Nova Scotia’s Mic Mac Mall opened its doors to the public in 1973. Located across the harbour from Halifax, the mall featured everything you would expect at the time, from an Eaton’s, the former Canadian department store chain, to a Dominion grocery store. However, 10 years later, something not-so-expected arrived at the mall. Woody the Talking Christmas Tree is a 56-foot-tall Christmas tree with a Thomas the Tank Engine-esque face in its centre. The face also had very large eyelashes and rosy cheeks, all while sporting a ginormous grin. The original iteration from the 80s had a relatively simple design, with a mouth made of tree branches that could move up and down and non-moving eyes. Later in the 90s, his face was upgraded with levers and pulleys that allowed for lip-synced mouth movement and for Woody’s eyes to get a good look at the mall goers.
From his debut in 1983 to the early 2000s, Woody was set up every holiday season. Kids and adults alike could line up to talk to the tree about whatever they wanted. A speaker and microphones in the tree would allow for an actor, hiding in a nearby decorated shed, to personally respond to questions and make conversation. Woody quickly became a local legend, in some part due to his role in making treasured holiday memories, but mostly due to his creepy design and the general absurdity of the whole project. Nonetheless, many Nova Scotians were devastated when Woody was indefinitely retired in 2006. The icon’s frame had deteriorated over the years, leading to structural damage that made him a safety risk for customers. The public speculated however, that Woody’s creepy smile was what finally got him put away.
In 2021, the mall was taken over by a new management team, who were determined to bring Woody back to the people. A new tree was designed, maintaining the slightly off putting spirit of the original, with some technical upgrades. The new face was 3D printed by local Halifax company, Eurekatec, and outfitted with electronic face controls. The new tree was snuck into the mall and installed with a suspicious sheet over its front face, leading many to correctly assume the return of the famous tree. When Woody was unveiled in late November 2021, many people were overjoyed, while others experiencing Woody for the first time were perplexed. Many parents were excited to share the experience of awe and fear they felt talking to the tree with their own children. According to mall manager Tamitha Oakley, Woody never truly retired: “He left 15 years ago and went to the North Pole to help Santa and the elves sustain the magical forest up in the North Pole,” she told CBC in 2021. “Woody decided to come back because it’s been a really tough couple of years, and he wanted to bring some magical cheer back to the Maritimers and all of his fans.”
The new Woody quickly became a viral phenomenon, as pictures of the tree’s unsettling eyes and grin were shared on social media. Jimmy Fallon showed a clip of Woody on his late-night talk show, comparing the tree to the killer robot doll from the series Squid Game. CNN also featured a segment on the tree, highlighting X (formerly Twitter) users’ reaction to seeing Woody in action. Meanwhile, many Nova Scotians continued to hold reverence for Woody. A trend started last season involving mall goers offering Cinnabon cinnamon buns as ‘offerings’ to the tree. New last year as well was Woody’s Store, a pop up booth in the mall featuring beanies, magnets and hoodies, with all proceeds going towards the local children’s hospital. Woody awakened once again this year on November 23 during the mall’s “Wake Up Woody PJ Party.” Woody will be up and ready for some cheery, yet unsettling, conversation until December 23 for this year. In the words of the legend himself: “Tree you later!”
