Michael J Fox proves he's still laughing in the face of Parkinson's disease as he hams it up for new calendar



At 5ft 4in, Michael J Fox hasn't always stood eye to eye with his co-stars.

And the comic actor clearly enjoyed having a laugh at his diminutive status in a new photoshoot.



The Back To The Future star hammed it up with 5ft 11in German supermodel Tatjana Patitz for the set of pictures for a new exclusive calendar for German optical company Carl Zeiss AG .



The pictures were taken by Canadian singer-turned-photographer Bryan Adams, and showed Fox and Patitz in a variety of comical poses.

Fancy a drink? Michael J Fox has to sit on a bar to be the same height as supermodel Tatjana Patitz in shots for a calendar for the German optical company Carl Zeiss 'The photographs were intended to be cheerful and sexy representations of how Zeiss lenses expertly capture any subject matter, large and small,' says executive producer Anke Degenhard-Drinkhahn.

One shot shows Fox sitting on a Manhattan's Cipriani bar to be the same height as his statuesque counterpart, while another shows him scoffing a big plate of spaghetti at a table while Patitz picks at a salad. 'We had to rush in and out to do our shoot in the morning, before they opened for business at 10am,' recalls producer Trixi Mahd Soltani.

Pasta joke: The diminutive star scoffs a large plate of spaghetti while his taller dinner date picks over a salad

Walkies: Fox is taken for a walk by a Great Dane while Patitz is untroubled by her little pug

But the spaghetti wasn't too appetising for Fox.

'I don't think Michael was up to actually eating it that early in the morning,' adds Soltani.

Another snap shows the Family Ties actor being taken for a walk by a Great Dane dog, while Patitz has no trouble with her smaller pug.



Fox and Patitz both immediately agreed to be part of the project, with New York City selected as the location for its sense of micro/macro - near/far variety.

Little and large: Fox needs to stand on a bench to reach the heights of his model counterpart

Shoe gazing: Fox and and Patitz, in high-heeled black platform shoes contrast on a New York street

At one point, Patitz, 44, is seen towering above 49-year-old Fox in seven-inch platform stilettos as he bends down to tie his shoelaces.

And in another shot, the actor's head is barely seen above a limousine's sun roof while the model, wearing sunglasses, has a good view of the city scape.



Fox, who will this year be a guest star in Larry David comedy Curb Your Enthusiasm, is also seen attempting to dance with the model.



The Carl Zeiss Art-Calendar 2011, which will be unveiled at a special showing in Hamburg next month, will be printed in an edition of 1,000 photographs for the company's top clients.



Head room: Patitz can easliy see out of the car's sun roof while Fox has a limited view