Where are Mickey’s ears in giant parol?

SAN FERNANDO CITY, Pampanga — To ear, or not to ear.

This is just one of the difficulties confronting the 105-foot diameter parol, which Capampangan craftsmen finished in 20 days, in the hope of making it to the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s biggest lantern.

The lantern, commissioned by the Singapore-based Walt Disney, was supposed to have a Mickey Mouse motif. But indications of Mickey were totally missing when the giant lantern, stuffed with some 10,000 bulbs, was first lit for public viewing last Sunday.

Two five-meter circular lanterns, which were supposed to serve as Mickey’s ears, were absent.

"We are ready to attach the ears," said provincial board member Robert David, an experienced lantern maker who was commissioned to do the project. He pointed to two lanterns lying on top of a pile of steel used as scaffolding for the huge lantern.

The giant parol is lighted nightly at the back of the Robinson’s mall along the North Luzon Expressway here. The project was co-sponsored by the Robinson’s Land Development Corp. and funded by Singapore’s Walt Disney.

But a Robinson’s source said the ears might have to go. If this happens, the lantern would turn out to be more representative of Philippine Christmas tradition than Walt Disney’s.

At the core of the lantern is a small star, one foot in diameter, that is surrounded by layers of fan-like designs which, in turn, are fringed by layers of bigger stars.

Even without any signs of Mickey at all, the lantern nevertheless elicited awe from some 100 people who came to see it lit anew Tuesday night amid a slight drizzle.

"We need not worry about the rain. The lantern is made of plastic, not paper," said David. He, however, instructed workers to cover the six rotors behind the giant lantern.

The rotors look like barrels containing a rotary sheet with projections that come into contact with electrical connections as they are rotated, to produce the dancing effect of the lantern lights.

David, who earlier had some tiff with city officials who initially had planned a 60-foot diameter lantern also for Guinness, expressed confidence that his lantern would break the world’s record.

The Guinness record-holder only measures 38 feet in diameter. The lantern, looking like the flame of a torch or even a cone topped with ice cream, was made in 1998 by one Pravin Nayak, assisted by 10 people, in Ganesh Kala Krida in Pune, India. It had only 10 bulbs of 250 kilowatts.

"There were at least 50 craftsmen, all from Barangay Sta. Lucia in San Fernando, who helped realize this giant lantern," David said. At least 20 of these men are electricians who ordinarily repair household appliances and electronic devices.

While David expressed hopes that Guinness officials would come over soon to see the giant lantern, with or without Mickey’s ears, no Walt Disney official in the Philippines could be contacted to comment on reports that the offices of the London-based Guinness World Records Ltd. are closed up to Jan. 5 when the exhibition of the lantern here ends.

The STAR checked the Guinness website and confirmed that the company is, indeed, closed during the Christmas holidays.

According to the Guinness website, an average of 60,000 people request for consideration into the Guinness Book of World Records yearly.

Guinness offers no material prizes nor charges record-seekers, but offers "fast-track service" at a cost of 250 pounds to those who are in a hurry to be recognized.