UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. _ Just an earshot away from the booming sounds of "Waterworld" and almost directly across from where the Donkey from "Shrek" spends his day posing with the thousands of visitors to Universal Studios Hollywood is the newest attraction for the Southern California theme park. The all-new DreamWorks Theatre, scheduled to officially open Friday, will celebrate with "Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor's Quest."
Work on the new attraction started 18 months ago, not long after NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation. The work includes a complete refurbishing of the building that was once the home for the "Shrek 4-D" show to make way for the DreamWorks Theatre. Only the shell remains from the "Shrek" feature and the construction has been fashioned architecturally to pay tribute to the Golden Age of Hollywood's 1920s Art Deco period.
The attraction starts with a box office ticket seller booth staffed by a three-dimensional Pinocchio character from "Shrek" who is asleep on the job. This is the beginning of the tribute to the long list of animated offerings from DreamWorks that started in 1998 with "Antz" and includes "Shrek," "Kung Fu Panda," "Madagascar," "How to Train Your Dragon," "Monsters vs. Aliens," "The Boss Baby" and many more.
An outdoor garden leads to the theater waiting area that continues the theme of classic movie houses. The pre-show area of the theater features a collection of DreamWorks characters who kick off the attraction's narrative told against an original score by composer Germaine Franco.
The lobby area is not only the place to hold the next group of park guests for the attraction, but is a place to pay tribute to the work done by DreamWorks Animation over the past two decades. The walls are covered with 36 movie posters and a selection of more than 20 award statuettes are on display that represent a sampling of the Golden Globe, Emmy, People's Choice, Critic's Choice, National Board of Review and Annie awards. A collection of original sculpted scale models of the "Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor's Quest" characters will also be on display, along with artifacts embodying magical powers Po brought back from the Spirit Realm.
A new film could be produced and shown in the theater, but there are no current plans to create a second or third feature. The success of the new attraction is all on the broad shoulders of Po.
Antics in the lobby are all the preliminary events to the feature film attraction. "Kung Fu Panda: The Emperor's Quest" is the story of how on the morning of The Emperor's Great Feast of Heroes, dragon warrior Po must go on a dangerous mission to deliver the rare and precious Liquid of Limitless Power to the Palace. Park guests will join Po on the trek filled with raging rapids, river pirates, magic and kung fu.
Visitors will make their way to a large theater where they will watch Po go on an epic quest with an attraction that uses state-of-the art visual effects. Seven Christie 4K Boxer Cinema projectors and 360-degree surround sound audio make guests feel like they are part of the show. Over 200 fully articulated seats pivot and swivel in tandem with the 180-degree action.
The new attraction is part of the Universal Studios Hollywood movie-based theme park and studio tour experience. Other attractions include "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter," "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem," "Springfield," "The Walking Dead" and "Transformers." Go to www.universalstudioshollywood.com for more information.
