25th Anniversary Convention Photo Album

25th Anniversary in Vegas Photo Album

The FAKE Time Warp sign!

LEFT: This is a picture I took of the Time Warp sign that was on display at the Hard Rock Hotel in Las Vegas, for the 25th Anniversary convention in October, 2000. Although there was no plaque identifying it as the original prop from the movie, both Hard Rock employees and Lou Adler himself claimed that this was, indeed, the genuine article (according to Ruth Fink-Winter, Adler said that the TW sign on display was the only original prop from the movie that he still had).

RIGHT: Here is what appears to be the same Time Warp sign, which Adrian "Zola" Honey found on display in a Planet Hollywood restaurant in Seattle, Washington in January, 2000. It was being presented as the genuine article.

This picture, from Vanessa Vittoe's Richard O'Brien Crusade, shows the fake Time Warp sign being presented to Planet Hollywood by Richard O'Brien and Patricia Quinn and (Lou Adler was also present). They managed to hang the sign upside-down, so Ritz ad-libbed that this was how you did the Time Warp... if you were in Australia. Lou claims he's had the movie sign since the filming -- he's obviously either mistaken somehow or lying. It's unknown whether Richard or Patricia realized they were presenting a phony; they could have been invited to the presentation and not been aware that it was fake... But someone is guilty of a con job...

This is the REAL Time Warp sign, as captured from the Rocky Horror DVD. Note that the words "JUMP" and "STEP" are clearly outlines, where the fake sign above has them in solid black letters. Note the shape of the feet, in particular of the heels, on both the genuine movie sign and the fake sign above. Not to mention the curvature of the arrow and the shape of the arrowheads, the size of the drop shadows... Whoever made the fake Time Warp sign didn't get a single detail correct!

Here's a Time Warp sign I made a few years ago for the Castle Transylvanians (which is currently being used by Sincere Lust). I made this one from memory, without using the movie as a guide, and it's far more accurate than the Hard Rock/Planet Hollywood fake. The only real problem with mine is that my feet are too big (and you know what that means, *nudge nudge wink wink*)

As a sidenote, the Brad jacket on display in Las Vegas was also incontrovertibly fake. The size and cut of the jacket, costumers tell me, are wrong; moreover, the patch wasn't even close. I spent a long time studying the patch a couple of years ago, so that I could duplicate it. Most of the Brads at the convention had more accurate jackets than the fake on display; in part because of my Denton High patches.

This raises an important issue -- obviously, one cannot assume that any other props and costumes on display in Hard Rock/Planet Hollywood establishments are genuine either... Another supposed Rocky Horror costume that surfaced in a Hard Rock Cafe recently was the pair of gold shorts allegedly worn by Peter Hinwood as Rocky. Costumers, who'd been debating the color and placement of rhinestones/sequins on Rocky's shorts started to change their costumes (or confirm the accuracy of their costumes) based upon pictures of these shorts. It seems that pictures of the shorts on display at HRC can no longer be used to settle the details of Rocky's costume; so designers trying to get everything perfect will have to go back to studying stills and the DVD.