Tiki Tattoo (the Fantasy Island kind)

I know there are topics and posts galore about tiki tattoo(s), but THIS topic is about the tiki (?) carving of the character "Tattoo" played by Herve Villechaize on Fantasy Island. That's the first thing that "Tiki Tattoo" makes me think of, isn't it for you? Here are some screencaps from episode 144...

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A group of distant islanders worships Nui Nui, the god of love. Their Nui Nui representation has an uncanny resemblance to... Tattoo!

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So the islanders send a beautiful maiden with a team of warriors to kidnap Tattoo. Once she tells him that he will be served by many beautiful girls like herself, he's not too upset about it.

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Tattoo is given the royal treatment right away.

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I won't spoil the rest of the story, but rest assured that hijinks ensue and there are some valuable lessons in life learned. Also, there aren't as many good shots of the tiki after this. Admittedly it's pretty questionable whether this Tattoo Tiki even qualifies as an attempt at a tiki as we know them, but it appears to be at least loosely trying to do that.

BTW, there's also a thread about tiki on Fantasy Island. I thought maybe this merits its own topic. Fantasy Island is one of my guilty pleasures from the cable company's on demand stuff, but taken in VERY small doses. The Fantasy Island HQ or main lodging had its own tiki bar, that shows up in various episodes. I especially like the strange "worlds collide" feeling one gets watching episodes like the one where Maureen McCormick finds romance in the Fantasy Island tiki bar.

-Randy

Awesome post

Excellent post Randy.

I just stumbled on this post while looking at the Fantasy Island thread that got bumped up.
Nearly shat myself.....I made that stupid thing!
I must have been 19 or 20, doing make-up gags on the show, early in my career.
They were always throwing me oddball jobs in those days, and this was one of them!
For some reason they thought the make-up dept. should handle it because it had to look like the actor.
Because of the size of the head, it was decided to use a material (neoprene, I believe) that was light weight. The casting came out horrible and was all warped, but Aaron Spelling and his team loved it!(I was working cheap)
Well, thanks to the OP for humiliating me! I don't think I ever even saw the episode.
Things can come back to haunt you.....

How cool is that! don't be humiliated. HAHA! I think it is a lot of fun and it isn't every person that can say they used to make things for Fantasy Island. That show had some big celebrities come through the doors. It must have been a fun job.

• Dale

Thanks Dale,
I feel better now.
'Surprised' is probably the better word.
Warner Bros. in the 70's (then called The Burbank Studios) was an interesting place to work.
A lot of the Dept. heads were old-timers that had worked on films in the 30's, 40's & 50's, and took me under their wings for some reason.
Many film actors I grew up watching were now doing TV. It was cool to meet them, do their make-up, and hang out watching them do their thing! Many great stories were told and I learned a lot about the business.
One of the other make-up artists on the show (Tim Miguel, now retired) was from Hawaii.
As a kid, he sang with his family group at many of the old Hollywood Polynesian restaurants and clubs in the early 60's. Beautiful voice. He knew all the old Hawaiian tunes, many in the original language.
Thanks for the memories!
Rick

Wow, thanks for posting! It's always great to get a chance to hear some of the actual stories behind things that seem like obscura upon first encounter!

-Randy

What a great story :)