DreamWorks Animation joins Parker 3D to unveil a fully interactive, high-tech Christmas wonderland, "DreamWorks Dreamplace" for a "new way to visit Santa" at eight different malls in the United States starting Nov.6.
With the help of DreamWorks animation and its much loved character, Shrek, bringing the Christmas spirit to every child and child at heart in local malls in the U.S.
"Since 1890, parents and children have been lining up to sit on Santa's lap and since 1890 they've been doing it in exactly the same way. Well we figured the big guy and all the families in line deserve something a little bit newer, a little bit better, and now it is here," says Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of Dreamworks Animation.
Bloomberg reports that DreamWorks DreamPlace is a modern take on Santa's village-a 2,000-square-foot Bavarian-style cottage decked out in Christmas ornaments and covered with LED screens that depict an animated Shrek greeting visitors from a window.
Technology will make the visit a more engaging experience. The letter to Santa has been replaced by an online wish list that works like a wedding registry.
People from Parker 3D who developed the idea said the goal was to give visitors the sense that they are on an adventure to Santa Claus.
"They will find touchscreen technology, they will find interactive technology, they will find that they are magically transported to the North Pole," says John Carter of Parker 3D.
The technology will also allow parents and their children to escape the long lagging lines and busy crowds just to get inside.
Instead of standing in long lines, families will book appointments for a virtual sleigh ride to the North Pole. Six semitrailer trucks will be required to deliver each of the cottages to the various malls; the structures can be changed for different holidays, such as Halloween.
"In introducing the app, families are able to reserve time ahead of their visit with Santa and going through the Dreamplace experience. Part of the app as well is that they enter in some of their family details which actually sets up the most magical part of the experience," says Paul Kurzawa of Dreamworks Animation.
