When Universal Studios Singapore celebrates its official grand opening on May 28, the new theme park in Southeast Asia will sport a Hollywood tie-in that includes more than just its namesake.
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Brent Young, co-founder of the Hollywood-based new media production company Super 78, is one of the creative principals behind MADAGASCAR: A Crate Adventure, the highlight of Universal Studios Singapore grand opening celebration and the first attraction in the world based on the DreamWorks Animation film franchise. The nine-minute, indoor mega-flume ride features Alex the Lion, Marty the Zebra, Melman the Giraffe and Gloria the Hippo as animatronics along with digital projection, special effects and a bubbling volcanic cauldron.
“Madagascar: A Crate Adventure is unique to Universal Studios Singapore and transports guests into the worlds of these immensely popular DreamWorks characters using a range of special effects that immerse them convincingly into the story and the experience,” says Young, who also helped design the theme park’s Donkey LIVE!, a one-of-a-kind, interactive live show that lets guests sing along and even talk with another popular DreamWorks character, Shrek’s side-kick Donkey. “Theme park enthusiasts and fans of the movie are going to love the remarkable attraction the teams from Universal, DreamWorks and Resorts World Sentosa have created.”
Young’s extensive experience designing cutting-edge, mixed media themed experiences for theme park attractions around the world not only put him in a lead role for the new attraction, it also landed him a role as a creative director for the new theme park at Resort World Sentosa, the $5-billion integrated resort destination on an island just south of Singapore.
In addition to helping design and install new attractions at Universal’s theme park, Young also is working as the creative director and film director for another area of the Resorts World Sentosa development -- The Typhoon Theater, the primary attraction inside the Maritime Xperential Museum, which is expected to debut later this summer. This one-of-a-kind, 360-degree immersive attraction literally and figuratively sinks the audience into the story of 9th century merchants working the ocean routes of the Silk Road as a massive typhoon hits. The experience features a powerful story line, a world-class venue and state-of-the-art, in-theater effects that include projection mapping.
Young is accustomed to the challenges of working half a world away. In addition to the work in and around Resorts World Sentosa, Super 78 has also produced attractions for theme parks in Shanghai and Shenzhen, and is currently working with a theme park in the Jiangsu Provence.
“The appetite for themed entertainment around the world is enormous, particularly for experiences that feature characters made popular in Hollywood,” adds Young. “And I don’t see that enthusiasm fading any time soon.”