Like Katy Perry or not, you couldn’t help but be dazzled by the lion she rode in on for the Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show. She was completely upstaged by her own prop. Where, you might ask, did she find the amazing critter? Scappoose, that’s where. Yes, you read that right.

According to a story on KATU, the lion, actually a giant puppet, was designed and manufactured by Michael Curry and team at his studio in Scappoose (http://tinyurl.com/currylion). Weighing in at about a ton, the 30-foot long, 14-foot high feline required 13 puppeteers to complete its sleek moves during the show. The photo of the lion is courtesy of NBC.

The project started as a small 3-D model, and grew from there. “The entire thing was carbon fiber, but then we covered the entire thing in gold mirror. Triangulated mirror, which was to replicate origami,” the artist told KATU. “We wanted this piece to feel heavy, so you could almost feel its footsteps into the ground, and to keep it slow enough it almost felt like a time-lapse entrance.”

This isn’t Curry’s first rodeo with Katy Perry. He’s designed other puppets for her stage show, not to mention he has a resume as long as his lion’s tail (http://michaelcurrydesign.com) — including designing several projects for the Walt Disney Company (think “The Lion King” on Broadway, for one), Las Vegas shows, Cirque du Soleil, films, TV, opera and much more.

When Curry watched his creation on TV Sunday, he was tickled when his puppeteers surprised him. “We didn’t even know it could roar like that,” he told KATU. “That final move, was glorious for us.”

Katy must have been feeling pretty glorious, too. She got to keep the lion.

— Elleda Wilson