also a Woody store at Mic Mac Mall, which sells Woody-themed merchandise. And the talking tree has even inspired social media trends over the years, including last year when mall-goers offered Cinnabons as a “sacrifice” to Woody, seemingly in an attempt to replace his desire to eat children (which is only a rumour, of course).
Flux welcomes reactions of all kinds to the simultaneously horrifying and endearing Christmas tree housed in her mall.
“You know that everybody’s going to make a choice. It doesn’t hurt Woody’s feelings.”
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