Movement to erect Green Arrow statue in Vancouver's Crab Park hits a snag: it's a flimsy TV prop
Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 23:29:56 +0000
Vancouver-filmed drama Arrow comes to an end Tuesday night, just three days after a movement to immortalize the titular hero in Crab Park appears to have met the same fate.
In the series finale, Fadeout, set to air at 9 p.m. on The CW, a Green Arrow statue stands in the hero’s fictional home of Star City. But the statue also briefly stood in the hero’s real home: Vancouver, where the long-running drama filmed for eight seasons.
The statue, erected temporarily in Vancouver’s Crab Park last fall before the show wrapped production, caught the eye of some Arrow fans when it first appeared on last week’s penultimate episode. They quickly began pushing for it to become a permanent fixture of the space.
Arrow statue.
Arrow superfan Ryan Sullivan even started a petition, arguing that it would be a great tribute to the series’ legacy in Hollywood North if the statue were allowed to remain. Many agreed. In the three days since the petition was launched, more than 8,000 fans signed on, demonstrating the cult following that has supported the program since its debut in 2012.
But series executive producer Marc Guggenheim threw water on the idea almost instantly, pointing out that the statue was a flimsy prop. It was hardly built to withstand Vancouver’s weather, let alone a stiff breeze — rather, it was built to withstand two days of shooting before it dissolved in a warehouse.
I dearly love and appreciate this. But the statue was only built for two nights’ worth of shooting. It wasn’t built to withstand the harsh weather of Vancouver, I’m afraid. https://t.co/xCcH8eF5gD
The statue may have been designed to look as thought it was made of indestructible iron, but it was actually 3D-printed.
In short, the Green Arrow statue is a little more than a hollow replica of the real Green Arrow — much like Marvel’s Hawkeye. Consider this your regular reminder that nothing you see on TV is real. Series star Stephen Amell is also not very good at archery.
But Sullivan was undeterred, pivoting to GoFundMe to raise money for a proper statue that could survive the elements in the waterfront park.
Setting a goal of $5,000, Sullivan explained: “I would like to try and raise money to get the city of Vancouver to build and forever immortalize a Iron Statue Replica of the Green Arrow.”
Unfortunately, this is where the movement stalled: nobody is willing to pay for it. At the time of this writing, the GoFundMe has received zero donations in the two days since it went live. Sullivan may have had more success launching a second petition calling on somebody else to pay for the statue.
In his defence, if Arrow has taught us anything, it’s that you have to shoot your shot. It’s just easier to land a bullseye if you can fix it in post.
Amell, the Canadian actor who spent nearly a decade playing the titular character, thanked fans for their support in advance of Tuesday’s finale.
Today’s bittersweet. Arrow meant so much to me for so many years. It was a transformative journey… but it was time to let it go. I lace my boots and don the hood one last time tonight. I’ll forever cherish being an ambassador for Oliver Queen. Thank you for the honor. pic.twitter.com/pTxgtCWyqu
CLICK HERE to report a typo.
Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com.