Don’t be surprised to see a green ogre, flying dragons, fighting pandas and talking penguins in the Garden State. New Jersey could soon become the home of DreamWorks Animation first theme park. The animation studio built by former Disney executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg and music mogul David Geffen has entered into an agreement with the developer behind Mall of America to construct a unique indoor theme park in North Jersey.
The American Dream at Meadowlands project will bring to life DreamWorks beloved animated characters like Shrek, Fiona, Donkey, Puss in Boots and the Madagascar Penguins in a retail and entertainment destination. The venture with multinational development and finance corporation Triple Five calls for nearly 1.7 million square feet of retail space, an indoor ski hill, indoor sky diving, bowling, an aquarium, a live theater and an 14.7-acre amusement park.
The indoor project will house the first North American theme park devoted exclusively to DreamWorks Animation characters from the company’s blockbuster animated movies including “Shrek,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Kung Fu Panda,” and “Madagascar.”
Katzenberg, chief executive of DreamWorks Animation confirmed the project and said he looked forward to incorporating the company’s “characters, storytelling and technology into a unique and innovative family entertainment experience.”
The venture is not only good news for DreamWorks, which had earlier plans for theme parks in China, Abu Dhabi and Dubai fall through the cracks, but the blueprint breathes new life into a vacant and unfinished development in North Jersey.
While the Meadowlands project has stalled on several attempts over the past few years, DreamWorks and Triple Five’s collaboration may be the stroke of genius at the end of an animator’s pencil. Katzenberg’s company has had a string of hit animated movies while Triple Five has been the developer behind the successful Mall of America.
The project could open for its first guests in 2014.