One Wish Willow 1:1 Prop Replica w/ sound!

Introduction

I’ve been completely obsessed with Obsession ever since I saw it in theaters, and I wanted to create a faithful prop replica of the One Wish Willow from the movie. While I’ve seen many talented prop makers on social media create their own versions, I wanted to build one that was a true 1:1 replica, including the jingle that plays when the One Wish Willow is removed from the box.

Thanks to a massive help from my friend Duru (thanks, Duru!), I was able to reverse-engineer the jingle. From there, I designed and built a custom audio circuit to play the melody using piezos by making the surface of the box a speaker. Even though this started as a quick weekend project, I’m incredibly happy with how it turned out and wanted to share the process!

The Box

For larger shapes and text I've created vector graphics on Figma

Since there weren't any high-quality images of the box graphics online, I had to trace them directly from a frame in the trailer. I used Figma to trace the box art in vector graphics (text and curved shapes) and for the symbol patterns and drawings I used Procreate.

Timelapse of me tracing the graphics on the box on Procreate

Aging the box

In the movie, the One Wish Willow is introduced as a vintage toy, so the box has natural scuffs and a bit of yellowing from age. To replicate that look, I used steel wool on the corners to create wear and tear, then brushed the surface with used coffee grounds to give it an aged, weathered look.

Recrating the Jingle

Reverse engineered Jingle on Ableton Live based on clips avaliable online

I got some help from my friend Duru, who has a much better ear for music than I do, and we managed to get the jingle as close to the movie version as possible. Once I was happy with the sound, the next challenge was figuring out how to build a battery-powered synth that would actually fit inside the box.

Making a tiny music player

Designing an audio circuit small enough to fit inside the box was challange. Using any kind of speaker was not possible as it would take too much space inside the box. So I used piezo elements instead. Since piezos rely on a surface to amplify their vibrations, taping them to the inside of the paper box turned the entire surface of the box into a speaker! To handle the audio, I used an ATtiny85 microchip. After exporting our reverse-engineered jingle into a .midi file, I programmed the data directly onto the ATtiny. This allowed me to keep the footprint incredibly small while ensuring the melody plays back reliably every time the box is opened.

To get a full-range sound, I've used two piezos one for the low notes and one for the highs. I also integrated a custom slot directly onto the PCB for the CR2032 coin cell instead of using a battery holder.

Willow Branch

I found a size accurate replica on makerworld for the Willow Branch and edited it to manualy add the white spots.

Conclusion

I'm happy with how this turned out! I’m thinking about packaging up and sharing the design files for this build, if you're interested in making your own, let me know in the comments below!