ATTRACTIONS
one we’ve ever done. You have to try to please everybody.” Despite the com- plexity, he’s confident that Merlin and the BBC joined forces to good effect, and is hoping the groundwork will lead to a “deeper, longer-term rela- tionship” with the potential for more opportunities. These deeper relation- ships promote a better understanding of one another and the IP
. “What we
don’t want to do is go and ‘logo slap’,” Fisher says, believing great IP-based attractions need to be based on some- thing more profound.
Another contributor to the success of the relationship is regard for the IP. Working within a complex legal frame- work, presenting ‘other’ ideas to the creators and winning their trust is no easy feat. “There’s a very specific set of rules that exist because the brands are protected,” says the MMM head. “We’re conscious that when we deal with someone else’s IP that we deal with it in a respectful manner and fol- low what they want as well.” Ultimately, though, it’s about the peo- ple. A collaborative environment, where the IP holder’s team and the licen- see’s understand each other and get along, is invaluable to the project. Part of that could be recognising and capi- talising on each other’s strengths; part
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Angry Birds Land at Thorpe Park opened in May, featuring the 100ft rapid drop tower ride Detonator and the Angry Birds 4D experience
of it could be straightforward team- building activities. DreamWorks’ and MMM’s creatives have been perfect- ing the art. “The Merlin team has been to the US to Burbank on regular visits, and their team has been in London. It’s a bit of a love-in, to be honest,” Fisher says. “They’re the same kinds of peo- ple – gregarious, creative – so there’s a really good relationship.” That philosophy runs from the cre- atives to the management and right up to the top, with Merlin CEO Nick Varney and DreamWorks’ boss Jeffrey Katzenberg maintaining a close per- sonal relationship too. Could this lead to a “wider collaboration” as Varney has suggested? “There are a number of things; whether it’ll be other attrac- tions, I don’t know at this stage, it’s too early,” Fisher says. “But there’s a lot of ambition in DreamWorks to do more of these kinds of things as well.” Though Fisher is quick to iterate that
Merlin is not going to turn into “eve- rything to do with IP”, the business,
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with its 2013 flotation on the London Stock Exchange, is riding a wave right now and the vital role IPs have played is undeniable. “When they’re relevant to what we want and, more impor- tantly, to what our customers want, then all these relationships with major IP holders are massively important.” He mentions Ice Age as an example of a successful IP attraction, running at Alton Towers, UK, and Gardaland, Italy, where the relationship with Fox has been cultivated. Another big IP-led attraction that opened recently is Angry Birds Land at Thorpe Park, UK. “Now that we have got people running these relationships, Nick and I can go and talk to them and demonstrate it’s not about a one-off, but about how we do things in the long term.” The spotlight now though is likely
to stay on Shrek and friends, as expectation rises and fans’ anticipa- tion builds for the first Far Far Away Adventure. Fisher, for one, is excited.
“All I can say at the moment is that I went through some of the scripts and I was howling with laughter. The same humour and fun that you see in the Shrek films comes through.” l
This feature first appeared in Attractions Management Q3 2014
ISSUE 4 2014 © cybertrek 2014
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