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Lyn Gardner Saturday May 6, 2006 The Guardian "If art is about transformations, there is no more transforming experience than The Sultan's Elephant, a large-scale outdoor free spectacle produced by French company Royal de Luxe. This is a show that disrupts the spectacle of everyday life and transforms the city from an impersonal place of work and business into a place of play and community. It does something very simple and important: it makes you feel incredibly happy and it gives you permission to let your imagination take flight. It turns us all into beautiful dreamers with silly grins on our faces."	Our first, exciting, glimpse of the elephant
The girl towers over the crowd	"The elephant is a time-travelling beast that belongs to the sultan who - accompanied by his exotic retinue - has come to our world in search of a little girl. The little girl is a puppet the size of a house. The elephant trumpets so noisily that on Friday afternoon sunbathers in St James' Park, oblivious to what was going on, enquired whether there might be a circus in town. What the Sultan's Elephant represents is nothing less than an artistic occupation of the city and a reclamation of the streets for the people."
The elephant sprays the crowd with water!	Controlled by cute Frenchmen. Lucky elephant.
George and the Elephant	Another cute controller
This man with impressive arms was a voracious reader.	Nick holds the souvenir paper.
The girl's scooter, abandoned near the Horse Parade	Policemen look on with awe.
A cool, futuresque look at the inner workings of the elephant	The girl snoozes in the park. Remember: official lunchtime for Frenchmen is 12.30. We thought it was wonderful that, even in London, they just abandoned the elephant to go and eat lunch.
One for the handful of straight men who find this site: One of the sultan's retinue gets bathed on top of the elephant.	And one for the thousands of women and gay men who find this site.
The sultan's party arrived in this rocket ship. The London Eye is in the background.	Fleeing from the elephant
A nice shot of one of the guards that Lucille Ball would have tried to make laugh.	Nick poses with Bear Street in the background.
Another Superman sighting!	Nick outside Buckingham Palace
Flowers in St. James Park	George with the tulips
A man and his dog	A man checks his camera
This street artist was near the Royal Festival Hall
An installation that moved and made sounds when you walked by.	Nick activates the whirling circle.
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