The Melbourne Myer windows 2024 marks 69 years of this Christmas tradition! And makes next year pretty exciting – I wonder what they are planning for that!
How many Myer window themes have you seen?
Myer windows for 2024
As indicated in my post when this years’ windows were unveiled, the theme for 2024 is An Irwin’s Christmas Story at the Australia Zoo.
Who are the Irwins?
In case you don’t know, Steve Irwin was known as the Crocodile Hunter. With a trademark ‘crikey’, Steve became known for his documentaries and animal segments on TV shows. Born in Melbourne and growing up in a wildlife park in Queensland, Steve championed nature in general and crocodiles in particular.
He has a land snail named in his honour – Crikey steveirwini – and received a number of awards. In 1998,7 years after taking it over, he changed the wildlife park’s name to Australia Zoo.
Tragically killed in 2006 by a sting ray, Steve left behind his wife Terri, 7 year old daughter Bindi and 3 year old son Robert. All three of them continue to run Australia Zoo and work for wildlife conservation and protection.
Myer Melbourne windows
The windows have an animated story showing various aspects of the Irwin’s lives around the zoo.
Each window includes an animal or two, unsurprisingly, but don’t assume they are all Aussie animals!
Unbelievably, we had to wait behind one family to access the windows last night – the queue continued behind us but it was only a few families long at any time which is so much better than what I saw last year (Bluey was obviously a huge draw card!)
I have to admit that these were not the best Myer windows I have seen. They were less colourful (due to the browns and greens you’d expect from Australia Zoo) and I think they were less detailed. But it was fun to see the animals and the kids around us certainly were enjoying the movement and finding animals.
As we approached the windows from Elizabeth Street, we noticed a curious face above people’s heads…
I don’t anyone would be surprised to see crocodiles int eh first window, with Bindi and Robert Irwin driving around the zoo in a jeep.
Next up, Robert Irwin is on a motorbike admiring the long necks of giraffes and the triumphant horns for some silhouetted rhinos.
Bindi and Robert move along a timber walkway, using binoculars to watch colourful birds fly around. If you look carefully, you may also spot some lemurs gleefully jumping around!
Two majestic elephants, watched over by some tigers, grace the next window with no Irwins to be seen. The tiger’s face doesn’t look quite right to me – but I couldn’t do as well, let alone better, myself!
Then we see two Rhinos, slowly circling for the crowd, and a pack of golden cats. I’m not sure if it was deliberate for variety or a glitch, but the first time this window opened for us the cats came running forward whereas the second time saw the cats running on the post at the back of the scene.
For the finale, there is a more detailed and exciting window. A large cylinder dominates the window, opening twice to different scenes, while a surrounding stage rotates around. In the cylinder we initially see a jeep while Bindi and Robert release a healed koala. A parade of injured Aussie animals follows around as we open to a vet clinic scene from Australia Zoo.
It is in the vet clinic that we get a lot more detail as many previous Myer Christmas windows have given us. Spot the real photo of Bindi on the wall and Robert holding the patient’s hand!
Beyond the Irwin Christmas Story, the final window is a nativity scene. This scene is also predominantly brown, with a vivid blue sky behind Mary, Jesus in the manger and Joseph
If you have seen the Myer windows 2024, what did you think of them? Which animal was your favourite?
