Patch Adams, Universal Pictures 1998, Directed by Tom Shadyac, Costumes by Judy Ruskin

This film is based on the real life of Patch Adams, a doctor who believes in the healing power of laughter and fights against the impersonal approach taken by the hospital industry. For a scene at a Meat Packer’s convention I rigged mascots costumes, including a giant hot dog, a female cleaver (I gave her pearls and nicknamed her June) and a beautiful dancing Ham Roast. I fitted and altered five hundred extras in vintage polyester suits, outfitted nursing staff, and dressed children with cancer from the Make-a-Wish Foundation.