![]() Shrek 4-D was such an easy people-eater of an attraction that Universal Studios Japan added it, too. It was such an interesting strategy to expand the reach of the short film to those who may not have been able to go on the attraction. ![]() As far as I know, this was the first time that a theme park attraction had been commercially released on home video. It came with those fun (terrible) blue-red 3-D glasses, hitting stores around the same time as the attraction. We’ll get to the show in a minute, but in a very interesting move, Shrek 4-D was also released as Shrek 3-D as an add-on to a new DVD release of Shrek. On May 23, 2003, Shrek 4-D opened at Universal Studios Hollywood, with an opening at Universal Studios Florida less than a month later on June 12, 2003. At the time, Universal didn’t own DreamWorks, but they saw the potential of the film and began working with DreamWorks on a new attraction for their parks. Personally, I love the film and think it still holds up amazingly well today. Shrek was an instant hit, finishing the year as the second highest-grossing movie of the year domestically and fourth-highest worldwide and won the first ever Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. However, DreamWorks still continues to put out quality films with Abominable and How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World both doing well last year, but DreamWorks probably wouldn’t be the major studio it is today without Shrek. You don’t see that combination very often, and I’m a bit bummed that it doesn’t look like it is going to come to fruition. For now, the film looks cancelled, but it was such an interesting idea to combine an animation-centric studio with a horror-movie production company. Thinking about Blumhouse and Universal reminded me of the proposed DreamWorks-Blumhouse film Spooky Jack. From what I’ve heard, the movie is great, so I’m excited to get to see it this weekend. Instead, we got this Blumhouse Productions version, still produced by Universal. Originally, an Invisible Man film, with Johnny Depp set to star as the titular character, was set to be a part of the Dark Universe before flop after flop grounded that expanded universe. This week, Universal Pictures is releasing The Invisible Man, a remake of the 1933 Universal Monsters film. This week, we’ll be going on a journey Far, Far Away to a land of mystical creatures. Whatever it is, I just hope it isn’t screens and 3-D glasses.Welcome to Extinct Attractions. I’m not sure what it will become, but depending on how they change it, it may not be a Halloween Horror Nights house location anymore. One of the rumors that was going around a few years ago was that Shrek would become some sort of Star Trek attraction. Character meet and greets are memory makers and social media free advertising, after all. They have other characters they should dust off and bring back out. ![]() They are still popular and I think that would be the saddest thing. While they are showing the Shrek attraction and store the door, I hope they don’t put the character meet and greets in mothballs. The memories of “I was there.” And the pride of wearing those shirts to the park to show off. Everyone likes to be a part of opening day and closing day merchandise. I do believe that if they put out some really neat stuff, they could make a killing. When they put stuff out for Terminator 2 3-D’s closing, it sold like hot cakes. Universal has missed the boat on other attraction closings when it comes to good-bye merchandise. But seriously, they should have put that merchandise in there anyway because why not sell to people who are excited about just seeing the characters? Hire me to make these decisions, UOR. They’ve got the temporary entertainment offering DreamWorks Destination over in his theater anyway. Will they integrate this merchandise into other locations? I think that while the Barney Shop is sitting there doing nothing, they should have a Dreamworks migration over to that area. ![]() You could find How to Train Your Dragon, Trolls, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda on the shelves. This store has been the home to Dreamworks merchandise in recent years. With the show going, so goes Shrek’s Ye Olde Souvenir Shoppe. I do know that my friend Javier is probably heartbroken over this news. Granted, it’s probably not something you want to see every time you’re in the park, but it’s a cool show. Which also happens to be my birthday, so that’s going to be etched in my memory forever. Shrek 4-D is closing forever on January 10, 2022.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |